Never Enough Time

I have all of these grand plans for the old blog, really I do, but man, this parenting thing is a little time consuming, ya know? I really admire those bloggers who actually manage to post regularly. I really wish I could be that disciplined. My main goal for this blog is to have a record. To be able to look back and see what Fletcher was doing and when. Or, if I really get ambitious, maybe I would throw in a few observations or an explanation or two. For instance, I would love to do a post like this one, kind of summing up the little things, the memories that will fade in a few months or years or one like this, which does a wonderful job of expressing the mixed feelings of pride and sadness at seeing your child struggle to accomplish the things others take so easily for granted. I feel like this on nearly a daily basis, and maybe some day I will share these observations and feelings in this blog (by the way, could those boys be any cuter?? They were born the same day as Fletch at roughly the same gestational age, and I really enjoy this blog because it kind of gives me an idea of what Fletcher would like to be doing if his body was more cooperative).

Unfortunately, my main goal has yet to be accomplished. Since my last post we have done so many things. A big trip to Texas to see Trevor's family, including Fletcher meeting his Grandpa Smykay for the very first time, more botox, insurance woes, a golf tournament with Fletcher and me serving as honorary chairmen, the list goes on. I really do plan to blog about some of those things, eventually. Tonight, however, I plan to take a small step toward that goal. So in a year or two when someone asks me what age Fletcher started to self-feed, I can say, let me check my blog... oh, on July 8, 2008 he started to independently eat little crunchies.*

Okay, a couple of clarifications for purposes of full disclosure. I may be stretching when I say self-feed or independently, as I do have to position the crunchie just so, in a way where he is able to hold it but it still sticks out far enough to get it into his mouth. But, to me it is the first step to self-feeding, and the only one we may see in awhile as he is nowhere close to holding his bottle or sippy cup on his own, so I'll count it.

Here is a little photographic proof. I regularly encourage him to hold his finger food or utensils and he always tries to get them into his mouth, and sometimes does, but has problems holding them there (what I call a "feeding drive-by"). The first picture is when I first noticed he was actually managing to eat the crunchie, but I thought he was pinning his arm with the ball and that was how he was managing. But, to my surprise, I took the ball away and he was still managing to get the food to his mouth and keep it there long enough for the bite.

So, there it is, my first pseudo-real-time report about Fletcher's development. Hopefully there will be more timely updates to come.

Until then, I also just have to post my current favorite picture of the little guy. It is just an informal shot Trevor took while Fletch was doing a little stander time in the kitchen the other morning. First haircut is on the horizon, so enjoy the crazy 'do while you can!

* For you non-toddler-moms, a crunchie is basically a cheese puff, but by a different name so we can pretend that we are not feeding our kids junk food.