Now, I have so much to say that I don’t know where to start! I’m also terrible at writing anecdotes and remembering things that aren’t written as “and then, and then, and then” statements.

But, I’m going to attempt, since if I don’t I’ll beat myself up for it later. Here goes:

We are moving in less than two weeks. It’s here: Crunch Time. We’re frantically packing, even though we *tried* to be prepared and pack ahead of time and get whatever we could done. We’re cramming visits – tomorrow some friends from Atlanta are coming down and then we’re having dinner with Joshua’s mom and siblings (Sarah and Scot are coming up from Florida), then we need to make another visit out to Joshua’s Grandmommy. Not to mention we need to pack the rest of our apartment and clean so we can cheerfully hand over the keys next Thursday. (Oh. my. God. Next Thursday. Holy cow.)

Thankfully, we’ve spent a lot of time with Joshua’s parents this past week. The yard sale was Friday and Saturday so we went over Wednesday to help set up and pick Noah up after a Nana Playdate, and then went back Thursday to finish setting up and spend the night. We didn’t get home until Sunday morning. Noah had a blast the entire time as he played outside on the plasma cars and rough-housed with his uncles. The poor boy has two skinned knees, two skinned elbows and bug bites. He was so covered in dirt Friday that I had to hop in the tub with him to get him clean enough.

Oh, yes, for some reason Noah stopped taking baths alone. He promptly freaks out and tries to climb out of the tub. It does seem to be getting better, thankfully, as the last time I gave him a bath (yesterday), he continued to play even after I got out. Phew!

He’s such a character though, seriously. Last Thursday, we were outside and he was calling for “Daddy” and I said “Josh!” to get Joshua’s attention. Noah grins and starts saying “Josh! Josh! Jooosh!” over and over. We figured it was just a one-time thing, or maybe he thought it meant “come here!” but Joshua did something later – I can’t remember what – and Noah goes “Jooosh…” like he’s scolding him. Goofball.

He’s also saying two word sentences which is just awesome. He looooves avocado which is great for his anemia and he’s been doing better about getting food and drinking juice.

I really do get this stuff written down, I swear, but Twitter and Livejournal are so easy because I don’t feel like I have to be coherent or put effort into writing a full entry. That, and LJ is for certain eyes only. ;-)

Well, I think I’ve successfully written an entry. It may be all over the place and badly written but I’m calling it good, for now.

I am so tired that I don’t want to be awake but I haven’t had my “me time” tonight. Well, I guess I have now, but Noah fell asleep about thirty minutes ago and I’m used to around an hour or two before I go to sleep. If I don’t unwind I end up stressed out the next day.

I think tomorrow will be a good day though. We’re going out to the recycling center to get some newspaper for our fragiles and we’ll start packing those up. We’re also still rooting through our stuff…it’s amazing what we have and don’t need. I’ve been tempted to go through Noah’s toys because he has so many and he’ll get more but it’s hard to do that. Everything has sentimental value for me. Maybe I’ll grab the stuff that I absolutely can’t get rid of and that he doesn’t play with and stick it in his baby box to deal with some other time.

Clothes are another thing that are hard for me. Memories are attached to EVERYTHING but I don’t want my life to be lived in the past. I need to make room for our future, as corny as that sounds. Even if this falls through and we’re stuck here, we need more space.

On a cuter, more journal-type note, Noah did something adorable today. (Yeah yeah, what’s new? =P) He went over to the computer desk and got our attention for something. Joshua offered the mouse – no. He offered the top DVD on Noah’s stack of DVDs (we didn’t pack his) – no. He offered the entire stack – yes. Then Noah proceeded to pick up each DVD case, consider it and then put it back down. Oswald kept his attention the longest and it really looked like he was reading the back of the DVD case the way someone reads the back of a book. Oswald was put down though in favor of Bob the Builder, which Noah brought over to me with this adorable pleading expression. Joshua was already headed to the room to get his laptop and I said, “Daddy is gonna do it! Go get Daddy!” so Noah GRINS and runs after Joshua.

He was incredibly impatient while Joshua got the laptop and was singing “Bob! *gibberish* Bob!” down the hallway along with Joshua who was singing the theme song. He kept handing me the DVD case because Joshua was taking too long (according to mister impatient) and kept trying to mash buttons on the laptop to turn the movie on while it loaded. Then, when it turned on, he sang along to the theme song (and Noah has NOT seen Bob the Builder often) and clapped and cheered when the characters did.

I can’t believe it, but I can. He’s so brilliant and he has such a strong, amazing personality. He’s real and incredible in every way. I guess I really do have a toddler, huh? Eep!

Soon after that, Joshua and I took him into the water! Ohhh he liked that. At first he was mad because he wanted to keep playing with the sand but then he saw that there was a huge bath tub with more sand and he wanted to get in. I had bought a panda float for him to chill out in and he thought it was the bee’s knees to splash in the water while being toted around the…water.

