Lots of Kinds of Guck

The word of the week (or, more appropriately, the last 3 weeks): STUCK.

You cannot possibly imagine all of the ways a 1-year old can come up with to use this word everyday. First thing in the morning, usually around 7:30, we hear the H-man waking up on the monitor. He's learned that "mama" or "dada" will get us there pretty fast, but "guck" (stuck) is the magic word. A few weeks ago, his leg got "guck" between the crib rails, and since then, if "guck" echoes down the stairs...well, mommy sets world records to get to Henry and rescue him. Sad to say, I think he's caught on, and now I hear 'guck' waaaaaayyyyy more than I care to admit -- too bad he's too young to understand "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," because I could use it about now.

When we're driving through town, and little man is tired of sitting in his carseat, he hits me again with that sweet monosyllabic command that we've come to know so well -- "Guck." Yeah, sure you are.

Same thing with his high chair.

Same thing with, oh yeah, ANY place he's ready to be up/out/away from.

It is also not unusual for Henry's toys to get "guck," and if such a tragedy occurs, it must be instantly remedied by the closest grown-up. A toy being stuck is just very traumatic and worrying to our boy. His brow knits, his hands go up in desperation, he may cry...you get the idea. The toy that most often gets stuck is this mini-mag light flashlight that Jared gave him to play with last week. For whatever reason, darling boy likes to put the flashlight into this ball-popping toy which looks kind of like a hamster maze. Anyway, the flashlight can get down the first tube, but as soon as it tries to make a turn in there, it gets caught up..."guck," if you will. Who knew that the ONLY way to get that thing out is to flip the whole hamster maze upside down and bang it on the floor? Betcha didn't...and neither did I...but I do now.

The cozy coupe gets "guck" making tight turns, the wagon gets "guck" in a similar way, balls get "guck" when they go too far under the couch, and Elmo gets "guck" when Henry throws him into the bathtub and can't lean in to get him out. Zippers are always "guck" because he can't work them yet, shirts get "guck" on the melon-head as mommy tries to take them off everytime (this 'guck' is more muffled because it comes out from under the offending garment), and ears are most certainly "guck" to the side of one's head.

When H first wakes up in the morning, we love to bring him down into our bed to snuggle for a few minutes before we all really get going. This used to be a quick-get-under-the-covers-using-pillows-like-a-big-boy kind of experience. Now, it's all about how fast he can realize that he can get up from the pillow to walk and jump down to the end of the bed, stick one or both legs between the mattress and the footboard, and call out - through giggles - our new favorite word. You guessed it. "Guck."

On another subject, baby brother (who has yet to be given a name) is now coming up on his 18th week! I'm feeling so much better these days, and a little bit of my old energy and vigor has come back. Key words: a little bit. I have felt a good amount of movement this past week, and Jared has been able to feel some kicks from the outside too! So, that's really exciting for us. I have my 'big' ultrasound on the 19th, so please send lots of healthy prayers our way for that. Since we forego all prenatal testing, this will be our first look at anything potentially diagnostic. We have every reason to think that things will go well, but over the past few years, I have formed such full awareness of and appreciation for how fragile these little lives are - and what an enormous blessing it is to be given a healthy baby. How humbling that we would receive even one such blessing! So, the 19th...thank you in advance.

Back to names - we've got it narrowed down to about our Top 42, so I'll let you know when we work that out. We're just a little 'guck' at the moment. Hopefully, the next ultrasound will reveal a child that 'looks' like one of our faves.

This weekend, we're headed to Baton Rouge for the biggest college football game of the season!! Keep an eye on #97...Al Woods...that's my sister's boyfriend and one of Henry's biggest buddies! Geaux Tigers!!