Eighteen Months of Sully

My not-so-lost boy,

"Think happy thoughts, and you'll fly!" -Peter Pan

While I can't say the quote above is technically true, I do want to urge you to think happy thoughts, things of above. The Bible says in Philippians 4:8 that "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." I want you to always search for joy in life! Joy is different than happiness, as joy is something that I can only describe as a deep-in-your-bones, knowing-it-will-eventually-be-okay-thanks-to-Jesus, letting-it-all-go-because-He's-got-this kind of thing. "Those who trust in the Lord will find joy," the Bible also says, so the key to finding joy is trusting God.

We've had some equally sad and angry and happy and nervous and peaceful and sweet moments the past six months, and to be honest, life hasn't always gone the way we hoped. There have been disappointments, sorrow, loss, but in the midst of that, there have also been literally the best days of our lives. The only way that we were able to let the good win was through Jesus. Your dad and I fully trust Him and His direction in all areas of our lives; it takes practice to let things go, but time and time again, God has proved faithful!

Now that you are not a baby but a little boy, you are beginning to express emotions and feel things at a deeper level. Your dad and I will always let you work through your feelings, and as you begin to understand more and more, we will try our best to guide you to find the sunny side of life, that joy that comes from God. Life will not always go the way you planned; oh, how I wish I could protect you from whatever may come. However, you will always have God, Dad, and me!

Life is getting more and more exciting by the day! Our little family is committed to finding the joys and celebrating small victories in life, and as long as we have each other and God, we are set! I love our little team!

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New Developments:

Since it's been six months, I have some fast facts to keep this from getting too crazy long:

-Teeth: 14

-Words/Sounds: more, mama, dad, whale, yellow, tractor, up, all done, outside, moon, owl, open, apple, oink, meow, ruff, sniff, bug, butterfly, rainbow, bubble, uh oh, oh no

-Movement: You crawl unbelievably fast! On carpet and grass, you crawl on all fours, but on hard surfaces, you do this scoot thing on your booty with your leg in front of you. You stand pretty well, and I know you'll be walking as soon as you decide to do so.

Life Updates:

Little man, it's been a wild, sweet, and emotional six months since I last wrote your letter.

-For starters, they finished building our new home: we sold our other in a week and a half but didn't close until January, so we were able to move a good bit of stuff slowly and then the big stuff with the help of some friends. It was sad leaving our old home, as it held so many memories, but already, our new home feels peaceful and cozy. We've already had the best time here! You LOVE playing outside, and we've had fun watching the tractors and excavators around the neighborhood as they finish the last house on the street. Our weekends have been slow but productive, doing little projects around here to make it feel like home. You copy Dad in the cutest of ways, and it's only a matter of time before you will really be helping him!

One of our last mornings at the old house

-Not long after your birthday, I lost my sweet Granddaddy. We miss him so much, but it does bring me comfort that you share part of his name. We celebrated his life with firetrucks, food, and each other.

-Our sweet Lily girl passed away shortly after moving. At first, we thought she was sad because she didn't get to play outside at our new house, but over a few days, she moved slower and slower. Sadly, Dad took her just in time to the emergency vet one morning, and she passed away there. We buried her next to a set of trees, one skinny and one large and said a prayer of thanksgiving. We miss having her around.

Favorite Moments:

This section could get crazy long because we have all experienced some sweet, sweet days together lately, but I'll try my best to narrow down a few.

-Your birthday party: Buddy, I have sooo many pictures and things to write about your birthday party, so I will do that in another post soon. I still can't believe you turned one and that that was six months ago!

