STILL!

There are two things about Judah that amazes me, three things that I do not understand (okay, I only threw that in there to match Proverbs, but it kinda works).

First, he still wears a drool bib.  STILL!  The boy is almost 18 months old and he still drools like a fiend.  I know he's popping out teeth like it's going out of style, but so are other toddlers and they don't drool 8 oz of saliva onto their shirts every hour.  When I brought this up to his pediatrician she had this oh-so-not-comforting response:  Some kids are just droolers.  My daughter didn't stop drooling until she was 3.  THREE?!  THREE?!

Second, he's still nursing.  STILL!  I had a goal of nursing him to 12 months and letting him wean himself when he started losing interest.  But he hasn't completely lost interest yet...it's still the easiest way to 'prime' him for sleep and comfort him when he wakes up or is super cranky (which is all too often).  I'm torn between wanting the sweet freedom that comes with weaning (oh how I would LOVE to not have to wake up with my human alarm clock) and not wanting to end our sweet little bonding times.

I like to store up memories of nursing my sweet boy, snuggled in his baby blanket and with his favorite CD on, rocking in his dim room...all comfort and peace...knowing that soon he'll be weaned and I'll never have these times with him ever again.

And then I think about how annoying it is that he has now entered a new phase where he...let's just say, likes to be very "hands-on."  And how nice it would be to not be the one who ALWAYS has to put him down for bedtime.  Oh, the life-long tension of parenting--freedom v. sweet servility.

Third, he still can't crawl.  STILL!  Actually, that's no longer true.  He crawled for the first time a couple weeks ago.  I vividly remember seeing him on his hands and knees on his playmat.  But instead of just collapsing onto his tummy, he started moving his arms and legs back and forth.  Spouse and I stared at him and then at each other whispering with breath bated, "Is he...?  Is he...is he...actually...crawling?"

Indeed!  Almost a year after most babies have mastered the skill, our talented and gifted son (ha!) has finally figured it out!