The Long Road Home: Long Time No Talk

Man, where does the time go. I've been trying to make it back to the blog, but, geez, life with a little one is busy. I can't even imagine how someone juggles life with more than one kiddo! Kudos! Plus, I've been a little under the weather. Still trying to get my pregnancy anemia under control, I know can you believe it. I knew my anemia was never resolved at delivery, but I was told to stop taking my iron supplements and my body would rebound. So it was totally off my radar. So all these symptoms I've been having for months have all been low iron related. The OTC stuff wasn't helping my numbers at all, so after continuing to shed hair like a balding man and having noooo energy,I've finally had to bite the bullet and go on some prescription iron supplements. ugh..hate taking iron and their nasty side effects. And Preston and I were both sick with respiratory stuff. I got far sicker than Preston though. Thank you for breastfeeding! I was down for the count though for 3 days. Kevin had to take two days off of work to be Mr. Mom, as I had a terrible fever that was made me feel horrible. All I did was nurse Preston and sleep. Kevin, of course, was a great Mr. Mom.

We have had lots happening, although I'm quite sure I'll forget to update about most of it. These days, when it comes to posting, I have a very small window, so whatever I can remember gets typed, everything else doesn't make the cut. And given how foggy my thinking is these days, I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting to tell you all about a lot.

Something I won't forget to talk about, Preston is officially helmet-free as of yesterday afternoon! Whoo hooo! He grew a total of 17 mm, which is excellent, in four months in his band. He is not bothered one bit by not having his band anymore, other than busting his forehead on the chair about two minutes after we were home from having it officially taken off. The helmet has saved his head so many times. I'm kinda of worried about having to see him figure out the hard way that the helmet is no longer there. It's so funny, I've caught him stroking his hair. :) He looks beautimus,yall!

" I'm done with this helmet!"

Getting ready for his last head scan!

Moments before getting his helmet off!

So happy

First graduation!

Ahh, he sure loves his Daddy. He asks for him every morning when he wakes up. :)

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Preston is now occasionally saying his first word other than Mama or Dad--"Ducky", his binky. He's also signed his very first word, " finished" this weekend. So proud of him! He is becoming more independent by the day and easily frustrated when he doesn't get his way or you take something from him. He's walking like a champ, and is alll over the place and into eeeeverything. He is sleeping well through the night, 12 hours, although his second nap is still hit or miss. He still loves all types of bread and just had his very first bite of cheese this week ( I was holding off on giving him dairy until he turned one), and it's a hit! He's def my child. But he does like mango, kiwi, avocado and the like, but still won't pick them up and self-feed. He just can't get over the texture quite yet. He helps you get himself dressed and switches a toy from hand-to-hand so you can get his arms into shirt holes and he pushes his arms and legs into clothes. He is still nursing well, although his milk intake is decreasing a lot these days now that he is eating more " big boy" foods. He is over 20# and is about 30" tall. He still only wants to sip from his sippy cup and will still only take water. I'm going to give it a few more months then get serious about weaning him to the cup for breast milk. Although my deep freeze says this process needs to happen a lot sooner. I donate to a milk bank and give milk to friends for their babies and I still have no room in the freezer. I guess this is a good problem to have though. :) Preston has also started dancing a little when music comes on the TV. Hilarious. He's still a sweet, easy boy, although I can tell we're going into a less " babyish" stage and more personality and testing boundaries will be headed our way.

We're so ready for Preston's birthday party, it's in a week and a half. We are beyond excited to celebrate Preston's wonderful life and God's goodness and faithfulness. Preston is going to be one handsome dude, I tell ya. It looks like it will be a fairly small get together, but none less special. We are so excited to see everyone! Cannot wait. :)

Here are some pics of the man. Enjoy!