Most of the time I just go through the motions of the day. I’m sooo busy – balancing two businesses and being a full time mom, it’s not easy…. so while I absolutely love and cherish all the time I get to spend with my baby during the day, it can get to be repetitive. It’s kind of been like that the past few weeks since I’ve been so busy.

I realized that although I’ve been having a lot of fun with my little Zachary lately (we’ve had some really fun times recently) I hadn’t had one of those really special moments with my kid in a while. the kind of moment where all of the frustration from the day just floats away and you smile and realize…. this is why I thought I might want to have a baby…..

The last time I felt that way was a little over a month ago when I came back from being away for a week at a convention. I didn’t write about it on that blog post, but it felt so good to me that Zachary had missed me SO much. All he did the day that I got back was ask me for kiss after kiss. He loves when I kiss him on the forehead or cheek. :) Then later that day he didn’t want to leave my side – so much that he actually took a nap with me so he could stay as close as possible. He was so happy simply to be near me and that was such a wonderful day that I got to spend with my little boy.

So, to get to my point… Tonight we did something different as a family, and we all went to the mall together… at around 7pm. This is different because my husband isn’t much of a mall guy! But, Adrian’s been really into going to the gym lately and he needed some new running shoes, so we decided to check out the outlet stores at Sawgrass Mills. While he went to the shoe store, I took Zachary over to Burlington Coat Factory, a store I always like walking around in. They have some great baby items, and we ended up spending a long time in there while Adrian went to two different shoe stores trying to find something he liked (he didn’t find anything, unfortunately). Zachary and I looked at books (and bought a few) and also picked up some other random baby items that were priced much lower since we were at an outlet store.

When we got home, Adrian ran out to Publix to pick up a few necessities for the next day, since Zachary was out of his favorite cheese and juice. I started to get Zachary ready for bed. As I put him into his PJ’s we played a game where I asked him where his body parts were and he showed me. He pointed to his nose, head, mouth, hair, tummy, feet, and bellybutton. I was so proud of him that he knew his bellybutton and tummy. There are some things I haven’t really pushed with him, but it’s true that babies’ minds are like sponges; they just soak up soooo much. I was absolutely amazed. I asked him to show me his ears and he just looked at me. I asked if he knew where his ears were and he sort of shook his head no. I touched his ears and showed him, making him laugh hysterically. Then when he was finished with the game, he said his new word (I think he’s at 12 or 13 now), “done” – of course I was then overjoyed!

I finished getting him ready for bed and picked him up and sat down in the chair in his room and sang him a little song. he gave me a hug and then wiggled down to play with the dog. He kept playing peekaboo with me from behind his door. Then all of a sudden he leaped into my arms and curled up very close to me. His little head found that comfortable spot between my neck and shoulder and I stroked his back and enjoyed the feeling of his weight on my chest and the scent of his soft hair as he curled his legs up even further so he could get closer to his mommy. After a while he started to fall asleep so I gently put him in his crib. He looked over at me and pulled his blankie around him and rolled over, falling sound asleep.

I will cherish that memory forever. I know I’ll think back on it and remember exactly how he felt curled up in my arms, when my little boy is all grown up….

I finally managed to upload the video of Zachary saying Dada to Adrian…. and here it is! How cute!

Zachary said Mama!!!

It was more like Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma, but he said it while looking at me, and with intent (first time he needed his diaper changed after playing in the exersaucer for 30 minutes – second time he wanted a bottle)!

I am so excited – I absolutely cannot believe my baby said his first word at six months old!!!!!!

I had a feeling he would be an early talker (I was – at 7 months, according to my mom) but never guessed it would be THIS early!!! YAY!!!!!

To round out the cuteness of this post, here is another picture from his six month session: