Changes

Oh it's been so long since I blogged. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day.
Things are changing very quickly. As you can see, our Andrew is growing and changing. He will be seven months old soon. So hard to believe. He is a happy baby. He rarely cries, but makes a sound when he isn't happy that sounds like a grumpy old man. He is sitting up but now crawling yet. He has little interest in crawling. He's more interested in standing up. In fact, it's difficult to get him to sit up on his own now because he puts pressure on his feet as if to stand up and falls backward. He loves to play with a ball -- any ball -- he uses his feet to pass it to his hands and will even pick the ball up with his feet.
He and I went back to NC for a couple of weeks while Greg worked long hours as part of an inspection. I just couldn't stay here where it's so lonely. While we were gone, Greg got the go ahead for his deployment. So, when I got home, we hit the ground running trying to get the house ready to put on the market. In four days, I managed to declutter, debaby and clean this house. It's up for sale now and we've had several showings but no offers yet. Still hopeful that we'll get an offer soon.
We took Andrew to the lake while I was in NC and he loved it. Just this past weekend we took him on the nine-hour drive to Destin, Fla. which is a most beautiful place. We go there every year for Greg to play in a softball tournament. This year, we met my cousin Amy and her family there and rented a condo. We had a great time, but it wasn't long enough. Andrew loved the ocean and would laugh every time a wave would come and we would lift him up over it.
He is an easy going baby that is certain. He is natured like his Daddy, always smiling and laughing and never getting too stressed out. He is eating three solid meals a day and I have yet to find anything he doesn't like. At the beach, I fed him hummus off my plate and he LOVED it. He smiled every time I put it on his tongue. So I guess I'll be making hummus pretty soon!
He loves to jump in his rainforest jumperoo that I bought on craigslist. He also likes his walker but is still going backward not forward. He can say "hey" and has said "mama" but only when he is mad. Figures! He says "hey" quite often now and does it at the funniest times. Yesterday, he and Brody were in a staring contest and all of a sudden Andrew pipes up with "hey." I know some folks think babies his age can't say anything with meaning, but I have to disagree. Most of the time, when we go to get him out of his crib in the morning, he says "hey."
He also said it once in the middle of the night when I had put him in my bed with me at my mom's to keep him from waking up the entire house. I was trying to see if he had gone back to sleep and put my face very close to his to see if his eyes were closed and he said "hey." lol I nearly fell off the bed!
His short naps continue, but I guess I've grown used to it and I've been so busy that I haven't had time to worry about it anyway. He is a healthy boy -- he weighed 20 lb. 3 oz. at his six month check up and was 28 inches long. He wears 12 month onesies and sleepers and 9 month shorts and T-shirts. He is very loveable and his little fat cheeks were made for kissing! Still no teeth yet, but he seems to be working on it. One of his favorite things to do these days is pull on hair, glasses, earrings, necklaces, noses and lips! Ouch!
In a couple of weeks, Andrew and I will move home to NC where my dad is setting us up in a mobile home. Greg will be with us for a while and then he will return to Louisiana for 2.5 months of training before he heads to Afghanistan. I don't have to tell anyone how heartbreaking it is for me to think of a year without my husband. My heart breask for Greg for having to leave our sweet baby boy. But we will get through it with the love and support of family and friends.
Exciting news for me on a professional level came last week when my cousin asked me to do some writing for a new company he is starting. I feel like this will give me something to focus on while Greg is gone (other than Andrew, of course!).
I wish you all could see my sweet baby. He certainly was worth the wait.