Seven Quick Takes

Here are our seven weekly quick takes.  This week has been crazy in the weather department. Yes, I'll open right up by talking about the weather because I'm 95% geriatric, 3% pre-pubescent girl, and 2% in my thirties.

ONE

We started the week in shorts and short sleeves and I'm ending it in my jeggings, boots, and a cardigan.  Did we skip fall and go straight to winter?  Come on, North Carolina!  I'm already upset with you because you skip spring and go right into summer, but to leave out fall?  It's enough to make me want to move to Florida where at least I know what I'm getting into, so I won't have any Autumnal Expectations.  But, if we moved to Florida, we'd have to live in Miami because Andres is Colombian and it's Latin Law that you have to live in Miami.  Dre lived in Miami after college.  He had to.  It's the law.  I am not Colombian, or Argentinian, or Peruvian, Honduran, Cuban, Panamanian, what have you.  So I would 100% NOT fit into the Spanish speaking side of the culture and would also 100% be there for the ceviche.  Wow.  This digressed off the digression.  Moving on.

TWO

See?  Short sleeves and shorts.  But the point of this quick take is, how cute he is doing sticker work?  He takes the stickers from my hand, puts them on his little chubster arm, and then they make it to the paper.  Adorable.

THREE

My mom sent Max a Leap Frog Learning dvd in the mail last week.  It's called Letter Factory and it's really good!  It teaches the letters and their sounds to music and we watch it about every other day.  I'm really happy to hear Max imitate the sounds during the songs.  He especially enjoys imitating the "n" sound.  He also enjoys pressing all the buttons on the dvd player, as seen above.

THREE 

See?  See the weather I was talking about?  Long sleeves, pants, and a jacket!  A bonus is that we were the only ones at the playground this day because this mama ain't afraid of no cold drizzle.  That's not me trying to be all "what the hizzle?", that's literally "cold drizzle" as in "frigid moisture falling from the sky."  Just so you know.

FOUR

That would be Max walking up the stairs and preparing to slide down the slide all by himself.  He did not need to hold my hand on the stairs.  He did not need my help in scooting close enough to the edge of the slide so that he could go down.  And with that he's one step closer to college.  My big boy.

FIVE

Did anyone see the Elizabeth Smart 20/20 (or maybe it was Dateline?) last Friday night?  No? You were out having a social life instead of sitting on the couch with a bowl of ice cream and your husband and Meredith Vieira?  Losers.  Anyways, as a result I'm really curious about Mormonism now.  Not, like, looking to convert, but "wow, this is interesting to learn about" kind of curious.  So, I checked out about 5 books on Mormonism and the FLDS from the library. Had my mom been a radical unschooler, my knowledge would now consist of the following three things:

1.  Mormonism

2.  The Irish Potato Famine

3. How to make brownies

So thank goodness for public school.

SIX

Ok.  This one is going to be serious.  Sometimes I feel really guilty that Max is behind in his speech.  When I go down this trail I start thinking maybe I didn't talk to him enough, or talk to him in the right way.  Or maybe I talked too much so that he didn't have to?  Or that maybe I gave into too many of his grunts and points when he was little and wasn't supposed to be saying words anyway that he never bothered to learn and use language because I let him get away with pointing.  To help at home, I make him use a word or a sound instead of just signing, whining, or pointing when he wants something.  Yesterday, when a friend was over, I tried to make him say "juice" or "want" or "me" instead of just pointing and whining for juice.  He wouldn't do it.  I gave in, because I don't want Max to feel frustration, especially over food/mealtimes.  But he didn't even attempt a sound other than a whine, and I felt like such a failure as a mom.  Please understand that I am not disappointed in Max in any way. I am so happy with the way God made him.  I am not frustrated with him over this, I am not sad because of anything he does or does not do.  If Max never spoke a single word in his life, I could not imagine being any less proud of him or in love with him than I am now.  He is my perfect little boy and my miracle that I waited so long for.  What I'm trying to say is that I just sometimes feel mom guilt over this, and it's a deeper guilt than the usual everyday mom guilt.

SEVEN

Whew.  That felt really good to get off my chest and into the blog world full of random strangers. :)  Happy Weekend!