“Da-Da” – First official word just in time for first Father’s Day!

Porter and I spent the weekend with Grandma Foley in Cedar Rapids and were fortunate enough to see Aunt Julie and Sam every day too!  Mom seems to be recovering really well from her hip-replacement surgery!!!

7 Months old this weekend!

Since we were with Grandma we didn't get to spend all of Father's day with Steve, but Porter did start saying 'Da-Da' on cue to mark his first official word on Father's day!  We recorded it and sent it off to him Dad that morning - Great present:)  As I said in a previous post he has been big on the 'La-la-la-la' (which Aunt Julie took full credit for).  I also noticed himsaying a quiet whisper 'T' repeatedly. There will be no stopping him soon! 

I thought of Dad fondly many times on Father's Day, but sadness hadn't really been a part of it until Porter Sam and I took a walk around the neighborhood, which is something we often did during family gatherings and something I think Dad really enjoyed.  I wished he was with us...and then I remembered he was :)

Crazy Week so far…

It has been an extremely hectic week so far. Starting with our return home from a weekend away at about 9pm on Sunday night…nephew's little league game Monday…Steve's sister Deb arrived for a visit Monday night…Tuesday…family dinner…last night tried to catch up on my disaster of a house and laundry a little before Porter and I go to visit Grandma for the weekend right after work tomorrow! What a whirlwind~ Whew!!! At least I have a little relief from my biggest worry of the week…My Mom's surgery. It sounds like it went really well and prognosis for her pain relief looks hopeful! What a reliefJ

Porter has been pretty good all week, but last night didn't sleep so well – so his Dad ended up sleeping with him on the couch. I remembered a few other notable Porter milestones that I didn't mention and noticed a few new ones:

• He has been reaching out to be picked up pretty consistently for a few weeks now!
  
• Like I said, he is doing a lot of jabbering…including a lot of "LA LA LA LA LA, DA DA DA DA etc", I swear I almost got him to say his dog's name 2 nights ago…."Ollllliiiiie"
  
• We got him to do a little waving good-bye yesterday at the sitter's….not sure yet if he knows what he is doing, but it is a start!
  
• I forgot to mention his mastery of the zerbert sound….he is a big fan and has been for the better part of a month, I would guess. It hasn't stopped entertaining him yet – not gonna lie we are a little worried ;)
  

Porter has had the chance to spend a little time with his Aunt Deb this week. She lives in Arkansas so has only met him one other time when he was pretty little. So it is great that she has the chance to get to know him right now when his little personality is emerging!

Steve and I are hoping to get the chance to play sand volleyball tonight…it has been a pretty rainy season so far and this week hasn't been an exception, I am afraidL

Dad and Mom

Dad passed away 3 months ago today, on the 16^th of March. Seeing it in writing is hard as I have found the hardest thing about adjusting to the loss of him is forgetting that he is gone and having to remember, over and over.

It doesn't seem right that the world just didn't stop in semi-permanent pause that night…but even in the wake of such a loss - the world doesn't wait around for you to be ready. So we keep on with the daily business of life, with only pictures, wonderful memories and his voice on the answering machine when I happen to miss Mom when I call – as his physical presence. We all miss him so much!


I have stolen this picture from my brother's blog as it is one of my most vivid and fond memories of my Dad. He loved to sit in that very spot, night after night at the house I grew up in – always accompanied by our dog, Magi.

On this three month anniversary I am thinking of my Mom. Not only has it been a long 3 months of adjustment to losing Dad, but she has been in a great deal of pain for some time as well. She will be having hip replacement surgery later this morning. I pray that she has a successful surgery, a quick recovery and that this eases her physical pain, at the very least - and maybe help her move forward in a positive direction.

We are going to try this again…starting now!

Porter is going to be 7 months already this coming Saturday (June 19^th – on Uncle Bruce's Birthday)!

Having him added to our life has been a big adjustment and a wonderful gift! He started out his life with a lot of tummy trouble…probably would be considered colic and has been battling a lot of ear infections for the first months of his life. This made him a pretty inconsistent, a little grumpy and not an excellent sleeper. These things together made our shift to parenthood a little less magical than we had hoped.

Now that he is feeling better most of the time and we have been able to get to know this mostly happy little guy that is so quickly developing quite a charming little personality and we are starting to get our bearings. Teething even only seems to bother him for short bouts at a time.

Big Porter happenings right now:

• Porter has his second front bottom tooth now poking through that is quite apparent when he flashes a big goofy grin!
  


• He rolls over with ease
  


• He is not crawling yet, but is very strong and stands up with support for long periods of time
  


• He is sitting up alone very well…though he still loses his balance from time to time (and has been for a few weeks now)
  


• Is eating all sorts of puréed fruits, vegetables and some meats and several types of cereal
  


• Is 22 lbs and some change….he has been eating VERY well, but is now slowing down, so we think he is just finishing up a little growth spurt
  


• Loves his Rainforest Jumperoo…which is a free standing jumper – which provides hours of entertainment and exercise…very fun to watch!
  


• Chatters, coos and mimics all of the time…he has been known to return a drawn out "Hiiiiiii" from time to time
  


• Has a beautifully contagious giggle
  


• Has acquired a new very throaty horse giggle lately he likes to try out lately that unfortunately makes him cough that unfortunately makes him hurl from time to time
  


• Just had his first weekend away from Mom and Dad – Grandma Foley and Aunt Julie were kind enough to take excellent care of him while we took a quick trip to celebrate our 6^th anniversary (and try to get some sleepJ)