I should interject and say that the beach we took him to isn’t really a beach, exactly. It’s more like a big lake with sand on the people-accessible area, as it’s smack dab in the middle of Callaway Gardens. Gorgeous scenery, clean water that, with the sun out that day, was the perfect temperature. This means there aren’t huge waves or lots of salt or crabs or anything, which is nice.

After swimming, (at this point he had on a white shirt and his hat in addition to his *gasp* Imse Vimse swim diaper!), he plunked down to play with the sand some more. Then he got brave and started wandering around, (under the watchful eye of three adults, mind you), exploring the different sand (wet versus dry) and eating sweet potatoes (out of a jar – Noah is currently back to eating purees to minimize pain and damage on his tooth). I did end up taking Noah out one more time but for the most part, he hung out under the umbrella, playing with sand. He learned very quickly that he didn’t want to eat the very neat new toy (ugh, and I thought I didn’t like grits) so whatever kept him happy made me happy.

Plus, since he’s such a pale kid, we were worried about him getting sunburned. I applied sunblock liberally throughout the trip and made sure he was in the shade as much as possible.

It was such a success, and Noah loved it so much, that we’re going again on Friday. I’m really excited because I had a TON of fun. I had bought a new bathing suit a few weeks ago from JCPenney for about $13 (after store credit, sales and a coupon – originally $68!) and I LOVE it. I mean I really do – I tried it on just for kicks and knew the second I saw myself in the mirror that I just had to have it. I will be using this swim suit for a long time, that’s for sure. It really helped my self esteem to know that I can still knock guys over (or rather, one guy in particular…) after carrying Noah. Actually, to be entirely honest with myself, my stomach is in pretty good shape. The only thing that holds me back from wearing a bikini is my stretch marks…well, that and my sense of modesty. I just don’t see the need to flaunt it – I’ve got my man. ;-)

Anyway, swimming was incredible. I missed being in the water. I used to swim every single summer day in Houston (when it wasn’t raining – and even then, sometimes I did on those days, too) because I loved it so much. The last time I went swimming I was about five months pregnant and Noah didn’t like being submerged in water like that. I guess the pressure irritated him because he would squirm and roll and push and make it really uncomfortable. I couldn’t really take baths either, that’s how bad it was. So swimming was a real treat. I plan to start going to our local community pool next week for some extra exercise.

All in all, I had high expectations for this summer and even if it’s pretty dull from here on out (Hah!) I’m satisfied. I even got a bit of a tan, finally! Joshua, on the other hand…

It’s really made a difference in our life. This semblance of structure makes it easier to eat well, clean, go out, spend time together…whatever. I don’t have to wonder if I’ll be up before noon the next week – I know I will.

I also find that Noah is happier and gets better rest when he sleeps in the same time frame every night. He wakes up cooing and playing and smiling and just so, so affectionate. It’s so sweet, in the morning, to reach my hand down and have him grasp it so we can walk to the playroom together. The feel of his hand in mine is so unique and different and heartwarming. He does this at other times, too, but somehow, in the morning, it seems like we’re on a special Mommy-Son frequency, communicating to each other by little acts of love, like hand holding or kisses or even pouring a drink into his sippy cup.

Being a mother is so wonderful.

(Now if only I could figure out how to make myself sleep by midnight and how to make his naps a little more consistent…)

He does far better than I expected him to, as well. I kind of expected him to eat the crayon (not out of the picture, either, because I fully expect him to get curious if orange actually tastes like orange) or hold it awkwardly and therefore not be able to actually draw. Instead, he’ll adjust it in his hands (or ask me to do it), then he’ll make marks on the paper that get better each time he tries. I’m pretty impressed, to be honest, because I don’t have much hand-to-eye coordination. In fact, I’m a bit of a klutz, and have been since I was a child.

Anyway, the slight problem with the fact that he likes to color is that anything white is his canvas. We live in an apartment, where we can’t paint our walls. You see where I’m going with this, right?

Yeah. He totally colored on our bedroom door when I wasn’t looking. It has a gorgeous red scribble about 6 inches below the doorknob and he seems really proud of it. I took the crayon away like a good mother (albeit a bit delayed) and so he grabbed his baby carrot, which looks suspiciously like an orange crayon, and tried to color with that! And yet, how could I be angry? My son saw something that looked like a really big piece of paper and he thought he should fill it up. I’m actually kind of proud.

As for the lease and apartment rules…well, they’ll have to paint anyway, so I’m not all that worried about it. We’ll probably be here for a few more years and it wouldn’t surprise me if a couple more slip ups happened but at least I learned my lesson – supervise those crayons! I have a little artist on my hands. ;-)