Friday, April 27, 2012

Lots of things going on this spring!

This spring, the Weaver’s World has been busy busy busy. There have been many celebrations in the past few months… of life lost, enduring love and most importantly, of Christ’s Resurrection! My dear Uncle Wilson passed away in March and although it has been a difficult loss, our family is also relieved that he is no longer suffering from the effects of a traumatic brain injury sustained while herding cattle five years ago. He was such a fun man and a great uncle! He had a sparkle in his eye and was described as larger than life, to say the least. He was a cowboy, a Christian, a recovered alcoholic who was proud to admit it, an amazing friend to so so many and was loved by all! He was a giver, a thinker, a comedian without even knowing it and so much more. He couldn’t sit still and I will never forget the way he held my hand with his big rough cowboy hand -- he would fiddle will my fingers non-stop. He lovingly named me “Wild in the Streets” at the age of two, a name probably still fitting even a few years ago until I finally settled down and became a mama. His horses were his closest companions, as he never married, but that did not mean he had a lack of love. He was magnetic and everyone adored him. From his obituary, “Wilson loved his mother, AA, swimming holes, Blue Bell, puppies and other peoples' children. Wilson's last audible prayer was that ‘God to give him a good horse and a home on the range.’” I have been mourning my Uncle Wilson since his injury and it was very difficult to see him in such a sad state. I know he is free now and find so much peace in that!
Cary’s parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in April!! I did not grow up in a home with parents that loved each other in a healthy way. Cary’s parents have been such a wonderful example to me of what a loving couple should be. They have been through incredibly difficult obstacles in their lives, but have always managed through the tough times as true partners, seeing each other through even the darkest times in the most loving way possible. They truly put one another first and it shows in their beautiful relationship. We treated them to a yummy dinner at my local favorite place, Tiny Boxwoods. The food is very good (not excellent), but the atmosphere is amazing and the desserts are to die for!! Margo enjoyed running around on the super soft grass and digging through the rocks at the adjoining nursery. We had a great time, enjoying wine and interesting food on the beautiful patio, and we finished off our meal with the most amazing fresh warm doughnuts that literally melted in our mouths.
Next came Easter which Margo had a great time with. I think this was her first holiday where she kind of got it—the fun part at least—and it made being a mommy so neat! She started the celebrations at school and her teachers remarked that she must have been practicing for the egg hunt because she did so well. She had never even seen an Easter egg, so it turns out she is just a natural—ha ha! Margo is a busy busy body and is very observant. While the other kids were more focused on the playground equipment, I imagine she thought those eggs were lots of colorful balls and went right after them! On Easter Sunday, she woke up early as usual and found her basket of goodies hiding under the bathroom counter that the Easter bunny left. She went through each item one by one, ate bunny grahams for an early breakfast and immediately wanted to read her new Sesame Street bunnies book. Later we went to my sister’s house for an early dinner and Margo’s cousins had created an awesome Easter egg hunt for her. She was ready to go with her basket and was more excited about the eggs than what was inside them, funny girl! Margo’s cousins are so sweet to her and she loves to play with them, so she had such a great time. Dinner was sooooo yummy and Alan’s apricot glazed pork tenderloin was especially good! My sangria made me loopy after one glass, but it sure was tasty! We are so blessed to have such precious time with our family and I treasure the moments and the memories made, especially for Margo.
Last but not least, I had my first sister’s weekend away since Margo’s birth and Cary kept Margo on his own. Needless to say, he did such a fantastic job with her!! I was gone for three nights, the longest ever, and I loved having an adult break, even though I missed my sweet girl. My mom helped out the first night, but Cary was on his own the next two days and he mastered the bath and bedtime like a champ. I have not done a good job of delegating these important parenting jobs to Cary since I am a bit of a control freak and he has been hesitant. Now I know he can do it, probably better than me, so he will be taking over more often now. And… although my visit was bittersweet because we went to my Uncle Wilson’s funeral, it was also sooooooo good to go home. Midland will always be my home. I grew up there, born and raised, and I am so glad my sister and my grandmother are still there to go home to. I got to eat my favorite Mexican food ever, chat with my family without interruption, enjoy the awesome West Texas weather and sleep with my beloved earplugs—ha ha! The past few months have been busy, but good for the most part. I am ready for some boring weekends with nothing to do… I am a homebody and not so much of a go go go type of person, so I am looking forward to a more relaxed May with my sweet family that I adore so much!

Monday, April 2, 2012

She laughs and laughs at a year and a half!

