The Undiscovered Country

To Remember After I Forget

This entry is more for me than anyone.

With age creeping up and my memory creeping down (along with other parts), I want to keep a record of Thomas' little antics and growths.

Pray I don't forget where I keep this blog . . .

1. Thomas wants to communicate with words, but so far all he can manage is an intense stare and say over and over, "Na. Na. Na. Na."

I think it's his way of saying No. My response? "Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes." Either that or he's trying to say "Ma." Now that would be cool.

2. He can stand with nothing to support him -- when he's distracted by something else. When he realizes he's on his own, down goes the bottom to the floor.

3. We don't play the typical baby games such as 'patty-cake' (too old to remember), so we make up our own:

         a. He can blow a whistle real good (luckily it's a quiet whistle).

         b. We're teaching him how to play the harmonica. So far all we do is put it in his mouth and he crawls around breathing the same notes in and out. I need a video of it.

         c. Boop. We touch our noses together and say "Boop." He can't say it yet, but he'll boop us, the dog, his stuffed animals, and occasionally, the wall.

4. Typical of any boy, he loves when we swing him by his feet or toss him around on the bed. Talk about a giggle-fest. When he wants more he grins, growls and kicks his legs like a world-class runner.

5. He figured sticking his face underneath the running water during bath time is kinda fun. Either that or he's thirsty. He also likes to remove the plug and try to eat it.

6. We took him to his one-year check up the other day. He's now 31 inches tall (half my height!) and weights 18 lbs 4oz. He also received another group of inoculations.

He knew something was up when three nurses came in and surrounded him. Smart move. As I held his little hands, the three nurses gave him the three shots he needed all at once in his thighs.

He didn't cry but fifteen seconds, and forgot all about them when a nurse gave him a bag of animal crackers. And why not? Animal crackers always make life better.

7. We took him to a friend's house who has a three-year old boy. Was that fun. The other boy, Kendon, isn't exposed to younger kids much and kept asking, "Why can't he walk yet?" "Why can't he throw that ball?" "Why does he try to eat my toys?" Do you think he's at the why stage yet?

He treated Thomas wonderful; was very gentle, and played at Thomas' level. Instead of trying to force Thomas to play his games (although he kept asking why Thomas couldn't play the same games he could), but played what Thomas wanted to. That included trying to eat some of his own toys!

What tickled me the most is how they fed off of each other. Thomas crawled over to a little pinball machine and pounded on it. Kendon crawled over and pounded. Thomas grinned and pounded with both hands. Kendon followed along, his grin just as big. The more they pounded, the louder they pounded and the more they smiled and laughed.

8. When we're sitting close, usually in my lap and I give him a cracker or carrot, he'll take a bite then push what's left toward my mouth. He then giggles when I take my own bite. So young and already loves to share.

9. I mentioned the other day how Thomas likes to mimic our dog by sticking his tongue out and panting. I captured a video of it while in the car on the way to grandma's house. I sat in the back with him as I took the video. I wish the camera lens was wide enough to capture both him and the dog, but we work with what we have:

Apple Quicktime (better quality and quicker download): http://www.almarquardt.com/images/Panting.mov
Microsoft Media Player: http://www.almarquardt.com/images/Panting.wmv