A Little Boy On Our Hands

September has been a busy month of ups and downs.

Of course, we lost our dear Mikki and we are adjusting to the emptiness in the home. Dayton and Piper have adjusted by turning to one another for support. When once Piper would walk away when Dayton approached, now he stands by Dayton's side as Dayton feeds him cheerios one-by-one. Dayton is so sweet with the animals and has definitely bonded closer to Piper and Tiger now that Mikki is not physically present. He gently pets them and this morning after Piper had one too many of his cheerios, he walked over to Tiger and placed a single cheerio by her. A gentle and kind heart.

Both Mike and I are excited to be starting new jobs. Mike started with Weatherford a week ago. As for me, I'm still with Accenture but have moved out of Consulting and into Enterprise. Basically, that means that I am no longer part of the revenue producing group at Accenture which would put me at client sites. Instead, I am part of the internal Accenture workforce that keep the wheels on the bus. Officially, I am the 'Global Business Operations Lead' for a specific group within Accenture. I work 99% from home except for a trip here and there to meet up with members of the global team. I'm off the partner track but very excited to have continued flexibility to focus on family in the years to come. Yes, becoming a Mom has changed my priorities.

Dayton continues to crack us up. He has become a communicating little boy. Broom, Ball, banana (his tongue goes all over the place in his mouth and sometimes says banana), Tzyty (Tiger), more (in sign language too), agua or wawa (thank you spanish speaking daycare workers), nose (as he points to my nose) and many many other words that come and go.

His comprehension also blows us away. It's time to go for a bath, Dayton...or time to get your diaper changed....or time to go to daycare...and off he goes to head in the right direction. Let's put your zapatos (shoes) on, Dayton...and he comes running with his shoes. He now leans in with pursed lips to kiss me on the lips...then asks for more kisses in sign language. While sitting in the grocery cart, I feel his hands on mine and when I look down he is grabbing my hands to sing and rock 'Row Row Row your boat' with a big smile. He loves doing anything with balls and anything that involves climbing, singing or dancing. Last night he rocked side to side and clapped over and over again as he listened to the music coming from one of his toys. He squeals with laughter when I lean into his crib to kiss him all over 'good night' and then throws kisses as I walk out of his room telling him 'I love you, Dayton'.

We are so thankful that he continues to have such and kind, loving and sweet demeanor. At 15 months old, we definitely have a little boy on our hands.

Pictures to prove it are below. Enjoy!