How is it possible that I have not blogged since October? So many times I think "I should blog about that" so how is possible that I never do?????? Oh yes, I have a 14 month old, that's how! We have also battled a couple of rounds of illness in the family and traveled over 1500 miles through the holidays, so please accept the sweet pic above as a token of my apology!
Short summary of the last few months and then I have seriously have some new topics planned to write about soon! It happened. The Little One (TLO) turned 1. *sniff, sniff* We had a great birthday party with lots of family and friends. She LOVED her cake, can you tell? And then she got to be the cutest pumpkin ever for halloween. It seems like every day she learns a new word. She only repeats the words when she wants to, of course. It seems at 3am when she wakes up to talk she can say anything she wants though! Silly girl. But who am I to judge, I only do things when I want to too.
The past year has been incredible. I didn't really understand what I was missing until we had this sweet bundle of joy in our lives. I also did not realize the utter destruction that a small child can accomplish! My dad noted that TLO can take everything out of her toy box and have a room destroyed faster than a tornado! And what is with the puppy-type chewing? On a recent 1 hour drive, I got home to discover this: No, it's not the first and I'm sure it won't be the last. But surely a book can't taste good, right? She's working on those stupid molars (1 of 4 are through and the last 3 are painful for all of us!) So any molar teething suggestions will happily be accepted! I happen to think if you can destroy a hard book with only 9 teeth you must not need the rest! 
Too many changes are happening too fast at this point. Just. Too. Fast! I had truly planned to keep TLO turned rear-facing in her car seat until she was 2 which is the recommendation. But at 13 months I turned her forward for the aforementioned 1500 mile car trip. Bad mom? No, just a mom trying to keep sane on the trip and not kill my back anymore than necessary. Because in my other "bad mom" move I set up the iPad on a holder in the car so she could watch Elmo on the trip. She didn't get to watch it very much in the car, but when it was playing she was one happy little traveler! 
We are also in the process of taking down the baby gate and allowing more freedom in the house. To this point, she's been able to play in the living room, dining room, kitchen and entryway. The gate was up in the hallway leading to the laundry room, bedrooms and bathrooms. This was partly to keep her safe but also to give the cat a safe place to exist too. But the time has come that she can tear the gate down pretty quickly and she really needed to be able to get to her own room to play. So the solution was to put a cat door in our bedroom door to allow the cat an escape. I guess TLO understood the concept of a cat door...or else she wanted to give the real cat a little company? This is what I found when I went to put TLO to bed last night. Sweet girl! I have some furniture to get strapped to the wall as well. If you haven't secured your furniture, please read this to remember the consequences. It's not easy to read as a parent, but being a parent isn't easy, right? Love, Light, Laughter and Chocolate - One Mom's Journey I would love to hear how much freedom you allow. Has your child always been allowed free reign? Are you a babygater or an openhouser? I happen to think there's no right or wrong answer, just the answer that works for each family.
Thank You Father for the safety you provided us during our travels, for the health you have restored us to and for the family we were able to visit. Thank You for blessing our lives this past 14 months! Please continue to keep us safe as we go through this next year, help me to grow in my walk with You, to develop more as a mother and to be a better wife. Please continue to help The Little One grow and learn and for me to know how best to help her do these things. Amen.
I've missed your blog and am so glad you are starting up again. What an eye-opener it was to read the story of the child who died because her dresser fell on her. I remember my own mother telling me years before she died that our oldest brother, your dad's cousin Ron McClurg, wanted to climb to the top of a heavy walnut six-drawer bureau, and she discovered he had pulled out the drawers like stairsteps to get to the top. It toppled forward, and would have smashed him, had the bottom drawer not caught and stabilized it. Blessings to all who have lost a child from this unknowing risk ... thanks for sharind the link.
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