Call It What You Want...

I like it when my boy naps.

Especially when those naps are long. I have time to get things done.

This morning he did not take a morning nap, so after music class, we had lunch, and he crashed on the way home. He was a limp little boy as I wove him out of the car seat and carried him up to bed. Where he is still, at 5 p.m.

While he was asleep, I worked out, "going" 5 miles on the elliptical machine. That, of course, was after I set up the TV and DVD player so I could watch DVDs while I worked. I made a pile of phone calls, including one that I have been forgetting and putting off for lo these two months or so. I organized another section of the garage (an ongoing project). I broke down some boxes in the basement. I wrote some important emails. I worked up a sweat.

I think it's time for a certain sleepy boy to get up, though. I'm starting to get lonely.

:)

The Boy had a birthday. He is no longer a baby. He's a year old now. Crazy to think that just a year ago he was small enough to cuddle onto Daddy's arm and rest his head in Daddy's hand, that he barely knew how to be, that he was just meeting us and we, him, for the first times.

Now he's a big kid. He has things he likes (wheels, dogs, fish, books) and things he doesn't like (mommy going out of sight, boring car rides, ads on the radio). He likes to sing and talk and play, and has words he says, like "Mamama" and "Dadada" and "Dog" and "Fish".

And now he's a year old. (This is a preview of the birthday pictures, soon to come.) He had pictures taken in honor of the big day, and then the day arrived!

Most of the fun waited for evening. Some friends joined us for the obligatory birthday cake and presents, and Mark did not disappoint us in his joyous reaction to the cake. (Video will follow; I'll include a picture now.)

Perhaps you see a spot of icing in his hair. He was encouraged in patting his head by dear aunties Ericka and Melissa. When he did, and we all laughed, he cried, poor child. Friend Cara was hoping for some icing in the nose, as she did as a child. He did not disappoint in this either.

Gifts were opened, cards read, bows and paper played with. He toddled around the room, occasionally with no one's hand to hold, and then got worn out, and it was off to bath and bed.

Happy Birthday, Mister Sir, and many, many more. :) We couldn't have picked a more terrific little guy to call our own.

A year ago this weekend, we were trying to think of things to do that wouldn't be too far from taking off for the hospital if necessary (and we were hoping it would be necessary).

This year, it was Mark's first trip to the zoo. We spent only about an hour and a half there, as someone's naptime lasted a little too long to dedicate the whole afternoon to all creatures great and small. But I get in free, thanks to my employment at one of the greater Indianapolis area's cultural meccas. So only daddy had to pay. :)

We got tickets for the 4:30 dolphin show, so we had an hour to soak in all the excitement -- zebras (warmly viewed), giraffes (pointed at them with awe, including the new baby giraffe, pictured on the right), and probably the best, the lorikeets. In the lorikeet exhibit, the public may purchase food to feed the birdies. Apparently another small child got tired of his, so Mark got to feed the birds. This was a nice up-close adventure as the birds were right there, and Mark liked it a lot.

(This is a lorikeet.)

Then it was off to the Dolphin Adventure show. Unfortunately, this was the last show of they day, scheduled only on days there are a lot of people, and had the "second string" dolphins and dog as well. Mark was fairly interested in the dolphins but not for really long. There was a little boy next to us who he played with a little. But all in all, a fun time.

Then it was off for supper at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Yum yum! Mark found a girl to play with while we were waiting to be seated, then ate a whole jar of carrots, half of a big jar of apricots, and then the food came. I think he ate more spaghetti than his dad. :) Fell asleep on the way home and is fast asleep even as I write. Good day!

The baby made his debut as a historical interpreter yesterday for our annual Country Fair as an 1886 baby (Mark Stone) out with his mommy Alice for the Agricultural Improvement Society Fair and received rave reviews both yesterday and when he returned today in the glorious sunshine (instead of the chill of Friday).

He talked to the guests. He played with the children. He ran off with his Auntie Laura and had a high time, even finding a wonderful stick to play with for a while. He talked to the chickens. (Auntie Laura swears he said "Bawk" back to the chickens when they clucked at him, which is a possibility. Twice.) He LOVED the music of Saxton's Cornet Band as they played Civil War music on their period-appropriate instruments, and bounced, tapped and clapped along to the music.

And did I mention he was CUTE?

My fans are clamoring for a new blog entry. I didn't realize just how long it's been, but what I've had to say hasn't been worthy, I don't guess. But enough of that. It's story time.

Mark likes to sing along. I was singing "La la la" to him today and he was singing back, a sweet and tuneless "la la la". As his doting grandma can attest, his la's are excellent. We were taking our evening stroll (only seeing one dog, I might add) and I was la-ing and he was la-ing back.

This afternoon before his nap we were reading a story and I pointed out that the lady in the picture was waving bye-bye, and wouldn't you know, there Mark was, waving bye-bye. TOO cute, even though it is my own kid and I'm partial. And I had the page of the local paper that showed the dogs, cats and rabbits available for adoption at our local animal shelter, and offered to show him the dogs. He grabbed the page and sat on the paper staring at them.

Then of course, there are keyboards.

Please note what the child's feet are barely touching. We are operating from Grandma AJ's philosophy with Daddy: DON'T MISS THE PICTURE. You can get him down later. :)

And the computer keyboard, too. We thought, perhaps if he had one of his own, he wouldn't try to go for ours so much. So Grandpa Larry donated one from the collection. Mark seems to like it. And today, I sat at the computer and the only havoc the boy wreaked was by grapping small cords with his toes...

All right, fans. I hope this will do for now.