Historic Night!

Although the polls predicted the result, I still sat in amazement tonight as Obama won! I am so proud of my country that we were finally able to move past our racial issues and elect a president of African-American heritage. I am saddened that it took almost 150 years after the Civil War and Reconstruction period. I truly thought that McCain's speech tonight said it all - America has spoken and it is time to move on and accept our new leadership. Unlike in previous elections, it appears that Obama won both the electoral votes as well as the popular vote! I hope that any remaining race issues this country has will go by the waste side. I don't want to raise my son in a racist society and I hope that the election of this new president will resolve remaining issues for our country. Though I live in county that still has a majority of white Americans, though the numbers of non-whites is rapidly growing, I don't want to raise my son in society filled with racial issues. I grew up hardly knowing anyone that wasn't white. I had a African-American roommate in college and I used to work with many African-Americans and have grown to have several close friends that are African-American. I moved onto a street with neighbors that are from a diverse group of ethnic and racial heritage. I hope that my son grows up in a world much more diverse that I have done so. I sat almost stunned tonight as Obama won. I expected it but still it was amazing to watch! My only regret is that I didn't actually vote for Obama. Though I agreed with almost every platform he had, I voted for McCain in order to give a women a shot at getting near the White House. My husband voted for Obama, though! Well I guess I better get back to preparing for a motions hearing tomorrow. I was in court until almost 9 pm Monday night and did not get home before my son went to sleep. And then this morning I had to leave early in order to be back in court by shortly after 8:30 so I didn't see him too much this morning either. Then after work today, which I didn't leave until 6:30, I ran by and picked up my son and husband and went to a local restaurant to wait with a friend that ran for mayor (and lost unfortunately) of a small town up here (app. 1000 residents with about 200 registered voters only 100 or so which voted!) for the results of the local election. My son fell asleep on the way back from the restaurant and didn't wake up when we got home. It is trial week this week so there was been a lot of extra work this week and not much Mommy time so far. In addition to a motion, I will likely also to to trial on a separate case tomorrow. My son's body still hasn't adjusted to the time falling back so he has gone to sleep earlier in the evenings. He grew up a lot this weekend, though. When he got back from Grandmommie and Granddaddy's house on Sunday, he was walking all over the place and he was refusing bottles! No more bottles! He drinks all his milk from a sippy cup. I just posted on Sunday that he wasn't walking very far just yet and was not very willing to take milk from sippy cups yet and then we arrive at my mother's house to pick him up and he walks down the way towards us! And it wasn't a fluke, he is walking everywhere! And all the bottles I sent for him to use on the weekend went unused! He refused to drink from a bottle! Both mornings this week so far I have given him milk in a sippy cup and sat him on the couch and he drank all his milk, gave me the sippy cup when finished, and got down the play! I no longer have a baby - he's a little boy now! Hopefully I'll get more time later in the week to spend with him before he grows up anymore! Until later...
-Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night

13 months old!

My son Riley turned 13 months old on October 21st. I don't know where the time went. He is definitely a toddler now! He can walk but chooses not to as he is still unsteady and would rather crawl and get there faster. But he did walk about 6 feet on his own at a party on Friday night. He can communicate well, just not in understandable words! He points a lot at things he wants and he just keeps pointing until we get it right. If he wants milk, he'll go and sit by the fridge and point at it. If he's hungry, he'll sometimes go and sit by his highchair. He definitely understands a lot of what we say. If we say something that he wants, he'll stop dead in his tracts and look at you. But if he doesn't want it, then he won't respond at all. Yesterday he dropped something on the floor when he was playing and he understood me when I asked him to pick it up and give it to me - he picked it up and gave it to me! If he's mad at you, he'll face you directly and growl at you or make a terrible screeching noise to your face. He babbles all the time, too. He can say dog and Daddy pretty well. He is working on saying ball. He is so cute. He is almost drinking milk out of a sippy cup. He has been drinking water out of a sippy cup since the summer but he just envisons that milk comes in a bottle! We are working on getting him to drink his milk out of sippy cups as well and we are making good progress. He did, though, manage to break the drawer underneath his crib the other day. Apparently while his Daddy was using the restroom, Riley pulled out the drawer underneath his crib and then tried to climb on top of it which bent the metal guide on the drawer! So the drawer is now on the floor waiting to be fixed! What can I say, he's all boy! I certainly miss him everyday when I go to work but I also know that as tired as I am when I get home from work, if I stayed at home with with, I'd be exhausted by noon! Currently Riley is at Grandmommie and Granddaddy's house (my parents). Grandmommie picked up Riley yesterday and he spent the night there. This allowed my husband Tony and I to do some Christmas shopping and to get some much needed cleaning done (or at least we hope to get the cleaning done today!) I can't believe he's old enough to have a sleepover already! From what I can tell, he's having a ball! She had to move a few fall decorations and pull him out of the fireplace! Well, I guess I better go and help my husband finish our cleaning before our little monkey comes back home! Until later...
- Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night.