Mondays with Crosby

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 1 year and 35 weeks old!!! He was officially TWENTY months yesterday. I am not fond of this "twenty" business. We are very close to the age where you no longer refer to their age in months. It will just be years. And maybe you get to throw in a "half" in the middle. Nope. I don't like it. I can remember saying, "He is 5 days old." And then we got a few weeks to refer to his age in just those terms, "weeks". It has been "months" for more than a year and a half. I am not ready to go to "years". But who says they have at "25 month old"? Or a "72 month old"?" I guess I could start that trend! No one would think I am strange for doing so. Right? I would do just about anything to keep my boy a baby...

We had a first last week. Blake was gone for 4 and 1/2 days. He left Wednesday and came back last night. That meant I got to experience a smidgen of the life of a single mother. What a hard job that would be. It is one I do not envy. I say that, and I had a lot of help. Crosby spent time with Pop while I shopped at a consignment sale on Thursday. We both spent the night with Grammie and Pop on Friday night and Crosby stayed on through Sunday. I had a MILLION places to be on Sunday. Had I forced Crosby to tag along with me, he would have missed his nap. I can only imagine how ugly that would have been! Thankfully I didn't have to fight that battle.

We pulled into the driveway after Saturday lunch to find one large piece of equipment in Grammie and Pop's yard. Crosby eagerly waited as it approached...

He was in awe as it passed by...

Were his eyes deceiving him or did a farmer on a big, red tractor just wave at him as he passed by????

It finally sinks in..."Tractor!!! Tractor!!!"

We sat outside watching the tractor way off in the distance after breakfast. Little did I know it would still be going after lunch. That farmer sure did make Crosby's day!

Blake was off today. We took Crosby on a wagon ride (Nugs on a walk) down to a school playground. He did his share of swinging and sliding and climbing. But the mega fork lift sitting off to the side of the playground caught his eye as soon as we walked up. We just had to let him "drive"...

All he needs is a hard hat and he is ready to go...

Pretending will have to do for now...

I often comment that Crosby is fearless. I wonder why?

Do parents of girls encourage this behavior as well? It can't be a good thing...

Crosby was kind enough to share our (mine and Blake's, that is) cup of water with Nugget...

Don't worry. I quickly dumped the remaining water out of the cup. Although, he would have been more than happy to take a big gulp of Nugget's slobber. I preferred he just stick to his sippy cup from there on out!

The cat was running around the yard when we got home. I asked Crosby where she went. This was his "I don't know" response...

And I just had to share this one of ole Nugs. Look at that gray beard. That sweet (but bad sometimes) thing. I was pretty impressed with myself for getting the fly in the picture! I remember thinking, "He was going to eat that fly if it doesn't leave." He has done it before! Thankfully not today.

I will leave you with one of 2 videos I was supposed to post last week. I thought I saved an edited version, which was MUCH shorter. Apparently not. I apologize. You may want to skip the first 35 seconds, unless you want to hear my horrific version of the "ABC" song. Hey, he likes it! And then you will probably want to skip the good byes at the end, unless you are a grandparent. Even then, you may want to skip it!! :) We think he is going to be a genius...

But don't all parents think that about their children!?!? But ours, of course, is different... ;-)

Mondays with Crosby

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 1 year and 34 weeks old!!! All things considered, this was a relatively calm week. We had a few exciting events that I will share. But first things first. I failed to mention a HUGE accomplishment last week...

Crosby was in the nursery during church on the 15th. I went to pick him up at the end of service and Courtney met me at the door. With a huge smile on her face, she informed me he had been saying, "Momma! Momma! Momma!" over and over! "WHAT????" I was soooo very excited to know he was FINALLY saying my name. I have been hearing it quite a bit since that Sunday morning. Needless to say, it makes me pretty happy! He has been talking about "Daaah" long enough! :)

Speaking of Courtney, she invited us to their house on Saturday morning to celebrate sweet Leighton's first birthday. Too bad I don't have a single picture of the birthday girl. I have a GREAT excuse though. Courtney asked me to take pictures of Leighton with her camera. I was more than honored to take pictures of that sweet little angel on her big day. So I put my camera aside an snapped a away with Courtney's instead. Well, that was after I got these...
This Cozy Coupe was one of Leighton's gifts. I think Crosby was "driving" it within 5 minutes of walking in the door. He did not care that it is tacky to play with some one's toy before they even open them! There is something about big, bright yellow and red objects with wheels that my boy absolutely cannot resist! I am thinking we may need one of these come December 25th. Or 29th. Poor baby gets it all at once...Sigh.

We came home from Small Group Sunday night to find a really exciting surprise waiting for Crosby. You can see the great reveal below...

(well that didn't work! you'll have to check back in...)

