To Blog a Davidson: Friday Facts and Photos

This week has been a memorable one, especially with Connor. It is so joyous to watch his vocabulary, skills, and personality grow more each day. He is currently trying to string words together to form his own version of a story (more below about that), and he is just so funny it's hard to believe...or maybe it's just that I'm his mom and I think most everything he does is adorable. :) Besides that, the week has been a flurry of activity. Here are a few of my random notes since last Friday:

- Jason accidentally ran over a frog in our garage last weekend, and Connor somehow happened upon it. Ever since, he has been saying "roggy" over and over again. Eventually he also somehow learned the word "dead" (I blame Jason.), and then kept saying, "Roggy, roggy? Dead." Then, while visitng "Bet" (Aunt Mary Beth) last night, he attempted to tell she and Unc (Uncle Alan) the entire story. It went as follows: "Roggy. Dead. Daddy. Trash." I guess he equated Jason sweeping the frog out of the garage as him putting the frog in the trash, and even though it's a morbid story, it's exciting to see him beginning to string ideas together.

- Connor now also loves hand motions. When someone leaves or he ~~purposefully~~ drops a toy, he says, "Gone," while throwing both hands in the air in a questioning gesture. It's too cute.

- On Thursday, we took Connor to both the high school baseball game and the tennis match, and he loved being able to roam around, play outside, and watch "big kids." One item of note: Connor attempted to eat two cigarette butts, a used straw, and picked up a used can of dip during our time at the tennis courts. At the baseball game, however, he was much calmer. He was enthralled with the boys and was riveted to the pitcher, saying "Gin" (again) each time he threw the ball. It looks like we have a sports fan on our hands already...Daddy will be happy.

- Connor is also currently obsessed with saying people names when they are not at our house, or particularly when he wants to see them. I gave the rundown last week of his names for everyone, but I forgot to mention how often "Abby" is brought up at our house. Abby is the precious baby girl of some friends of ours, and she and Connor have quite the love/hate relationship. They are either hugging on each other and playing beautifully, or Connor is trying to drag her around or push her (We obviously reprimand him, but it hasn't stopped their tiffs yet.). Luckily, Abby has two older brothers, so her parents haven't stopped hanging out with us...yet. It is fascinating to see how they start to develop friendships and learn how to play at this age. Connor isn't great at it yet, but hopefully his social skills will continue to mature.

- Just this week, Connor has started asking for hugs. He will say, "Huga," and then climb onto your shoulder and bury his head. There is no better feeling on earth. In general, Connor is very affectionate. When we are sitting in our chair watching Gabba or when I am holding him at church, I often notice him rubbing my arm or playing with my fingers. I hope he continues to have an affectionate and sensitive side as he gets older.

- We just got home this evening from a celebration for Mother's Day with my mom's side of the family, including the Egnews, Gossers, Gran, Ally, and April. It was a fun night with great food. There were four choices of meat (pulled pork, burgers, chicken, or pork chops), beans, the BEST onion rings ordered by Aunt MB from the "country store" next to our house (They are seriously amazing!), my favorite corn salad (made by my mommy), and dessert by me (an easy tiramisu bowl...I may post the recipe some day. It is super easy, yummy, and fairly low calorie.). I love spending time with family, and Connor never wants to leave (He is spoiled by everyone just a bit.). Dustin was home from college, so we had the complete family there for the first time in a while. It was just a nice night, and now I am stuffed. I definitely have to go to kickboxing tomorrow. I love to eat, but my hips don't always appreciate the extra weight.

about to devour some delicious food at Aunt MB's

Ally and Jared shared their onion rings with Connor

Jason is stunned at just how good the pulled pork is.

the gang with Gran

- Speaking of which, my goal by this summer is to be at least 5 pounds below what I was before being pregnant with Connor (a number which only my doctors will ever know), and I am hoping all of our traveling, especially the cruise, won't throw me off track. I truly love all things food related, and I know that portion control is something I have to focus on, especially while traveling. My intention is not to be "skinny" but just to be healthy...and going down a size (or two) would be a nice bonus. I typically loathe exercise, but kickboxing has been the one outlet I have truly grown to love. Our instructor is fabulous, I get to see some of my favorite ladies and chat between kicks and punches, and the workout is different each time so I never get bored. Kickboxing actually makes me feel strong, and I like that. As a bonus, my students are always shocked to find out this gal in heels can fight. ;)

- And lastly for this week, I must give an update on all things school. We are plugging along, trying to finish To Kill a Mockingbird before the end of school sneaks up on us. We are past the first few introductory chapters and are really getting into the heart of the book; I know I mention it often, but it's such a thought-provoking book. I am so blessed to be able to teach it. This week we also had a presentation where the students committed to staying in school, painted their handprints on a banner along with their names, and we all wore the tie-dyed shirts we made last week for a group photo (see below). Finally, our Fun Friday theme this week was Decade Day, and I chose the 80s...of course. I wore my NKOTB Joey McIntyre (which happens to have a pic of me as a child) tshirt, one that my parents bought for me at Opryland when I was a kid. The glasses are courtesy of my sis, and the Reeboks I borrowed from my mom. It was a fun day.