more milestones...

or shall I say mile"groans"- I only joke about this because of course I want Owen to progress and advance as all parents truly want for their kiddos, but I groan because my little baby is GROWING UP!

I just packed away the bottles (sniffle, sniffle). I am relieved to have broken the habit successfully, but sad that the era of his baby days are over. In fact, other than diapers and a "baby" carrier, he's more toddler than baby. So, we are now onto the search for the perfect sippy cup. It's been quite an unfruitful quest so far so, if you have a tried and true suggestion for me, I'm all eyes. We haven't progressed from his carrier yet because, one, he's only 17 pounds and we haven't needed to advance, but two, winter here is really cold and yuck and the carrier keeps him far more cozy than a coat would, so he doesn't even own a coat.

I shopped for a coat for him for next year yesterday. It was another sad experience of mystery and ultimate empty-handed shopping. I saw this really cute "big boy" coat that appeared that it might fit him next year and I looked at the size tag and it was 12 months-ugh. I put it on him and it hung about 4 inches too big in the arms and waist, which probably means I should've bought it but I was too sad to get him a coat for an infant when he would be wearing it as a 2 year old.

I realize, once again, I am not majoring on the majors and that many people would say, oh just get what fits and be happy he's healthy, blah, blah, blah-ok, duh. I know that stuff. I am. But as his mommy, I'm sad for the little things that make it a challenge to give him a normal life. Here's a perfect example: I was searching for the perfect outfit for him to wear for 15 month pictures. I must shop in the 6-9 months clothes. Since it's so cold here I wanted to get something with an essence of spring but not shorts and certainly not a wintery sweater, etc. Well, 3 major department stores later, I came home with a pillow for me (which Tim has stolen) and a "dust buster" for the boys since I'm tired of sweeping up their crumbs. Note here how I didn't mention the perfect outfit. Why? Because, things that are 6-9 months size look babyish. Part of me doens't mind, but I hate it when people ask me how old my baby is and seem shocked when I say 15 months. I can help him look a bit more age-appropriate by dressing him like his age and not size-but we run into problems (as all parents with short stature kids discover and must cope with) with how darn challenging it is to get things -most of which must be tops and bottoms, to fit him right.

Um, that might've been a bit of a not-so-well thought out paragraph. Anyway, to end on the positive, it is fun to have him at the mall now and see him walk across the play area and other parents look at him like he's a prodigy since he looks too small to be walking;-)

Better go so I can prepare for Lafayette's 3rd blizzard in a year! (for those of you wondering #1 was Feb 14th 07, #2 was mid-Dec 07 and #3 is supposed to hit tonight-milk, bread and eggs-oh my!)