Seeing Angels

Lauren assembled the Christmas tree late one night. When I took Eston in the room to see it the next day, he saw wings on the object at the top of the tree and said, "Bird!" I said, "Eston, actually, that is an angel." His response? "That's Mommy!" :-)

He is so much fun right now, with his ability to learn new words and ideas, throw just about any ball, get around very well (and quickly!) on his own, etc. He is developing new emotions, the ability to (fake) smile on command, and an interest in not wearing diapers.

Eston, the Music Critic

Tonight, I sang a song to Eston at dinnertime. He said, "Mommy sing, no. Mimi [my mom] sing, no. Didi [my dad] sing, yes." For those of you who know the musical interest levels in our family, this is quite hilarious.

Here are some pictures from a sunset we saw on our way to Randy's basketball coaches' meeting at church last night.

Bedtime

At bedtime, we continue the routine of bath, books, rocking with soft music, bed. Eston can fill in the final word of most sentences in his favorite books. After rocking for a few minutes and getting sleepy, he usually makes a couple of requests: "Eston get in bed. Rub back." When I say, "ok", he repeats, "oh. chay."

2nd Anniversary of Eston's Due Date

Today is the 2nd anniversary of Eston's due date. He turns 2 one week from today. His latest development is a verbal burst. Eston speaks mostly in phrases now (i.e. Shadow should go outside and play with a tennis ball, which he says as, "Sha Sha go ah sy pay tih tih bah"). Today, Randy brought a pom-pom home from a work event, and Eston immediately started shaking it and chattering about his Tech spirit, saying, "Go Georgia Tech FOOTball! Go Georgia Tech BASEball! Go Georgia Tech BASKball! Go Georgia Tech SOCCERball!" We'll share more photos and video soon, but for now, here's a video we made a few months ago for a GT video contest.

Eston's Pronunciations

Eston has a lot to say, but you'd probably need an interpretation guide to chat with him. Check out the two videos of his versions of "frog", "Go Tech!", "Beat Dawgs!", and "Yay Buzz!"

Tonight, I wanted to help him improve his articulation of his friend Cole's name. He calls him "Dole" right now. Here's how the conversation went as we broke his name down into parts, with Eston mimicking my words.

Me: Kuh
Eston: Kuh
Me: Ohl
Eston: Ohl
Me: Cole!
Eston: Dole!

Visit from Bibi Croom

Bibi Croom came to Atlanta for a wonderful visit this past weekend! Eston enjoyed snuggles and giggles with her. We dined at the 57th Fighter Group restaurant, roamed around Zoo Atlanta, and played at home. As they are known to do, Randy and Croom destroyed me in Boggle one evening after Eston went to sleep. I had fun, but next time, we're going to have a tennis- or flute-playing competition.

20 months

Eston is 20 months old. He is very curious and observant, and as a result, he can imitate putting in a contact lens, applying deodorant, adding sweetener to tea at a restaurant, and sneezing (yes, a fake imitation sneeze). His words are turning into phrases like "buh tra!" (big truck, announced EVERY time we see a truck of ANY size - he loves them), "no mama, no dada", "mo peesh" (more please), "gah tek" (Go Tech!), and "be das" (beat dawgs!). One of his favorite activities is to play on our bed, throwing himself onto pillows, covering himself with sheets, and saying "naight naight" (that's "night night" with an extreme southern accent). He's very loving, giving big running hugs and kisses with sound effects ("mmmmm ah!"). Here are some assorted recent photos of Eston celebrating Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A, cheering Daddy on in the Peachtree Road Race, and showing how many dog treats he wishes we'd let him give Shadow daily.

Cole and Eston

Our neighbors have a son named Cole who is 5 months older than Eston. Earlier this summer, Cole and Eston started a daily ritual of meeting at 6pm to chase each other around and scream joyfully. Cole requests these dates by saying, "Eston time! Eston time!", and Eston requests them by running straight to Cole's house each time we get out of the car. Eston's two most frequent words are "mine" and "no". Last week, Cole's mama used the word "mine", and Cole said, "That's what Eston says!" Thankfully, they assured me that Cole has other friends who say "mine" a lot, but Eston is the only friend who gets mentioned by name in Cole's stories. They have a precious friendship!

