Growing Heath

So on the blog to-do list is share about our Portland vacation in June and pictures of our new place in Blacksburg post updates. But before we can tackle those posts we know the information you really want is about the little man. So here's the rundown-

Heath is about 22 lbs and still has his round face but it is growing more little boy like and less baby chub looking. His hair is getting longer and curlier and still blonde. J doesn't want to cut it even though I think he has mullet days where a trim is in call. Heath is standing alone on his own for longer stretches of time. Yesterday he pushed his truck around our house for 8 laps and when he'd get to the living room he would let go if his truck, stand and applaud himself, then take another lap. Everyone says walking is in his future 'any day now.' They've all said that for several months now and we are not in any rush, appreciating the immobility for what it is now.

Here is goldilocks with Grandpa and Grandma Manz the second week of July

His new school has been very loving and he has enjoyed exploring all the new toys. They have had two water days where they've brought in a blow up pool and we send him in his swim trunks for a morning dip. He splashes a lot and loves playing with the other kids. He comes home messy almost every day which we think is a good sign that they are having a lot of fun. We always try to figure out what the craft was that day by the color on his shirt or the paint under his nails.

One big adjustment at Heath's new school was naptime. Instead of having his own crib in the room and napping when he wants, they do a class nap time from 12-2pm and everyone has their own cot. I said 'good luck with that.' And of course he shocked us all when on day 1 he slept the full 2 hours after getting patted on the back and fussing for only 30 seconds before falling asleep. This is the same kid who is lucky to have one 20 min. nap for us at home, per day! So he is sleeping great and ready to crash at night. After some adjusting we are keeping him up until 8pm when possible so that he can sleep longer in the morning, which lately is until 6:45am (much better than the 4:30am days a short week ago).

As always, Heath is a champ when eating. He nurses in the morning for some bedtime snuggling and then has breakfast, lunch and a snack at school with friends. Then he eats a good dinner after we get him at home and most nights a brief nursing an hour before bed. After such a rough start in breastfeeding, I never thought we'd make it to 14 months. It seems a bit unreal and without having pre-planned this far into the future, we are just playing things by ear and eliminating nursing times as Heath leads. I'm grateful for the experience, and also thankful to be done with the pumping hours during work. I feel like these past few months have been the best of nursing coupled with morning and evening snuggles.

Heath's language development is really starting to take off. He is pretty chatty on his own or with us. We found him in the living room 'reading' a book to himself this week and turning pages. When we were in Portland in June he said 'Mama' in an official first word way- he knew what he was saying and so did we. He has also said 'Dad' which is a bit more like 'Daaa.' After starting his school here he began saying 'Uh-ooohhh' which is precious. He'll also say just the 'oooh' part which I try not to laugh at when disciplining him for intentionally dropping food just to say it. Heath is also saying 'hi' a lot in all different kinds of tones, and usually wrinkles his nose a bit when he says it and looks a whole lot like his Mama. A favorite word now is 'Ball' which he loves to play catch with and roll back and forth. And the way he says it sounds a little more like Bauwl, which is pretty cute.

Sorry for the long post and time lapse between posting, hopefully you feel brought up to speed on Heath!