Thomas at IKEA

We took a quick trip to Ikea today. Thomas decided he liked on of their chairs.

Minus

Ok... File this in the "Just when you thought your child could not get any cuter" department. For the longest time Thomas would say everyone else's name but his own. However, recently he has started to say "mine" when referring to things he thought were his... i.e. his plate, his truck, etc. Sorcha and I have been asking to say his name lately but he just didn't want to say it. Then... one day, continuing our quest for him to say Thomas... when asked he whispered "Minus". I'm assuming it's a combination of "mine" and "Thomas". He now always refers to himself as minus. "Minus walk", "Minus up", "Minus down"... It is the cutest thing in the world. Sorcha captured a short video with him saying it. See below...

Thomas at the Park

One thing Thomas loves is playing outside. Our goal for a while has been to find the best parks all over Austin and the surrounding areas. Well, we found a great one today. There is a new park in Round Rock over by Brushy Creek that has a great little toddler playscape. It's quite shaded and and has a lot of empty fields around it for lots of running around. Here are some pictures of our time at the park.

Making Cookies

Thomas absolutely loves to help around the house. The toys we have for him have pretty much become obsolete. He'd much rather help Sorcha cook, clean, whatever it is she's doing at the time. It's pretty funny. You say the words "help mama?" and he just lights up. So, Gigi came over the other day and they decided to make cookies. Of course, Thomas wanted to be right there in the thick of it. Sorcha was able to take some cute pictures of him helping. Here you go...

Potty Time

I know I haven't posted in a while, and I'll try to get some updates up soon. The biggest new thing around here is that we've officially started learning to use the potty. We're using the Montessori method which is essentially putting them in underwear and staying home for 3-6 weeks until they get it. Montessori believed that kids have a "sensitive" period, or a window of opportunity for learning the potty (and many other things) between 12 and 18 months. She said that if you miss it, it can be a long time before they're interested again.
Thomas is certainly interested. He was also showing all the signs of readiness, so even though he seems really young (just turned 16 months), we're doing it. I'm not going to push him, but if he's ready, he'll do it.

We're on day 6 right now and I am just astounded at his progress. The first day we went through 14 pairs of training pants. He would usually catch himself and not let a huge puddle out, but he also couldn't seem to relax on the potty and let it all out there either, so there was a TON of back and forth. After several days he started letting more and more go in the potty. So, here's the progression of how many pants we've gone through each day, starting on the first day:
14
9
6
5
3
and so far today he's gone through ZERO. We're still in our original pair from this morning. I also didn't clean up a single drop of pee off the floor yesterday! It's truly unbelievable. He naps in training pants and so far has only woken up wet (and then only slightly) once. We still use diapers at night b/c he still nurses, but once he stops nursing at night, we plan to try to wear underpants then too.

Don't get me wrong...we still have a ways to go, but he is getting there and making progress every day. We need to get to the point where he will just pee right when we sit on the potty instead of sitting there for 20 minutes. Sometimes he will go right away, but not every time. We also haven't had any poop in the potty yet. Thank goodness he only goes once a day!

So, overall, I'm SOOO glad we're doing this. I'm starting to go stir crazy at the house, but hopefully our seclusion will end soon.

p.s. the picture's not great b/c he jumps up every time he sees the camera b/c he wants to see the picture we just took.

Learning to Jump

Thomas has been trying to jump lately. At first he would just get up on his toes, but now he's jumping and falling on his bottom. Too cute!

Why Waste a Tantrum?

Ok... This is just too funny not to post... I'm just waiting for the day when Thomas does something like this. It will take every ounce of self control not to laugh.

Testing Writely

Just signed up for the Writely beta. It's the online word processor that Google just bought. They have a feature that allows you to post directly to your blog and I wanted to check it out. So far it looks pretty good. It performs well and has all the standard word processing features most people use.

Playing in the Gutter

Another quick post of some more cute pictures. Sorcha took these of Thomas playing in the gutter after it rained one day. Unfortunately, there was a smudge on the lense so they didn't come out perfect, but they're good pictures regardless. Click for the pictures.

Fun with Molasses

A quick post of some cute pictures of Thomas enjoying some molasses. I think Sorcha was cooking and gave him a tablespoon of molasses. Needless to say, he enjoyed it very much. Click for the pictures.

