Sweet sixteen months

Griffin,

You are already 16 months old.... I was thinking of a few random facts (16 to be exact) that I would like to share with you. Nothing of major importance, just a few things that you may like to know. Over the years we have so many things that we want to teach and share with you I don't want to forget the details.

1. You are named after MiMi Kat's mother~ Verda Griffin Guidry. All of the grand kids called her "Mom-Mom." She was a very special and wise lady. She hated her name "Verda." I used to always joke with her that I would name my child after her. Well.... I did!

2. Your mommy and daddy were married on April 8, 2006 in New Orleans. It was the perfect day. The ceremony was held outside at Washington Artillery Park and the reception was at the Napoleon House. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! I am sure over the years we will mention to you "today the weather FEELS like our wedding day. It was that memorable!

3. Your Grandma Lucy and Grandpa Jim are watching you grow from heaven. Your Daddy will tell you all about them.

4. We did not find out if you were a boy or a girl ahead of time. We waited until Dr. Perret announced IT'S A..... BOY! That was truly the ultimate surprise and we are so glad that we waited.

5. Your Daddy asked me to marry him in the tree house in the rain forest exhibit at the NOLA aquarium on a random Monday morning. Very unexpected. He had the best day planned. Proposal, day for me at the spa, and dinner for us to celebrate at Emeril's Delmonico. Take notes from your Daddy. He knows how to treat a lady. (side note~ Kenton proposed on July 11, 2005~ 4 years ago TODAY!)

6. I had a very good pregnancy with you. I did not have any sort of morning sickness. You have always been good to me. ;)

7. Your Daddy was digging me from the moment that he met me. I just know it. He came to my 28th birthday party~ Pretty in pink. One year later we were engaged.

8. I had one dream while pregnant that you were a baby boy. Believe it or not the baby in the dream looks like you today.

9. MiMi Kat was worried about your ears sticking out as a tiny baby. She wanted to use scotch tape to tape them down to your head. Don't worry~ Mommy saved the day!

10. When your Daddy walked out to the waiting room to announce that you were a boy MiMi Kat did not believe him. We will show you the video it is pretty funny.

11. Leaving the hospital was the scariest day of my life. I honestly could not believe that they were just going to let us leave with such a tiny and fragile baby AND no sort of instructions. I cried from the moment they put me in the wheelchair until we arrived at home.

12. Your due date was April 2 and you were born on March 10. You were a bit of a sneak attack. I was only 36.5 weeks. It was a beautiful Sunday. We went to church that morning and ran a few errands on the way home. Your Tio John was taking pictures of my belly in the back yard when my water broke. When Tio called MiMi and Poppa to tell them that I was heading to the hospital they once again didn't believe him. He called them back to make sure they understand the urgency of the situation. They were on a camping trip and made it home in record time!

13. While pregnant for you the only thing that I craved was milk with chocolate syrup. Kind of weird because I don't like milk. As a matter of fact I have not had a glass of milk since I then.

14. The first time that your Daddy held you it was as if he had been doing it his entire life. It was beautiful to watch.

15. Your Daddy makes me laugh. Believe it or not you are not the only one that thinks that he is funny. ;)

16. We lived uptown in the blue house when you were born. We moved to Luling when you were 4 months old. Between the blue house and Luling we stayed in the French Quarter for about 3 weeks.

17. I know I said 16 facts in honor of 16 months, but I have just one more thing to tell you. Hurricane Katrina was a major event in our lives. Your daddy was working for the Ritz Carlton at the time and stayed downtown in the hotel. He was in the city for 4 days after the hurricane. I was in Jackson, Mississippi worried sick about him. We had very little communication during those very dark days. His home in Lakeview was totally destroyed. My home uptown (blue house) had about 1.5 feet of water inside. We had no idea if the blue house flooded or not for about 2 months. It was a horrible time with so much loss and devastation. I hope that you never have to experience anything like this in your lifetime.

All my love,
Mommy

Okay, now for the update. Griffin is always a man with a plan. Busy can not even begin to describe this little guy. He started walking last month and now it is more like a jog. Climbing and digging has intensified. He doesn't believe the child proof locks apply to him. He just works through them. He has been babbling up a storm. Yesterday he was wagging his finger while fussing Al Dog. For some reason he enjoys correcting Al. No idea where he gets that from? ;) He loves to watch the Wiggles. Actually he is pretty particular when it comes to television programming. He likes what he likes. His favorites to watch are the Wiggles big red car and Wiggly party. The others he tries to turn off. He has his favorite wiggly songs and dances and sings LOUDLY to only those. Before he was born I was opposed to my child watching television. I guess you can say times have changed. He has been sick again. He was scheduled for tubes, but we postponed the surgery. We are trying something else as a last ditch before resorting to tubes. So far so good. Dr. Beau seems to be helping Griffin. Yesterday Griff came over to me to give me a hug. It was so sweet. It was a rather aggressive hug. He came in so hard and fast we bumped heads, but it was the best hug that I have EVER received. This morning we have been working on kissing on command. He was pretty quick to pick up on this. He now gives a big old sloppy kiss when asked. Once he masters this we will probably move on to blowing kisses. We are enjoying every moment with The Griff! Until next month...