-You crawled: In January, your dad had to travel out of town for a conference for two nights, so it was just you and me at home. Dude, you literally sleep through the night every single night, even when you have a cold or aren't feeling well. Of course, the first night he's gone, you woke up at 11:00pm and stayed awake until 2:00 that morning. I couldn't even have been mad at you if I had wanted to! The boy who never just sits on the couch with me to watch movies literally sat through the entire Despicable Me movie eating Cheerios and snuggling me. It was one of my favorite Sully moments I've ever had with you! We played and talked and snuggled, and you eventually went back to sleep. I know why you woke up though: the next day, you crawled for the first time! I think your body knew something was happening and just interrupted itself. We FaceTimed Shuga like we always do, and in the middle of it, you just randomly started crawling. It was wild!

-Mama and Me Craft Night: Though groups have sadly since been cancelled as of two weeks ago (Coronavirus), we enjoyed our time co-hosting a small group with other moms and kids! Mrs. Ashley planned fun crafts with a theme each month, and every Tuesday, our friends came over to do activities, play in the playroom, and eat snacks.

-Dad's Helper: Your dad is no doubt your best friend! You copy everything he does, follow him around, and look at him with this look that just melts me. I try to sneak pictures of you too because it's just the silliest how much you two do things alike. You are his sponge, learning whatever he will teach you!

-Christmas: In the first time since your dad and I have been dating and married, we spent Christmas Eve together, just us. I've always wanted a Christmas that didn't involve being in the car most of the day, and this past year, it happened. We celebrated by going to church, exchanging gifts, and eating vegan cinnamon rolls together. It was so magical to wake up in our own beds on Christmas! After, we traveled to our families to visit them too.

Time Away: You've spent several different sets of nights away while we moved, went to a wedding, and enjoyed date nights. You love Shuga, and your dad and I love dates together!

Sleep:

I've been reading back through old updates, and it's hard to believe that you used to be an iffy sleeper! You still sleep 12-13 hours every night, and most days, you take one 2-3 hour nap. Losing sleep was one of my greatest fears of parenting before you came along, but it was only five short months that you didn't sleep. One of my favorite parts of being your mom is rocking you and praying for you while you nap, but so so sadly, you are just getting too big for my lap. We've had some sweet moments lately where you'll let me sing to you and rock you, but you point to your bed and sleep for a long time there.

Eating:

Food allergies have dictated so much of what you eat, how we prepare food, where we go to eat, our travel, and more. We have now been to the ER twice with anaphylactic reactions, the last being cashews. You had a bite of Lara Bar the day after Christmas, and soon after, you started throwing up, itching, and then having difficulty breathing. The ER at Shuga's was incredible, and took us right back and were so gentle with you. You had to have an epinephrine shot, Benadryl, and a breathing treatment, and as you digested the cashew, you had a secondary reaction. As soon as we got back home, we went back to the doctor to get a referral to Children's Hospital.

Whoa! I wish we would have gone there a year and a half ago! From the start, they were thorough, kind, and took their time with us. Your doctor asked all sorts of questions, and they ran one skin test (your eczema was too bad to do any more) and blood work. The doctor herself called with the results, and basically, this is where we are: You are VERY allergic to egg (both baked in and straight cooked), really allergic to cashew, and milk is one we are working on. We will go back there with a half dozen muffins, and they will let you eat a little at a time and monitor you. If you do well with that test, that means you can have things with milk baked in. Buddy, what a relief it would be to know that if you accidentally ate something off of someone's plate (which is a real possibility now that you are into everything), you would be safe. We took for granted being able to go anywhere, eat anything, and the safety that both had without food allergies. You've been our brave boy through it all. A visit to the zoo there helped too!

You are still an amazing eater, loving almost anything we give you! Mom officially stopped pumping milk for you in October, and you stopped bottles altogether in January. We thought you may like to keep drinking milk out of a cup, but you rather have water which is totally fine with us.

Loves:

Blue, outside, any type of tractor or truck, wearing your hat, puppies, babies, apples, playing chase, Sheldon, dinosaurs, your bed, painting, stickers, visiting Dad at work, FaceTiming Shuga

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So, no, I don't want you to grow up, but then again, I really do. Dad and I pray for you every single day, for physical protection, emotional health, spiritual growth, and everything in between.

Love,

Mom