Who knew there was a pirate cuter than Orlando Bloom?

And yes, I'm talking about the little one.

On post today there was a Pirates and Princesses party for all the kids. There wasn't much for the wee one (activities were geared toward kids 2-12) but the Little Mister had fun watching all the kids and seeing all the costumes and games and craziness. And besides, isn't he adorable? Makes me look forward to Halloween. Lots of Halloweens. And costumes worn just for fun!

Wordless Wednesday: the bearded baby

This is the picture I wanted to put at the end of yesterday's post...

too, too fast

After lunch my son took a bath.

And I cried.

Sitting on the floor next to the tub (like I do every day) I looked at the Little Mister and I was astonished. Since when can I see so much of his head over the edge of the tub? It took my breath away, and I was suddenly struck by how fast he's growing up.

This is hardly an original thought. Just about every parent in the history of time has had the same thought over and over again. I have even had this thought before, repeatedly. It hit me extra hard today, though. The Sergeant and I tried for so long to have a baby. The Little Mister was born 10 months and 16 days ago...and now we're like a runaway train, heading for the day when he won't be a baby anymore!

He is never still. He stands more often than he sits. He never stumbles when he cruises along the furniture...my brain wants to explode when I think he'll be walking soon! He stubbornly wants to feed himself everything, without help from Mommy. He's started emphatically shaking his head no, although sometimes I'm pretty sure it's just because it makes me laugh. He says "hi" very well, and "mamma" when he cries, and sometimes "dada"...and he tries to say a bunch of other words (kitty, bath, book, yes, ball, bye bye). He learns something new every day.

My tiny baby is becoming my little boy.

I know time won't stop. I know there will be more tears.

But there will be even more smiles.


I wanted to post a picture, too...but Blogger wouldn't let me. Perhaps it'll be my "Wordless Wednesday" tomorrow. :)

And the chocolatey goodness goes to....

alejna from collecting tokens!!

I was waiting for the twins to draw a name, but now the Little Mister is cutting a tooth so we're kind of home-bound...so I just used random.org. And Alejna topped the list!

I had fun shopping for chocolate. :) Alejna, Please send me your address - dragonflywings27 (at) yahoo (dot) com - and let me know if there's a certain kind of chocolate you really like (milk, dark, hazelnut, whatever) so I can add that to the mix!

Hopefully soon I'll make a real post, with words and everything. It will probably be after the toothy fun we have going on now, though. Or late at night when I'm drinking a glass of wine after a day of toothy fun. Perhaps I'll eat some chocolate, too. (what, you thought I bought some for others without buying any for myself??!?)

I know it's not Wednesday, but this picture says it all.

Poor, poor Sarah.

There's still time! If you haven't yet, leave a comment on my 100th post for the chance to win yummy European chocolate!

Wordless Wednesday: Let's Eat!

P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment here for the chance to win some yummy European chocolate!!

It's Mommy's 100th post!!

Hi! It's me, the Little Mister! Mommy has been very, very busy lately...and not just chasing me, like usual. Just before Daddy left a new family moved to our post. The daddy was already here, but the mommy and the twins just got to Germany. They don't have a car, but they still need to do things like go shopping and get ready for school, so me and Mommy are helping them. And they live kind of far away, so we've been in the car a lot since Daddy left. I can sleep in the car sometimes, but Mommy can't, and that makes her tired. So I told her to take a little break and just let me handle her blog. Am I doing okay so far?

Mommy said something about making a list of 100 things about her, or our family...but I don't think I can count that high. (Come on, I'm only 10 months old!) But I can tell you some things about us...