Crosby LOVES a slide. Little did I know that LeAnne would travel to Mississippi and have her dad build one! She took pictures of the one he loves at Monkey's Treehouse and...Voila! Now he has one of his very own right here in our house! He cried and cried last night when we parted ways with the slide to take a bath. It was the first thing he did when he woke up this morning. He wanted to show it off to his friends today before lunch. It is the first thing he did when he woke up from his nap! I think we will be seeing lots more of this...

Here's where I say, "On your bottom"...

He thinks it is a funny trick...

Counting...

Down he goes...

And he crawls off to do it again!

His friends did come over before lunch. And they did have their turn on the slide and thought it was pretty cool! It wasn't the only hi light of the morning. Little did we know they would be here when the garbage truck came!!! Just look at those faces. Complete disbelief at what they are seeing...

They...

crack...

me...

up!!! I mean, John Christopher's gestures are hilarious!!! And Margaret may not look thrilled to be out watching trucks with the boys, but I am here to tell you she loved it, too! As a matter of fact, she took a seat right in my lap just to get a better view!

There was a comment a few weeks back. It was from another momma. I had written about our not so lovely visit to the Williamson County Fair. She was "glad" to hear my toddler throws tantrums. It confirmed that her little man was "not the only one"!! I hear you there! Let me reassure you that you are far from being alone! I know two more little ones (pictured above...;)) that also have their "less than perfect" moments. These days can be messy at times. In more ways than one. And here is the proof...

Snotty nose...

(As if anyone buys that he is a shy child... ;))

Pretty demanding a times...

Downright grumpy at times...

And then you get this...

And you just have to smile...

Being a parent isn't easy. We SURE don't get it right around here...A LOT of the time. But loving this little guy is!

Avocado stain wearing, snot nose smearing, messy hair sporting, sockless shoe wearing, temper tantrum throwing! Yep! That's our Crosby! And I think we'll keep him!

Mondays with Crosby

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 1 year and 33 weeks old!!! We have been blessed with his presence in our lives for 85 whole weeks. My, my. Time sure does fly when you have child. I will never understand where it goes. I try my best to enjoy every second of him But inevitably, there are moments I take for granted. There are times when I am distracted. Times when my parenting skills are pretty pathetic. I know how fast this is going, yet I still get wrapped up in a busy life and let it pass me by. Oh to slow it down...

We had a little buddy over for a few hours on Tuesday. I decided to exercise my pathetic parenting skills and let them sit in front of the TV together. It was kind of cute...

I suppose it was a "nail biting" episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! I didn't watch so I am not sure what it was! I was too busy taking pictures of them. What is it about their little feet that is so stinkin' cute...

We spent a few hours in Columbia on Sunday afternoon. Apparently it was "wear your green clothes day" at the Lipscomb abode. Crosby got the memo but I didn't!!

We met the Malone crew (minus Jason, Kerri, Sam and Gid) at Macaroni Grille in Cool Springs to celebrate Anne Claire's birthday. I didn't get many pictures because Crosby had another less than stellar public performance. I think our faces kind of give you an idea...

I will blame it on the fact that I had to wake him up from a nap before he was ready. That and the fact that he is 19 months old and I think it just goes along with his age. At least we could tickle him and get a few laughs out of him...

I went to get him out of his bed after another 3+ hour nap. I haven't enjoyed his naps as much this week. I find myself wanting to hold him a little more. Wanting to kiss his little face and squeeze him tight. He just looks so big in there now...

Way back when, he barely took up the top corner of the bed...

Now he is all over the place... My sweet boy...

I love him...

He melts my heart...

He fills my life with so much joy...

I am so grateful for him...

This family is still on my mind. I hope it remains that way, as their walk though grief has barely begun. I dare not compare my grief to theirs. For what they are experiencing, I do not know. What I do know is that support from friends, family and even complete strangers helped me through my journey. I am asking that you do the same for them. Please love this couple and their sweet boy...

These words

are too precious not to share...
Long Awaited Child

Please continue to pray for this precious family.

Request

It is 11:36 pm. I can't sleep. My heart is broken. I received a text around 8:00 pm asking me to pray for this beautiful family. All I knew was little Bane had been put on a ventilator at Vanderbilt. I said a quick prayer and went about my business. I thought of them off and on as piddled around the house...starting a load of laundry, ironing a pile that has been sitting there for days. Folding a load that has been in the dryer since the weekend. You know, typical, routine chores. I finished and went down to the bonus room to get my phone and started to head up to bed. I had a voicemail and started to listen. The words were nearly too much to bare. All I remember hearing was "Little Bane didn't make it".

Tonight, I was pouting inside about having to stay up late to do boring, mundane housework. Tonight, this family watched their 10 month old son's life slip away.

Will you please help cover their family and friends in prayer?

