the crockett family: Proud mom of a hefty boy

It's 9 o'clock on a Friday night. I have been alone for an hour now, listened to "From this Moment On" on the music channel, started a load of laundry, and I am lost. I am not sure what to do. But I am determined to save the new episodes of "Keeping up with the Kardashians" until Scott gets back; we have a lot to catch up on! This may be the first time I have sat down with a clear mind in a very long time. I am actually not squeezing this in on my lunch break. Stress free? What is that? I am not sure I am there quite yet, but it may be a start. I am a little shocked tomorrow is the 1st of September. I bought Gaines some fall and holiday outfits today so I am ready!

I got scolded last weekend by a friend for not posting enough about Gaines. I have been slacking a good bit. I just realized I haven't given a true update on my hefty boy in awhile. So this is an attempt to track his growing and also share his cute face with you. It may ramble on, but hey, I am alone and I can type all I want to.

As you may have noticed from his cute little tractor tracker above, Gaines is almost 16 months!!!! I am not real sure how I feel about this. We went for a checkup and shots last month. His roster reads like this:

For whatever these percentiles are worth...

Weight: 25 pounds 4 ounces(60%)

Height: 30.5 inches (30%)

Head: 20 inches (95%)

Walking: yeah right

Talking: non stop

Still not walking at 16 months is not something you really want to admit for fear of being judged and compared by other moms (or maybe thats just me). Everyone once in awhile I will worry about it for few minutes, but overall I haven't been too stressed about it. I really thought the doctor would get on to us last month, but he was cool about it. Said he will do it eventually. For Gaines, this will definitely be on his own terms. He so has a mind of his own. If we try to practice walking back and forth to me and Scott, he will look at me and say No and shake his head. I'll give him that - he definitely knows what he wants. So I figure maybe one day he will say yes. The last week he is getting better at walking holding your hand. I have had this fear that he won't be walking at his 2 year birthday. I have had several people tell me their own stories about late late walkers. Scott jokes we will send him to kindergarten in a walker. In his own time, I guess.

I think his talking has taken my worry off the walking issue. Around his first birthday he starting saying a few things like uh-oh, bye-bye, ball, dog, boo, shoe, socks. I went through a stage where I wasn't really sure if he was saying those things or not. But he was and maybe more. He quickly moved to saying Rob, thank you, cheese, juice, GG, Mammaw, Gaines, Sponge bob, eyes, circle, square, purple, green, etc. by 14 months. He also says two, three when you count :) Last month he started saying 'lo' and putting the phone to his ear (that doesn't speak well for me). He will say names like Thomas (the train), Joker (the little people version), Jack (his BFF) and Dr. Dye (his ENT). Call me crazy but he is saying some phrases. He will play with balls for probably 4 hours a day if he could. If it rolls out of sight, he says "wheres the ball". A few weeks ago he said "mo mo peas" which is either oatmeal please or more please during breakfast. The other night the three of us had our first conversation. Apparently Gaines has learned the word mine. I noticed it last week but didn't think much of it. Well, Gaines was playing with the music part of a broken crib mobile saying 'mine, mine, mine' over and over. When he put it down, Scott took it. Gaines crawled right to him and took it back saying 'mine, mine'. I said that's mine. Gaines said 'no, no, no' shook his head and 'that's mine'. This morning we were eating breakfast and he got mad when I told him that was mama's poptart; he was eating his own too though.

He does a few other weird things. He loves to try to put his own socks and shoes on. The newest quirks are not coming to mind but he definitely has Scott's OCD tendencies :/ I guess that is enough bragging for one post.....now lets look at some pictures.

I must confess I have not been a good photographer the last few months. I will do better. Let me get some advice first. I want a portrait of Gaines - I thought at 1 year but I really want him to be walking or at least standing up good. If I wait much longer he will be old! What ages did you have portraits taken or just photo sessions. I keep going back and forth. If I do it now and wait a month and he starts walking, I will want to do it over... Decisions are not my strong suit obviously.

He loves to feed Daddy, but Daddy does not love getting fed.