1. Mommy really likes the color orange. A lot.
2. She wears a lot of orange clothes.
3. She makes me wear orange clothes too. But that's alright, I like orange (but not as much as Mommy).
4. Mommy says the funny thing is that she's allergic to oranges. (Is that funny? I don't know much about jokes yet.)
5. I love to take baths. Mommy says I'd stay in the tub all day if she'd let me, and I think she's right about that.
6. This week I learned how to stand up...in the bathtub! Mommy was scared, but I didn't fall. I'm too smart for that.
7. Mommy has brown eyes.
8. Daddy has brown eyes too.
9. I have blue-grey eyes.
10. Mommy says they look like Grandpa Beav's eyes. She also says they could still change...but I think she wants them to stay the color they are.
11. Daddy is a soldier. He's far away right now, but I know he loves me even when he's gone. Sometimes we talk on the phone, and Mommy takes lots of pictures of me to send to him.
12. Daddy really likes trains. Mommy said he can't wait to buy a train for me, so we can play with it together.
13. My favorite food is food. I eat everything. It is very good!
14. My newest food is cheese. And also grapes. Yum!
15. We found out today that I weigh 18 pounds and 1 ounce.
16. I might be small, but they said it's probably because my metab-o-something is high, and I move around a lot.
    
17. We have three kitties. They stay away from me, mostly. But I say "hi!" to them a lot. Sometimes they meow back, but usually they run.
18. Someday I will be fast enough to catch the kitties.
19. While we live in Europe, Mommy wants to go to England, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, and most of all Greece.
20. Daddy just wants to see everything.
21. I just want to be outside!
    

Is that 100 yet?? It must be! That was a lot! My fingers are getting tired...

There's one more thing, though. Mommy's been kind of sad lately, 'cause Daddy is gone. She thought of something that makes her feel better when she's sad. The best thing that makes her feel better is, of course, me. But she said chocolate works too...and she wants to share some with YOU! Just leave a comment on this post between now and Friday at noon (Eastern time, she said that's easier than trying to remember the Germany time!) and then Mommy will ask someone (probably one of the twins, since I try to eat paper) to draw one of the names. We'll send the winner some chocolate! Mommy says chocolate is really good, and that we live in the land of chocolate. I thought we lived in Germany, but I guess I don't know everything.

And now my fingers are really tired. Plus I NEVER sit still this long, so I'd better be off. There are so many toys to chew on!


p.s. Mommy asked me to say sorry that she hasn't been reading other blogs much lately. It's 'cause she's so busy! But she's going to try to catch up soon. If I give her enough time. :)

deployed

Yup. The Sergeant is in Kuwait.

Friday night the Little Mister and I dropped him off...and now we're alone. I've talked to him a few times, and he's doing well (it's very warm there, in the 90s, and here at home we have a fresh four-ish inches of snow!). He misses us, and we miss him, but at least he has wireless internet so we can chat.

The Little Mister seems unaware, most of the time, that things have changed...but every time we hear someone in the apartment stairwell he looks expectantly toward the door. So even though he acts like his happy little self most of the time, he's still waiting for Daddy to come home.

*sniff*

As for me, busyness is my friend. I've done countless loads of laundry, washed piles of dishes, cleaned the bathroom, done some organizing here and there. I'm reading The Will of the Empress, listening to Abhorsen (Tim Curry is an amazing reader!), and watching episodes of M*A*S*H. I'm spending extra time cuddling (when he'll let me!) and playing with my Little Mister. In short, I'm doing everything possible to keep my mind so full of outside stimuli that it cannot think. At this point in time, thinking could lead to a bad place, so I'm avoiding it. I'm even wearing myself to exhaustion before I collapse into bed, so weary that I just fall asleep instead of being kept awake by my usually buzzing brain. I know this is not a permanent solution, but it's working for now, and I'll be better able to cope in a week or so.

I hope.

the flag we made for Daddy for his birthday
(yes, Saturday was the Sergeant's birthday. Such timing.)

chewing on the flag we made for Daddy :)

a quick family picture, just before we said goodbye...

* * * * * * * * *

I can hardly believe it, but this is my 99th post!! To celebrate my 100th post, and to cheer myself up, I thought of a fun giveaway. Woo hoo! I'm not gonna tell you now - don't want to spoil the surprise! - but trust me, it's good. ;) I'll be back in a few days with number 100!