He’s been so affectionate lately.  I’m not sure what’s gotten into him, but I’ve been eating it up.  While at the park the other day, I was sitting close by while he played in one of the tubes.  When he saw me sitting there, he walked over with a smile and gave me a kiss on my cheek.  This was the first time that he’s ever given me an unsolicited kiss.  Normally, I have to ask for it, and it’s more like he mindlessly obliges.  But not this time.  This time he did it on his own.

He liked my response so much that he came back a few seconds later to give me another kiss.  It then became this game he was playing. He’d take a few steps, and then turn around and come back for a hug…take a few more steps, and then come back for another kiss.  It was such a sweet moment to see my little guy being so tender and affectionate, and I relished every second.Then over the weekend, he let me rock him to sleep.  He hasn’t let me do that in months.  Normally when we sit down in the rocking chair, he thinks it’s playtime and tries to start up a game of peek-a-boo.  Instead of settling him down, this only makes him more playful and therefore, not ready for bed.  Sadly, I’ve given up trying to rock him.  But this weekend, we went camping, and since he was out of his normal routine, I decided to try and rock him for a minute.  As I sat there in the dark, holding him close, he grew more still.  Finally I laid him down next to me in the bed, and while half asleep, he crawled onto my chest, wrapped his little arm around my neck, and laid his head on my shoulder.  It was so comforting lying there with him.  His little glow worn softly played a lullaby as his breathing began to slow and his body grew more heavy and still.  I laid there not wanting to get up because he felt so warm and close.

These moments are special because the age he is now is a difficult one for me.  He’s into everything.  He can’t communicate what he wants, and he doesn’t understand that the world doesn’t revolve around him.  I find myself  sometimes becoming very frustrated with him and amount of time I spend trying to make him happy (i.e. stop fussing).   So when these sweet moments appear I grab hold of them.  I think moments like that are what keeps a mother going at times.  At least they do for me.

So I am going to hold on to kisses in the park and snuggling in the dark because when I look back on this time that’s what I want to remember.

A few days before Christmas, Roark took his first steps, by which I mean, he started walking. When Edie was learning to walk, she took a couple of steps one day, and then didn’t try again for weeks. Roarkie, on the other hand, decided one day that he was ready to walk, stood up, and started walking. He’s a determined little guy and has been practicing every day since. He’s to the point now that he rarely crawls anymore.

He reminds me of Maggie Simpson, and even though he falls about every tenth step or so, he gets right back up and keeps going. He is so proud of himself that as he walks towards me he’ll giggle and clap. It really is one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen, and I can’t help but kneel down and cheer him on with every clumsy step.

To celebrate Roark’s new skill, Ken made a new video. Enjoy!

My sweet husband has been working for the past couple of weeks to produce something worth watching from our home videos, and I think he has done a fabulous job (if I do say so myself!). We had accumulated so much footage that I had quit video taping Edie since we never seemed to have time to edit it. Well, anyway, we finally made the time, and now I am back to video taping EVERYTHING!

I just don’t want to forget what she was like at every stage. It is funny how small she seems in these videos that weren’t filmed that long ago. She is changing everyday! So thank you again to my precious husband for this gift. He has so many talents, and I am blessed that he takes the time to do these things for me and our daughter…produce videos, take beautiful pictures, create web sites. I know Edie and I will both cherish them as she gets older.