Things we are thinking about....

First, some nice pictures and then on to the heavy stuff-

Here is Bright self-feeding, sort of. Notice we have moved on to plastic bibs with a sweet pocket at the bottom to catch all the runoff. Here we have a favorite at lunch time- Rice Krispies. Not a nutritious meal, but a good way to keep the boy's hands busy while we get some more substantial food in him. He now self-feeds sweet potato chunks, cheddar cheese, veggie booty, fruit puffs, cheerios, banana chunks, and apple chunks. Take that pediatric gastroenterologist!

Then we have Bright and Mommy on the couch- he is eating the remote. We used to try like mad to keep it out of his hands which just caused meltdowns- his or mine, depending on the day and patience level, but now we just let him have it. It amuses him for a few seconds and then he is off to something else.


Here we have Bright and his dad engaged in some nice play time- which was soon followed up with some hair pulling and feet to the ears.

Now the things that have been on our minds- Andy is hoping that the guy whose Christmas tree blew out of the back of his pickup and smashed into our car front on the road this weekend doesn't mess with us too much in the process of getting it fixed. He said he wanted to estimates- got 'em- and then thinks that he is getting jacked with inflated prices. Should have just gone through insurance with it instead of taking him on good faith. Crap. Stressor #1.

Stressor #2- Bright has lead in his blood. Not a lot but it's there- something like 3 point I can't remember how much. At 10 they get concerned, so his is considered normal. Where did it come from?? It's not naturally occurring so it must be something in the environment. None of his toys are on the recall list, this place is too new to have lead paint... Maybe the water? Andy did a quick screen for the presence of lead and damn, there it is. Crap #2. The little boy is only 10 months old and has had very little exposure to the water here so what will it be like in a few months or a year? Need a bigger, better filter.

Stressor #3 was hastened by #2- to buy or not to buy a house. Several tempting ones, all with drawbacks though too. Location here is supreme, but too many gossipy retirees that watch our every move, lead in water a definite drawback, lake is supreme plus, not wanting to touch the nest egg we have built is tough too. Too many unknowns in that decision. If only there was a rich relative sitting on a pile of cash out there......hello?? anyone?? :)

But on a positive, somewhat crazy note- Bright continues to live up to his name. Yesterday all of us were in the living room, each doing our own thing when I said "Have you seen my cat? Where is my cat?", from the Eric Carle book that we read to Bright regularly. He stopped what he was doing, looked up at me and crawled over to his books that were all strewn around the floor, dug through until he found the book and held it up for me with a huge smile. Holy mackerel! I love him.