March 5: Bryan was at a conference in Milwaukee all weekend, so Andrew and I had a mom-and-boy weekend together. One highlight for me was the ten minutes we spent looking out the window and listening for our new neighborhood owls. I’d lit some candles, and the sun was setting. Venus was super bright and the white snow reflected the bright blue of the evening sky. We had heart the Great Horned Owls hooting earlier (listen here for their lovely call) in the evening, and as we sat listening and watching the still outdoors, Andrew kept whispering “ooowwlll” “cahndahls” “owl”.
Another new and completely, disarmingly wonderful activity Andrew has taken up is saying, “Buddies!” He spreads his arms out and wants a group hug. For example, “Mama, Dada. BUDDIES!” While we’re all hugging, he often softly repeats to himself, “buddies…” Andrew is really starting to hug where he grabs both of my shoulders and pulls me to him. I was telling Bryan that it is things like that which take all the sting out of the fact that he is growing up. He is becoming such a wonderful little boy.
Pictures from the last week – messy eating, playing with Grandma, and rolling around in the snow – are in the gallery.