Lee, Camilla, and Francesco

My uncle Lee and his kids Camilla and Francesco visited us last week from Brussels. Eston shrieked with delight and ran circles around our house out of excitement over their visit. A highlight was going to two parks, including a splash park. Eston is pretty timid in new settings, so he clung to me and insisted that I go with him for the splashing. We had an awesome time, and I was happy to be in the water in the 90+ degree weather we've had for many weeks in Atlanta. Eston independently played in the tiniest fountains that are designed for babies who can barely sit up. While I'd prefer that he have some more fun on his own, I'm also relieved that he isn't a daredevil. Camilla and Francesco were very sweet to Eston, even putting up with their little cousin's egocentrism that is typical of a 20-month-old. They seemed curious as to why he is so fair-skinned and why his belly sticks out so far. Eston seemed curious about everything Camilla and Francesco did and imitated a lot of it, including drinking frizzante (fizzy) water.

Welcome Cousin Alejo!

In early July, I had the honor of meeting my new baby nephew Alejandro Rincon, the second son of Randy's sister, in Dallas. My main mission was to hang out with Alejo's big brother Luis while the new little guy and his parents transitioned to their new size as a 4-member unit. I had a blast with Luis, and it was so cool to relive all of those very-new-baby moments I've already forgotten from Eston's birth. Here is a picture of us on his second day at home, as well as a more recent picture of him. To read more about Alejo and Luis, click here.

Rock Hill Visit

In June, we also visited Rock Hill, South Carolina, Randy's "natural habitat". We had a wonderful time seeing Granddaddy Thomas, Lucy, Randy's aunts and uncles, and some family friends. Eston had the chance to sit on Lucy's horse but was too cautious to try it. He confidently interacted with baby sheep that were more his size. We went out on Uncle Charlie's boat, and Randy got a great shot of me busting on water skis. We patronized several Rock Hill restaurants during the visit, and at the time, Eston's attention span for sitting at a table was even shorter than it is now. Randy and I alternated chasing him around many establishments.

Jekyll Island - GACE Conference

Eston and Randy joined me for a trip to Jekyll Island for a conference of the Georgia Association of Colleges & Employers. I was especially excited to go to Jekyll because I have many wonderful memories there with my friend Avery and her family. Eston saw an ocean for the first time. He seemed to realize that it is not an ordinary amount of water as he exclaimed, "Wa-wa! Wa-wa! Wa-wa!" Randy and Eston explored the island while I attended meetings (which is apparently really tiring because Eston typically thinks big beds are too fun for sleeping, but I caught them napping together after a conference session). Eston joined university career counselors and employers on the dance floor one evening. And he had the chance to play with Avery's mom and sister while they generously offered to babysit while Randy and I biked around the island, but he felt very comfortable there, napped for almost 4 hours, and totally missed playing with them! On the way back, we visited my grandparents in Sandersville, GA. To break up the drive, we asked our GPS to find a park so we could all stretch. The "park" our GPS indicated didn't exist, but that detour led us to an amazing sun flower farm. Also, the most direct route from Jekyll to Sandersville goes through Fort Stewart, but our GPS didn't consider that we do not have rights to enter an army base. Fortunately, the guard took pity on us and didn't make us backtrack 40 miles. We love seeing the "tank crossing" signs.

Memorial Day with Mimi, Didi, and B.B.

For Memorial Day Weekend, we went to Lake Winfield Scott in north Georgia with my parents, whom Eston now calls Mimi and Didi. Their dog B.B. (coincidental that their dog's name rhymes with their grandparent names Eston gave them) and our dog Shadow went too. My grandparents have a rustic (check out the old-fashioned bath tub with feet) mountain house there, which I've visited at least annually my whole life. This was Eston's first of many trips there. We had a great time, particularly going on mountain walks. Eston is fascinated by rocks and likes to pick them up one at a time. This caused some VERY long walks on the gravel road. Randy and I climbed Blood Mountain one afternoon while Eston napped.