Little person

So, sometime in the past month or so Thomas has really become a person to me. I mean, we've always felt like we've known him and his personality, but he's really just turned into a little man lately. It's probably just because it seems like he's interacting with me instead of just living in his own little world. Here are some of the new things he's started doing:

Saying night-night while laying his head down.
Helping around the house - with unloading the dishwasher, wiping spills, loading the dryer, watering the plants etc.
Climbing, climbing, climbing! He's been safely getting down from our bed on his own for at least several months now, but he's just now interested in getting up. It's really cute.
Understanding and responding to TONS of what we say, like: go get your shoe, go get your other shoe, take this to mama, daddy, gigi, etc, hold my hand, go to the bedroom, bring me that, eat it, don't eat it, stop, gentle, time for bed, go to the bedroom, lay down, sit down, stand up, where's your ball?, close that, open that, take a bath, and the kicker, pee pee goes in the potty! (Plus probably 100 more I can't think of right now).
Plus it seems like his vocabulary is exploding!

Our biggest development lately is his immense interest in the potty. He will pull at his diaper when he needs to go or right after he goes. He's been doing the sign for potty for a while, but lately he also wants to sit on the potty. The other day he did the sign and grabbed his diaper and walked into the bathroom. Then we heard him poop. WHAT?? And he did actually pee in the potty yesterday. I've read about "readiness" signs and he has all of them except for being dry for 3 hours. So, we're just going to explore the potty for now and see where it leads. I'm just taking his cue.

He's showing that he wants certain things lately and it's really fun. The other day he requested his hat when I said "let's go for a walk." And usually when he's getting drowsy at night I'll ask him "is it time for bed?" and he'll shake his head no (with his eyes half closed). But tonight he was nursing, looking drowsy and I asked him if it was time for bed and he signed "more" (which I think still means "I want"). At first I thought he didn't understand what I meant (yeah right!) but I took him in the bedroom and he calmly laid there while I changed him and then wouldn't you know it - nursed to sleep in 3 minutes flat!

I've been meaning to post all his words and signs for months but haven't gotten around to it until now. Here's the list:

Clearly intelligible: mama, papa (for his grampa nick), tractor, vacuum, hot, cat, uh-oh, this, water, hat, up, bug, night-night, ice.

Less so: truck, helicoptor, daddy, bubbles, ball, book, bite, apricots, pasta, puppy, bird.

Signs: fan, more, nurse, help, dog, outside, no, eat, water, book, light, phone, down, all finished, airplane, potty

Black and White twins. Unbelievable!

Saw this on digg this morning. Wild! A million to one chance.

read more digg story

Tumbling Thomas

Hello everyone... Just a quick post of a very cute video of Thomas. He's started wanting to tumble by himself. We've done it with him a bunch, but he's never started the process himself until now. It's really cute... See for yourself.

The Love of Yogurt

Everyone loves yogurt right? Well, Thomas does. He not only loves to eat it, he loves to play with it. Sorcha gave him a container of yogurt and a spoon the other day and he proceeded to dump out the yogurt on his high chair and play... and play... and play. He had a great time. I was able to get a quick video and some pictures. Here's the link to the pictures and I've posted the video below.

The Backyard Pool

Nana and Grandpa got us a blow up pool for the backyard for Thomas' birthday. We just blew it up the other day so Thomas could play in it. He loved it. He loves taking the hose and playing in the water. Sorcha took these photos. Enjoy!

Thomas Loves the Vacuum

While Sorcha was enjoying some time away from home with the Superfriends at Z'Tejas, Thomas and I spent some quality time at home. First, we just played. He loves his new vacuum and that was the first thing he went for. Of course, I had to take pictures and a quick movie. After that, he was a bit tired so I put him down for a nap. That's kind of a misnomer since I can't actually put him down for a nap. I put him in the sling and rock him to sleep, then sit and read a book while he sleeps. At times I would love to be able to put him in his bed and have him fall asleep, I'm still working on that, but It's pretty cool to have him sleep with me for his naps. He woke up a little early from his nap so he was still a bit tired, so I put on one of his programs and we laid on the couch together and watching TV. It was pretty cute, he just laid on my chest and watched his program. Every so often, looking up at me and signing "nurse?". Thankfully, mama came home pretty soon after that. Here are the pictures I took and I've included a quick video of him and his vacuum.

