Ahh, Friday. Ahh, nice weather. Ahh, Daddy’s home.

I talked Tim into coming home early this afternoon, what with the weather being so spectacular and all. We walked August and the dogs over to this park that’s really close to our house. I couldn’t help but smile, because I could totally picture August playing on the playground equipment and fishing in the “kids only” pond, playing in the sprinkle fountain and practicing his swing on the baseball diamonds. Sigh.

I’m really trying to enjoy every day, though. So many people have told me to not rush him — to enjoy his babyhood. Or babyness. Whatever. Just looking back at the photos of him so far, I can’t believe how quickly he’s changing. So I’m just taking each day as it comes. Enjoying the gift of my Auggie.

I was so tickled yesterday when Tim got home. August had just had such a great day. He woke up kind of early, but I just can’t mind when he looks at me and smiles. What a wonderful way to wake up. After watching me make oatmeal (again), we played on the floor for a good while. This consisted of me acting like a nut trying to make him laugh (still no success). All of a sudden, in the middle of a tummy raspberry, he grabbed my hair. Neat! Something new!

All day long, he was grabbing at stuff. He’d grab the dangling rings on his bouncy seat and just stare at them, brow furrowed, like he was really trying to work out what to do next. ‘Hm. I’ve got this ring in this hand and this ring in this hand. Now what?’

At my mom’s group that afternoon, several of us decided to start getting together on Monday afternoons to walk. Since the weather’s going to be cold (ostensibly), we’re going to meet at the Galleria, but in the spring, we can go to the park! And then the babies will be getting more mobile, so we’ll have a real playgroup! (This is exciting stuff for those of us looking for ways to entertain our babies all day, every day.)

I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving a lot. I love getting to show August off at family gatherings. My family (all sides) is very important to me. I want August to know how much he is loved by his family; just like I’ve always felt so loved by mine. I think about all of my relatives — Annabelle and Clata in Tennessee, my Grandma, dad and all the Farrows, my mom and her family — and I think about how much fun it was visiting everyone when I was a kid. How I was always made to feel so comfortable. I always felt like I belonged. Like I was part of something.

Only now do I realize that that is one of the best things about family. I mean, these people knew you when you tried to hide peas in your pants instead of eating them (true story), and they still love you. Of course, they bring up that peas in the pants story all the time, but you still love them too.

Yay, Thanksgiving! Yay, nostalgia!