Playground

Check out the big boy at the playground.  He is so proud of himself, that he's big enough to climb the stairs and go down the slide by himself!

Monkey at the Zoo

I took last Friday off work because Snuggles' sitter was away on a retreat. Since I had to use a vacation day, I figured we should make it fun!  So we met some friends from church at the Nashville Zoo. I was a little nervous about taking Snuggles to the zoo by myself because Snuggles is quite a handful these days, and I really hate it when he misbehaves acts like a toddler in public. He gets restless when he has to sit still for long, and he pretty much throws a major tantrum refuses to ride in his stroller. To avoid him running off--and subsequently my having to chase him all day long--I decided to take his toddler leash, which is basically a cute, little stuffed animal/backpack with a strap attached for me to drag him along keep Snuggles within arm's length. I bought it several months ago for a trip, but I've never used it.... until now.

If you're a parent, you probably know toddler leashes are not without controversy. I used to watch people with their kids on leashes and I would think, "Good grief. Do they think their kids are dogs?!"  But now I have my own toddler, and I see those leashes in a whole new light.

As we drove to the zoo, I debated whether or not to use the leash... What will people think of me? They'll think I'm a bad mom.  To my surprise (and relief!) when I met up with my two friends (whose sons are close to Snuggles' age), they both had toddler leashes for their boys!  :)  So, there we were... three fine examples of motherhood moms with three rambunctious boys on leashes!

Here's a video of Snuggles right after I put the leash on him. (The noises you hear in the background are white- cheeked gibbons.)


You've heard of chasing your tail, but what do you do when your tail is chasing you?!  :)

I'm not gonna lie. Snuggles hated the leash. (And his friends hated theirs, too.)  But that leash saved my bacon at the zoo, and I will gladly use it again.

Guitarman in Honduras

Guitarman has been in Honduras for the past week (8 days to be exact) on a mission trip. I thought I would feel lonely while he was gone. I did miss Guitarman desperately, and I felt Taco's absence even more strongly while Guitarman was gone. But the good news?  I never once felt lonely because I had Snuggles to keep me company!  He seems to become more fun and entertaining everyday. 

Discoveries

I'll start this blog by being completely honest.  I'm hurting.  Taco died on August 31.  (For those who have been on another planet just recently found my blog, Taco was my dog, my best friend of 12 years.)  I'm not ready/able to blog about her death yet, but I'll get to that eventually because I know it will be therapeutic.

Meanwhile, I can't believe how profoundly I'm grieving. I'm heartbroken. And the fact that Guitarman is out of the country makes this week even more difficult.  The good news is: God knows just what we need when we need it.  While searching for a work-related file on my computer today, I discovered a folder of old videos I had downloaded when I replaced my phone.  The folder contained a bunch of old videos of Snuggles, videos I hadn't seen in quite awhile. Watching those short little video clips made my heart smile.

As I watched the videos of Snuggles, I realized the past year for Snuggles has not only been a time of growth physically, it's also been a year of discovery. Thankfully, his many discoveries have been too cute to resist recording. And so, I bring you a video archive of Snuggles' discoveries...

Kleenex (Subtitle: How to make a mess) - recorded Aug. 29, 2010


JELLO (Subtitle: Catching flies) - recorded Sept. 30, 2010



Mobility - recorded Feb. 17, 2011



Words (Subtitle: The Language Explosion Begins) - recorded Feb. 20, 2011



Drinking Fountain - recorded Feb. 23, 2011


Vacuum Cleaner (Subtitle: Proof that Mommy does clean) - recorded April 6, 2011


Climbing (Subtitle: The Monkey in Action) - recorded July 2011