One month left...

We have one month left until Wyatt turns two.  Until he is, officially, a toddler, and not a baby. Oh, he will still be my baby... he'll always be my baby... but I reckon I ought to really (really) stop calling him "the baby".
For reals.

{walking to the post office}

As I type, he is upstairs taking a nap.  Today has been a busy day.  I am packing and doing laundry and trying to figure out what strange meals I can make with the food we have left considering the ingredients we are missing... kind of a "food adventure" if you will.

Yesterday I was having anxiety. Horrible, heart pounding, crazy-inducing anxiety.  I woke up in what felt like the middle of a panic attack.  Finally, I surrendered and took one of my anti-anxiety pills. I hate to take them, I'm not sure why. Maybe I feel like I am giving in when I take them.

{the steps up to the rail in front of our house}

I was grateful to wake up today feeling better. Wyatt must have known I was feeling better this morning cause the kid threw some killer tantrums.  It's weird, he doesn't like being told no. And he doesn't like being told what to do. And he doesn't like trying on clothes so his mother can decide what to take to Washington or not.  Hmm... he must be trying on his "terrible twos" before they officially arrive.  That's just like him to be doing his homework, hitting milestones early and testing his mother!

All jokes aside, the next week is going to be a tough one for him (and therefore me).  A lot of changes and transitions, and I am just praying we are up for the challenge.  

Let me give you an example.  Wyatt has napped, in his bed, after being rocked to sleep in the dark,  in his bedroom upstairs, for NINE MONTHS. He has not missed a single nap since we arrived in Marshall back in August.

Saturday during nap time, we will be in a busy airport terminal awaiting our flight out of Bethel.

{snack picnic on the rail}

Also, Wyatt has not sat in a car seat (except twice when Josh took him to the clinic by himself) since August.

He hasn't sat in grass, seen traffic or listened to the radio.

And as nervous as I have been for myself, (Will I get overstimulated?  Will I miss the quiet of Marshall? Will I adjust quickly?) I hadn't given much thought to how Wyatt or the twins would react.  Until last weekend. I started thinking of the logistics of travel: backpacks, snacks, entertainment.  Then it dawned on me that nap time would be disrupted, and I started making mental checklists of all the things that will seem foreign to him. And them.

I am hopeful that if I remain calm, he will feel safe and trust that we know what the heck we're doing.  And I hope that since his body is on such a good routine, he will sleep wherever and whenever I need him to, despite the distractions.  (Hey, a girl can dream!)

Meanwhile, I am looking forward to being home and planning his birthday party.  It's going to be Super Why themed, and I can't wait!  Last year he had Hand, Foot & Mouth disease, so he didn't really do the whole "party" thing and he didn't open his presents.  He mostly cried.

{Playing on the tundra in front of our house.
Our bedroom window is the top second from the right.}

This year I am hoping for smiles, laughter and a whole load of messy-faced-cake-eating!

{June 18, 2011}

We love you, Super Wy. 

You are such a blessing to our family!