Mondays with Crosby

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 1 year and 32 weeks old!!! As usual, we have had another super busy week. We had the first big consignment sale of the season, Monkey Business. I volunteered on Thursday and Saturday so I could shop early and get him lots of cute clothes for the fall. I LOVE this sale and have fun helping out. Plus it allowed me to shop early. I was the only person shopping in his size so I got all the cute stuff first!!! So fun and addictive. Good thing there are only a few more this fall...

Our church is hosting an exhibit through World Vision for the next week. I was able to walk through the experience on Sunday morning and then volunteer that afternoon. Let me say it was an emotional and eye-opening event. If you live in the area, I would encourage you to take 20-30 minutes out of your week to experience this for yourself. It is free and open from 10am-8pm. It will be worth it!

We had a birthday party to go to on Saturday for this little fella...
Crosby had a good ole time playing with someone else's toys...
He was especially fond of the mower. Imagine that. It has an engine. And wheels. And his dad uses one...

He was most excited about his first experience with Cheetos. Hence the picture of "Cheetos Face" up top!

And the Capri Sun was a special treat...

It was fun to spend time celebrating with the girls (and their families) from my CBS class...

Tonight we decided to take a family trip to the Williamson County Fair. I have heard lots of great things about it and wanted to give it a try. There is a section just for the little ones that is fabulous...in theory. It goes like this...The kids get and apron and a basket when they walk in the door. They fill their baskets with apples from the apple trees, eggs from the chicken coup, corn from a feed trough, milk from a cow. Then they plant some of their seed. They give some to the chickens and some to the cow. Then they get to "milk" a plastic cow. The get to "brush" a plastic sheep. At the end, they take all of the goods they collect in their basket and "sell" it to a farmer's market. They get a "dollar" for their goods and get to buy a treat at the very end. Everyone leaves happy! I wanted Crosby to have that experience.

We should have known that would be an unlikely outcome for us before we even walked away from the car! He threw fit #1 when we put him in the stroller. Fit #2 through #6 ish came while we waiting in the admission line. Fit #7 came when we walked into the arena. Fit #8 came when we kept him from getting on a train that had a "no climbing" sign on it. Fit #9 - #4,000 came during that sweet little walk through the toddler farmer's market!!! He did not want their apron, or their basket, or their eggs, or their corn, or their apple. He wanted to get back out of that building and to get on the gators (or whatever you call those things...) he saw riding around the fairgrounds! Thank goodness there was a tractor he could actually sit on. It bought us a few moments of peace...

This is the only picture of Crosby actually participating in the toddler farm. He tolerated playing in the dirt for about 15 seconds. Long enough for me to take a picture...

Notice he did let me put the apron on. There were all kinds of animals to see at the end of the market. Crosby was a little more agreeable there. We got to see an alpaca, a pot bellied pig, a horse, a long horned cow, a dairy cow, a donkey, sheep, chickens and more. But these were my favorite...

If piglets stayed that small and adorable as the ones on the right, we would have one as a pet. Too bad they will all be the size of the one on the left in no time flat. Especially if they keep eating the way they were when we walked by! Ravenous little piggies.

We thought it may be best to leave the toddler farmer's market and attempt a few rides. We walked all over the place trying to find one he could ride. He was too short for the ones we could ride with him. We were too tall to ride the smaller rides. Finally, we decided to take our chances on the pandas... We strapped him in REALLY tight and off he went...

I just love how these pictures make it seem as if he was going sooooo fast...

He wasn't. But we finally got a great smile out of the little man...

Then we tried the helicopters...

Success once again...

It really is pretty gross to think about him strapped into that filthy seat. Just know we did wipe him down once he got off each ride. I don't know how much good it did but we tried!

Riding on daddy's shoulders...

We decided to go on one last ride. A family ride on the carousel. Needless to say, somebody does not like to wait for everyone else to get on. He just wants them to start the ride as soon as he is seated...

Considering all of the fits Crosby threw over the course of the evening, this was one of the more pleasant, grumpy faces...

He was able to pull it together once the ride started...

But he was most excited about what he could see in the distance...

The silly gator thing that you can see parked in the background...

We could have saved money and gone to Home Depot for the evening if all he wanted to do was sit on "tractors"!! At least Crosby finished out the evening on a semi good note. As for me, this should give you a clue as to how my night ended...

If you know me well, you will know which of these fried bad boys I got...

I just had to say I tried one...

And it was good. But I think I prefer them straight out of the wrapper. Now I can tell myself I am doing good by eating the lower fat version!?! Or something like that...

To give Crosby a little credit, he had a late night and a super early morning. I am choosing to believe he was just tired. That is why he was quite possibly the worst behaved child at the fair!!!! I'm just hoping he will redeem himself next year...