13 Months

The weather is warming up again, the sun is out, the snow is melting, its lovely. Once Layden finishes his nap I think we will head out and enjoy some of this nice weather. These last few days I have been busy baking bread, working on painting the bathroom, and, of course, housework. The truly depressing thing about house work is that it is never done. You wash the dishes and unless you never eat again, there will soon be more. You sweep the floors and then they are dirty again, laundry never ends. So any one who thinks that being a staying at home mom isn't a full time job, think again. In fact it is more that full time, 12-20 hours a day (depending on child's age) 7 days a week, no benefits, no paid vacation, no vacations period. Don't misinterpret my complaints, there is no job I would rather have, on the whole it is a pretty good deal. I don't have to dress up, heck, if we had curtains I wouldn't even have to get dressed, except that our house tends to be a bit chilly. I don't have a commute. I am able to go for a walk on a sunny day, bake bread (big plus, store bought just can't compare), watch a movie. All that isn't the main benefit, I get to spend the day with Layden. I get to watch him learn to walk. I am there when the toaster starts smoking because he shoved a piece of paper in it and it has caught on fire. I am there when he runs about the house chasing the cat and giggling like a mad man. I am there for him to crawl onto my lap with on of his books, lean against me and smile (then he hits me with the book to make sure I get the point).

In this last month I have watched him become an accomplished walker, he rarely falls now, and I am so impressed when he pops back up still smiling. I have watched him figure stuff out, like how light switches work and that drawers open and stuff can be hidden in them. I have watched him learn how much fun a ball can be, he loves to play fetch (that sounds horrible), mommy or daddy throws the ball and he goes after it and brings it back. He knows who his daddy is and greats him with "dada da daddy dadada da da daddy", he walks over to his daddy and hugs his legs, he climbs onto his lap with a book, he still tries to gouge out the occasional eye and can be a bit violent but hopefully he will grow out of that, soon.