Robins

I guess in some parts of the country, robins herald the arrival of spring, but I see the greatest numbers of them here in January. Looking out my back door right now, there are hundreds in my trees and in the trees across the street. I love watching them dart back and forth. They're so close to me in the trees and bushes that I can see the white rings around their eyes. One thing I miss about not being out in the country is a wider variety of birds to watch. We plan to move farther out this summer though, and I will be glad to see more birds again.

Smiley Boy has had a much better day today--that new tooth really had him miserable yesterday. He had a good nap this morning though, and he's been sweet all day--I'm seeing more of my smiles again. He really tried to crawl yesterday with Ms. Debbie, but he's been pretty passive today. He's had a busy couple of weeks though. He just started rolling over both ways weekend before last, and now all of a sudden, he's pushing up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. That's the position I find him in every morning when I hear him awake and go in to get him, with a big smile on his face, of course. He is such a sweet little boy.

He's also making great strides in his eating. He's drinking four ounces at a time--up from two and a half just a week ago, and he's eating two jars of baby food a day. God is so faithful; I know I say that a lot, but He continues to show Himself mighty in our lives, and I am grateful!

Beginnings

I wish I had been keeping a record of some sort since Smiley Boy was born 11 months ago. I hope to go back through e-mail and, using a calendar, makes notes of the important events. I thought several times about keeping a diary, but I just never have done it. This is my attempt to start keeping up with it all. He got his first tooth today, so I thought it was a good place to start.

This whole idea is not to write only about him and that particular adventure, however. Life is an adventure, and as God carries us through it, I'll write about that journey too. To begin with though, I will probably reminisce a lot as I try to chronicle the first year of my Smiley Boy's life. We are approaching the one-year mark of when this all began, and I am amazed that so much time has gone by.

The last week in January, 2006, I was getting ready for FCAT Writing with my 8th graders and Smiley Boy's dad was taking pictures of me 22 weeks pregnant. It seemed silly at the time, but now they're the only pregnant pictures we have, so they're kind of fun. Little did we know what the month of February was to bring!