"Caca" and updates

Okay, so we're on our way to healing this recent bout of illness that has plagued our home. J is back home (came home Wed) and he was Dx with two viral infections. Fun, but we'll take viral over lymphoma any day! L is slowly getting his appetite back, but v e r y s l o w l y. Abuelita got both L's tummy virus and cold, and I got a yucky cold/sinus infection. More fun.

On another note, L turned 18 months on Fri - that's a year and a half! It's insane. He's saying so much, including: micky mouse (ma ma), bath time (ba ta), ball, book (both sound almost the same lol), mama, dada, nana, banana (na na), hi, bye, uh-oh, again, manos, agua, zapatos, mas, up, down, buffy, baxter, and probably a few more I can't remember right now. He knows his head, hair, hands/manos, fingers, toes, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, belly button, pipi, and poto (butt). And, drum roll please, yesterday he told us when he had poop! Actually, it went more like, "caca?" in a questioning tone and a gesture to the butt. Sure enough, there was poop! He did it again today. I think my little man is getting ready to be potty trained very soon. Snif, snif.

He had his 18 month appt today and although slightly underweight (he lost some weight from this wonderful stomach flu - that and I think he's cutting his canines) and with an ear infection, he's developmentally right on track. He's weighing in at 23 1/4 lbs and measuring at 32 1/2 in. He's been super affectionate - he'll shower us with kisses and hugs. It's the BEST! He also loves to help. all I have to do is say, "L wanna help mommy (or daddy)?" and he'll run to put his toys away, help sort the laundry, put his dirty clothes in the hamper, and do other chores. I've noticed that it makes him feel important and makes him happier.

So that's it for now. I'm looking forward to spring break next week so I can play catch up with grading, and so I can work on these short stories and memoir/essay I'm writing. I'm planning on entering some contests. :) We'll see how that goes. I hadn't thought about writing short stories but on one of these nights when I was up with L, this story came to me - a mixture of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende style - and bam, I'm writing. I also want to put another story I've heard my mom tell me into paper. And I'm super excited because I'm most likely going to get to attend a writing workshop paid for by the College! Yippee! My writing is picking back up and I'm very happy about that. It's hard to find time to write, I'll admit that, but it's nice. It's theraputic. And I've gotten lots of encouragement about my prose from my new colleagues.

Okay, so I hijacked the post a little. I'm just excited. I'll let you all know if I win any contests or get anything published!