November 2004

11/28/04

All three of us ended up with colds this weekend.  Mine hasn't gotten too bad yet.  Hopefully I won't feel worse tomorrow since David will be back at work.

Tomorrow is Tommy's 10 month birthday!  It's really strange to think back on where we were last Thanksgiving.  I thought I was Soooo pregnant at my baby shower right before Thanksgiving, but I had a long way to grow before the end.

Anyway, the newest development in Tommy's world is a stronger insistence on self-feeding.  It's been harder and harder to get him to eat lately.  I'd just about given up on pureed baby foods, and the range of finger foods that he can chew and swallow isn't very large yet.  I think we finished most meals with him still hungry and me a bit frustrated.  Well, David the Wonder Dad figured out some solutions.  He did most of the highchair feeding the last few days and worked on solutions.  There's something to be said for a fresh perspective!  First, he only offers two finger foods at a time and keeps repeating, "these are your options buddy" until Tommy picks one.  He keeps all other foods out of sight or Tommy will keep pointing at everything else he thinks he might want.  I had been scrambling for new foods to offer each time he refused something so he'd eat 3 green beans, then 2 carrots, then 2 bites of toast, then 1/2 a meat stick then settle in for his favorite canned pears.  David's method is much better.  Second, we figured out that he will eat foods with a spoon but only if he gets to hold the spoon too.  We'd tried giving him his own spoon to hold while we fed him but that wasn't working at all.  We solved the mess problem by adding baby cereal to whatever fruit or vegetable or yogurt we want to feed him so that it's thick enough to cling to the spoon.  That way Tommy can scoop some up on the spoon and direct it to his mouth where he turns the spoon upside-down (with David's hand on Tommy's the whole time of course).  Tommy thinks this is super fun and has been devouring bowlfuls of food at meals the last couple of days.  I have high hopes for meals tomorrow.  Here's a picture.

11/25/04

Happy Thanksgiving! 

We've had a very nice holiday.  David stayed home yesterday and between the two of us we managed to cook all of our favorite holiday foods.  It was just the three of us for dinner today, so it was nice and low-key for Tommy.  We have LOTS of leftovers.  Unfortunately, David has a cold and Tommy seems to be getting it, but other than that the day went really well.

An unofficial holiday portrait.

The other half of the holiday portrait.  We really need to get a friend to take a picture of the three of us together so we have something to put in the Christmas cards!

LOTS OF FOOD!

After the feast.

11/21/04

We are very glad David is home.  I think the boy is teething again.  Sigh.

I don't think I've mentioned his new appreciation for music.  He certainly notices what music is playing and if he likes it he bobs up and down and shakes his hands.  It's super cute.  His favorite song (as far as I can tell) is the Sally song by Moby from the Gone in 60 Seconds soundtrack.  He also likes Jet a lot.  I play lots of classical, but it's always David's music that makes him happy.

He's building quite a vocabulary of words and phrases he understands.  I know he understands the following...no, phone, cheerios, bye-bye Daddy, Daddy's home, duck, cow, don't chew on the book, belly button, tickle, mouse, bear.  There are probably more, but these have all been proven by some unprompted action (like pointing to things).

I know he knows the word tickle because he's started wanting to tickle me when I tickle him.  He lifts the edge of my shirt and pokes my side and then waits for me to laugh.  It doesn't actually tickle, but it's such a great effort at two-way play that I always laugh to encourage him.  I may regret that.  Speaking of two-way play, he also really likes to feed us finger foods off his tray during meals.  

Sometimes he will crawl on hands and knees like a proper baby, but he still prefers his belly-on-the-floor commando crawl.  Sometimes the floor is cold or there are obstacles to crawl over.  That's when he pops up for traditional crawling.

  Crazy boys. 

11/14/04

David will be out of town Mon-Thurs, so I won't be taking or posting any new pictures until next weekend.  Wish me luck!  

Ah...a duckie

A boy's got to have something to suck on while he waits.

11/13/04

Captain Pajamas puts a bucket on his head and "sings". 

Toothy grin.

Captain Pajamas rescues the goldfish.

11/10/04

Ooops.  I guess it's been a whole week since I took pictures.  Sorry about that.

He's learned that pointing is a form of communication.  It's opened a whole new world for him.  He wants cheerios?  He can point at them and Mommy will give them to him!  We spend a lot of time handing him things and carrying him around from one thing to the next as he points.  He's quite insistent.  David is much better at this because he's taller.  Hearing me say, "yes, that's the ceiling fan." isn't nearly as satisfying as being lifted up to touch it.  The only problem is he gets really mad if we get tired and stop playing the pointing game.

He has also started holding the phone up to his ear.  Then he holds it up to my ear.  Of course, he doesn't babble into it.  He just grins.  I swear, the boy isn't going to talk until he's three.

Please may I have the camera?

THAT camera...the one you're holding.

Quit making silly faces.  I may laugh, but I'm not going to forget about the camera.

11/03/04

Tommy went to his first story time at the library today.  What fun!  The toddler story time at our library is for 1 & 2 year olds, but the librarian saw us watching through the glass one week and said it would be OK for me to bring Tommy even though he's too young.  He loved it.  First he was just watching the kids, but I held him up every time the librarian read a book and he was mesmerized.  When she did finger plays and action songs, he got right into the spirit of things.  Of course, I clapped his hands and bounced him up and down instead of him doing it himself, but he did participate in everything.  He baby laughs were the hit of the room during the song "shake your sillies out."  He didn't get fussy or bored at all.  It lasted 20 minutes and he paid attention the whole time (with a short break to watch while standing at a chair instead of in my lap).  Could I be any prouder?  Luckily story time was before THE CARROT INCIDENT...

I don't know how it happened.  There were carrots in his hair all the way around the back of his head.  He's normally such a neat eater.  I guess I was still wound up from the story time success and didn't pay enough attention to grabbing hands.  Right after I took this picture he had a mid-day bath, which he also thought was super fun.  

11/02/04

Chewing on Daddy's shoe.  His size 16 shoe looks huge even next to our big baby.

One last picture with Grandma Sylvia.

11/01/04

We're having a lovely time with Grandma Sylvia this weekend.  We just had a nice day around the house yesterday.  Today we went to the aquarium and botanic gardens, let Tommy play in his costume and went trick-or-treating (just to 6 houses at 3 pm).  Tommy was a no-nap baby this afternoon.  He wasn't cranky, just pretty uninterested in all the Halloween stuff.  Oh well.  At this age it's more for ME than for him.

Baby Bee... (Yeah, we're not real original.  It's hard to find baby-appropriate costumes for size 12-18 months.  Most in that size are for kids who can walk.)  In the first picture you can see the strange thing he does with his fingers all the time.

At the Botanic Gardens and Aquarium...sans antennae

Playing Peek-a-Boo and drinking water with Grandma.  He has absolutely no interest in the traditional sort of Peek-a-Boo with a cloth, but he does like to "surprise" people around corners, etc.

Two pictures David took.  Tommy thinks the Koosh feels super weird.  He puts it in his mouth over and over again, and grimaces every time.

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