Future's So Bright...

...I gotta wear shades!

First things first. Happy 62nd birthday to my wonderful father, the one, the only Bob Voss! My folks were in and out of our place this week, as they traveled up to Blowing Rock and back, and then again on up to Boone to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. They played a little golf, visited grandfather mountain, shopped some, ate good meals, and just enjoyed each other's company.

Several of you have commented that as cute as Myles' butt is, you're tired of looking at it. Which prompted me to get back on here for an update. I think I've been avoiding the blog lately because Seth is using the camera for some of his contract residential projects, so I don't have as many picture taking opps, but also because I have been tired and it's been hard to make the time to get on here...or feel like there's something worth saying. Grief makes you tired, and although the future is indeed looking very bright, and I have so so much to be grateful for, there's still some grief that sneaks in now and again to remind me that healing is not an event, but a process.

Oh, but I did want to share this marvelous quote that I stumbled upon last week:

"Whatever you think or dream you can do, begin it! Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it." --Goethe

Yes, yes, and yes.

Mylestones: Well, today Myles is officially 1.5 years old! It's hard to believe. In fact, I just took another look through the file folder marked "birth photos" which contain several digital shots that we never did print. Those are the ones that take me by surprise, I've seen them so infrequently. Wow, he was so tiny. He was so, so tiny. Slowly he has outgrown that baby body, and now he has little boy legs, little boy feet, huge hands, and a very full head of gorgeous hair. (However, he still has baby-fat cheeks, stubs of emerging teeth, a toddler pot belly...and I don't suspect his butt will ever get very big.) And oh how he moves. His days are spent completing various missions around the house, including: taking the wooden slats out of the desk drawer and very purposefully moving them onto the chair in the living room...this can only be done at a jog...then moving them back again; taking the clean diapers out of the washing machine and trying to put them on the drying rack; pulling the silverware out of the dishwasher and handing them to me one at a time to put away; dismantling his floor puzzle, removing every block from it's resting place on the toy train or in the shapes box and scattering them on the floor; removing every book from the book basket and then putting the basket on his head, on the couch, and eventually filling it with pot lids.

You get the idea.

He's in the imitation stage, and it's very sweet. In fact, the other day he saw Seth digging a hole in our front yard, and managed to drag a shovel twice his size over to the hole, stick it in, put his foot on the side edge of the shovel like he saw Seth doing, and stomp on the shovel. Wow. There's never been a more helpful boy. He even puts his dirty disposables into the diaper pail when asked. I know this won't last forever, so I'm taking advantage of it. On the other hand, I am nearly always on the run, dashing after him from one event to the next as if we are dueling through an obstacle course. He's an active boy...a climber, a runner, an explorer, a water sportsman, and (thankfully!) an eater. Life could not be sweeter. He has also mastered a few baby signs, including "more," shaking his head no (oh the power!), waving bye-bye, and "food." Words continue to be so intermittent that you could swear they happen by coincidence, but then he convinces you again...("I really am saying 'up, up, up'").

Well, I'll sign off for now, and I promise it won't be so long until the next blog...although I absolutely dispute the assertion that one can grow tired of looking at any photo of my beloved boy, especially those sweet cheeks!