I am behind on our blog as the past few months have been nothing less than chaotic! Margo has barely had a break from sickness, we have been making repairs and painting our house (what a mess) and I have had a HUGE project at work that has been all consuming!

Excuses aside, Margo is doing fantastic! You would never know she is under the weather about 75% of the time because she is so darn happy! A week ago Margo had a 102 fever and double ear infection and was dancing away and laughing like crazy. I had no idea she was so ill until we went to the MD. She is our little delight and is so much fun. I am hoping as we move into summer and her little body gets more used to the exposure to germs at school, all of this sickness will be behind us.

Margo’s 18 Month Stats were as follows:
Weight: 23 lbs (51%)
Height: 31” (the MD inputted it wrong as 33.5” which had her way up in the growth chart, I think we are more like 50%)
Head: 45.5 cm (27%)

Margo is fascinated with everything Sesame Street, especially Elmo and Cookie Monster. I still do not allow TV and she is not really interested, but she loves watching Sesame Street videos on YouTube. I will sit her in the computer chair and manage to get a few things done while she watches, mesmerized, for at least 10-15 minutes. She dances, sings and claps her hands to the songs… it is so cute! One of the first things Cary bought Margo was a little cookie monster that attached to the car seat and she has loved the characters ever since—it is funny that she likes them so much despite not watching them on TV.




Margo is also doing exceptionally well verbally. I would say she has at least 50 words, but most likely more since I quit counting a few months ago. I can understand most of what she says and she can point at most any picture in a book and name it—examples of some of her newest words are flower, snack, butterfly, grass, squirrel and the list goes on and on. She loves to go “side” (outside) and ride in the “car car” to go places. She can identify by pointing and can name almost all body parts including eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows, hair, head, ears, arm, toes, hand, leg and belly. She can also identify and say the shapes heart, circle and star. She loves to look at herself in the mirror, kiss herself, dance and sing to herself, make funny faces, etc… it is so funny to watch!

Margo loves loves loves to sing! I would say she spends at least half of the day singing while she plays, rides in the car, etc... Most of what she sings I cannot understand, but she can sing Ba Ba Black Sheep and The Wheels on the Bus in her own special little way where you can catch some of the words and she definitely has the tune down. She can also do the hokey pokey which is her new favorite dance! And laughter… the music to my ears… is abundant in her little world and in our home!

Margo loves to copy everything we do. She is constantly wiping the floor and other surfaces, her nose, my nose, she puts her finger to her lips for “shhh”, brushes her hair, puts q-tips in her ears, etc… She has become an expert at giving and blowing kisses and even gives lovies to many inanimate objects such as a cup or random toy such as a ball. She waves to everyone and everything that passes by. She is so affectionate, she melts my heart a million times a day. She runs into my arms and smothers me with hugs and kisses all the time. She can identify all of her grandparents by picture and can name “GiGi”, “Grannie” and Grandpa is “PaPa”.

Margo has adjusted beautifully to daycare and especially loves her teacher, Dina. I love getting all of her little craft projects and seeing the results of her learning and socialization. We did have an incident already where she was bitten by a classmate—HARD. There was a terrible bruise and mark—thank goodness it did not break the skin. Cary was mad beyond belief and was ready to yank her out. It took lots of people explaining that this is common to calm him down. I just hope Margo doesn’t pick up too many bad habits in school as a result of her peer’s bad behavior.

Just in the past month, Margo has begun to show a bit of defiance. She is starting to throw mini-tantrums when she wants something. I just walk away, but I know the older she gets, the harder it will become to manage. Cary and I are not on the same page discipline wise. He is such a softie and I am the bad guy. He says “no” in the softest, most ineffective tone and laughs at everything she does that is bad. We are going to have to work on being consistent to teach her properly. I love that he is such a sucker for our sweet girl though. Cary is an amazing dad and plays with Margo and loves her so very much. I love watching them interact and act silly. Cary and I are so opposite that it offers her a great balance of our different traits.

In the next few months we will be working on Margo’s dexterity. Unfortunately, she inherited her mommy’s poor coordination and is not great with stacking blocks, sorting shapes and doing puzzles. She also doesn’t have the attention span for those things, so I will just continue to work with her as much as possible. I think usually kids have one strength either verbally or physically and Margo definitely got the verbal side. Either way, she is flourishing and I could not be more fulfilled being a mother! Margo is incredibly sweet, well-behaved and smart. How did we get so lucky?!? I thank the good Lord each and every day for our beautiful girl who has brought us so much joy!