10 months and growing!

Just hangin' out with toys, waiting for daddy to turn his back on me

Already working on his "player" look

Thomas is ten months old now, has time flown or what. Several people who keep in touch through pictures/email say he looks like a toddler...after carrying him here and there throughout they day sometimes I would have to agree...he is a big boy, and a blessedly healthy one. Of course it doesn't seem like 10 months since we brought him home from the hospital. People say enjoy them while you can because they grow up so fast. Everyone says that actually. I guess when your history is full of good memories it would pass quicker...

He definitely is developing a hearty personality, which really enhances my bonding with him. He loves to wrestle, suddenly dropping a toy and crawling over/on top of me or my wife, lunging at us the last minute. I watch him intently to see how he looks at things and how he investigates them(he doesn't always try to put them in his mouth.) One of my favorite thngs in the morning is to stand outside, while it is still quiet, and hold him up so he can look around the great outdoors. He gets such a simple, happy, peaceful look, like an old soul breathing in new life. There are never any words/noises from him, he just takes it all in. we kind of stand there looking around and taking in the world. One day I wil get a pic of the look he gets and post it, maybe.

Thomas is standing with help and can pull himself up to a standing position(though usually it is more of a kneel) using a sturdy(usually) object. He is also braving the stairs at his grandparents, though he can't get to the third step yet. He doesn't stop trying to get over and around things and investigates everything. Keep that in mind new parents-once they get wheels and see something that catches their fancy, they will want to get into it and investigate.

The other morning I did not move the waste pail back into its hiding place and Thomas found a used coffee filter. When he finds and gets his hands on something, he waves it like a trophy. You can imagine the mess.

Crinkly sounds(like plastic bags) are lots of fun for him, he likes the sounds it makes when he tugs on it. Naturally we all know this is not safe endeavor, but it is an explanation partially at least for him getting into the trash, and it sounds better than "because it was there". No, I do not let him play with plastic bags..I was cleaning the kitchen and had not returned the litter basket back to the pantry. He knows that is where it hides because every trip through the kitchen requires a trip by the pantry to see if the door wasn't closed properly. Funny kid that one..relentless too.

Fun fotos

Helping mommy with my clothes.

Check out the fuzzy cool hat my cousin Damon gave me.

Hanging out with my toys.

Crawling part II

So we have a little one who crawls very faaaaasssst now and apparently the enhanced mobility entitles him to go and check out/investigate everything around wherever he is. Unfortunately some times he comes to an upright/vertical surface and decides he wants to stand or pull himself up. This is exciting, of course, since we want to see our child developing. However he does not know how to get back down on all fours very well..so in this video you may see a few nicks and bruises from slips and tumbles when he may have returned to crawling position unintentionally.
I will add that he is getting good at the tuck and roll, though, and doesn't break his fall with his head as much. Good thing he is sturdy like his pop.
Sometimes I get down on his level and follow him, which he thinks is a game and eventually does become a chase and subsequent wrestling match. But it helps me see things from his point of view and understand better what may be motivating him(really who am i kidding, it is food and dry drawers if he is anything like me!)
He knows his way around the house pretty good now, so doors to rooms we don't want him visiting now need to be shut firmly. Times when he has gotten away from me it is to his playroom and his basket of legos...whew...while we are on the subject and baby curiosities-why are babies so interested in VCR slots?..I put him down in front of the TV for Baby Einstein and it is like an automatic response for him to crawl over to the set, pull himself up the slot and stick his hands in...must be the flap covering the opening...
On to the video...it is just under 2 minutes long and you get to see a variety of Thomas behaviors(he likes to hear himself screech). An added treat is he waves goodbye at the end..which is cool because you never know when that is going to happen.. Sometimes he waves at the lamp or a ceiling fan, but lately he has been in the window waving at me when I come from work, which is waaaaay cool.

Every day is a gift. Remember that.

wheels

Thomas crawls all over the house, and sometimes faster than we realize. Today TC went into the BR to get something and Thomas went all the way from the living room around three corners down the hall to the garage to see me doing the recycling, all in less that 80 seconds. He gets pretty jazzed to crawl and it is usually to go get into something he wants to check out that has always been there before but now is part of his reality.
It is amazing how this one step in personal locomotion has made him so much more inquisitive, he has to check out everything now, and we are learning some things we thought sturdy are not so. Investigating is no longer touching and grasping and eventually putting things in mouth. That has now evolved into pulling, yanking , leaning on, pushing, or just shaking, all for the purpose of curiosity; not to trash things (like it appears to us).
Latest conquests includes three potted plants(crotons) and the kitchen trash(coffee grounds and all, naturally)..remember my post about the sense of humor? Well imagine a 8 month old boy proudly holding the wife's croton by the stem or over his head with the soil still falling of the roots in chunks around his giggling self...
His latest thing is to push anything with wheels/rollers, back and forth, over and over. Who knows what the next few weeks will bring!

Mischief

Having fun and getting into everything, his latest is climb over and under everything...in the case of this piece of furniture, if he is not trying to climb it he is spreading all his shoes around the room

April fun

Once again he is on the move, nothing within reach is safe!

What happened

...to my wife!

I remember once telling my wife shortly before our son arrived how "we" would no longer be a "we", since there would soon be three in the family, an "us" is what would become. Just like when we were engaged and married, we were still a couple. However, we would not just be a couple, but a family...It would be Me, the Wife and our child. A totally new realm for everyone involved; little did I know what that really meant.

My wife was upset, and I thought maybe it could be post partum depression. Our son was an unexpected c-section after 22 hours of labor, so I initially thought that maybe she was depressed or upset or feeling cheated since we didn't have him the planned way. I had read that it is not so unusual for new mothers to feel that way. There is a lot of overwhelming things going on during delivery and then it is over and you are in your once quiet clean home with a crying baby. I was overwhelmed, tired, and having a hard time adjusting to things as well, but I think for guys it more physical stress.

You can read all the info out there and talk to all your buddies who are parents, but when you are finally home alone with your critter for me at least there is no way to prepare other than expect the unexpected. Have lots of patience and compassion to go with the diapers and wipes. When you have something so dependent on you, all along we forget about our spouse as much, focusing on the needs of the helpless crying bedwetting ball of joy in the basinet. That is something I am still working on.

So everyone is healthy, we have a new clean home, all my son's needs are met. "Enough" becomes a very vague and elusive term here...is the house ever clean enough, are our lives organized enough, did the dishes/laundry/yard etc... get done "enough"...I couldn't say. What really is "enough"? You see the other parents and maybe even think/get the impression they have it all together, they are perfect..who really knows. This is one of those things where I have no idea what some things should look like, but know how it feels, and right now things feel right as far as needs being met.

So what about my wife..the spouse..the one I courted for over a year and vowed on the altar to love and obey til death do us part? Thomas gets plenty of attention and I seriously doubt any of his needs are neglected. In fact most of our time is spent around his schedule, not very much on each other, like back when we were courting. So yeah I am sure there is something to be said for more couple time..Still working on that, but it one thing I didn't think would take so long to recover..any new dads out there, remember the wife from time to time.

Walks are good. A "date night" never fails, and try to make the event/activity a surprise, not the same old thing. With children there tends to be a plan for everything, so spontaneity is a plus.

Being a guy, I am wired to fix things when they come up, but apparently women like to talk about things, but not necessarily the things they want you to fix...They just want to talk about them....Whew, (I thought), but am i really off the hook?!...

Any comments or suggestions can be provided now..I am going to go look at pictures of "us" for awhile...