Thomas the Chef

Thomas helped Sorcha bake some cookies this morning. Then after a long morning baking he wanted to take a rest in a chair. That's his new thing, sitting in a big person chair. He loves it. Click for the pictures.

Thomas the Sailor Man

Just a quick post of a VERY cute picture of Thomas. We were cleaning out our closet today and found Thomas' Grandpa's old sailor hat from when he was in the Navy. We thought it would be cute to see if Thomas would wear it. That he did. He walked around the house for the longest time wearing the hat. I had to get a picture. I'm sorry but he is SO cute!

Thomas Turns One

I planned and schemed and cooked and cleaned (reading too much Dr. Seuss?) for a month and it's all come to a close. I've hardly had time to think this past week what with the final party preparations and visiting with my dad (who came down from Seattle for the party!) . The party was so much fun. It was a beautiful morning for a park party. The *only* sad part was that the superfriends came down with a stomach bug the day before so they weren't able to make it. We were so bummed that they all had to miss the party, but we were also sad for them being sick.

Thomas had his first taste of pure sugar in the form of a yummy chocolate cupcake (which his daddy spent all night preparing for him). Initially he asked for more, but after a few bites he lost interest and just wanted tons of water. He never even grabbed it, he just wanted me to give him bites. I am in no way complaining!! There's plenty of time to get addicted to sugar. His great-grandparents got him one of those old fashioned poppers and it was a huge hit. He had a great time walking it all over the place. Of course, probably his favorite thing to do at any park is to chase the birds and/or squirrels, and his party was no exception. After all that partying though, he was exhausted and crashed before we were even out of the parking lot.

When we went to bed I was looking at him sleeping and thinking back to that same night exactly one year ago. I almost started crying just thinking about what we would go through for the next several months (not sure the correct tense to use when talking about the future of a memory - or how to even say that!). It was all so overwhelming. We had no idea what to expect or what to do. The first 3 or 4 months with Thomas were very hard for us. Even aside from the huge breastfeeding struggles, was just the adjustment factor. It has taken us a long time to find balance with a baby and with being a family - being parents! - instead of just two adults. That's not to say that we're there, but we're a heck of a lot closer.

Having a baby is not what I thought it was going to be. First and foremost it's 100 times harder. It's lonelier, it's more boring. But it's also more amazing, moving, and grounding. He astounds me every day with what he can do and with what he wants to do. He is helping me learn patience and how to stay in the moment and what's really important in life. Everyone has heard moms say how you never know how much love you can feel until you have a child and it's true. Sometimes I just feel like I love him so much I can't stand it! What do I do with all this feeling? It almost reminds me of labor, but in an emotional way. Often it's difficult to be so utterly needed, but then he looks up at me with those big blue eyes, completely content to just nurse and I take a deep breath and remember he won't be small forever. There's a wonderful saying from a book I read recently that I've really tried to take to heart - "nothing has meaning but the meaning you give it." So, when I'm trying to finish the dishes and he keeps coming up to me, demanding to be held, I could get frustrated. Or - I could choose to hold my sweet little man and enjoy the fact that he wants to be held. The dishes sure don't care.

I'm including a link to my birth story in case anyone hasn't read it and wants to. I've been thinking about that day a lot this past week. At 4:00 pm on May 13, 2005 Thomas wasn't here. At 4:01 he was (ok, so he was here for 9 months prior to that day, but we didn't meet him until then). I remember thinking: Where did he come from? Who is he? Where are his parents?? This little person suddenly appeared and was utterly dependent on us (mostly me). I'm so happy that I can look back on that day happily. Everything went exactly as nature designed it to go. I'm glad we were at home. There was no time to think or question whether or not I could do it or if someone would "have to" help me. My body just did it. It was the most powerful thing I'm likely to experience in my life. Until next time of course.

Something I think only other parents can understand is that this past year has been the longest and shortest of my life. I hope Brad and I are able to savor these first years and roll with the challenges. Although sometimes it seems hard to believe now, I'm sure someday we'll look back longingly on this time.

Here's a link to the pictures on Smugmug and I've posted a slideshow of pictures taken during the first year. Enjoy...

The Evolution of Dance

Ok... This has nothing to do with myself, my wife or our son. But it simply too funny not to post... Enjoy!