new tricks: high five & waving

high five
Thomas has been giving us high fives for the last two weeks. He really caught onto this one quickly. If he's in his exersaucer, he'll high five you and turn to run, laughing the whole time. I'm not sure why he finds it funny, but he does.

waving
Last night I first noticed Thomas waving (at the ceiling light fixture in his bedroom) and today his dad saw him waving at the flickering flames of the fireplace. It was almost as if he were reaching and trying to grab something. A few hours later, he waved out the window so we practiced his new trick this afternoon. Again, this isn't the "parade wave" with the hand waving back and forth, but the "opening and closing of his fist" sort of wave. It seems like a difficult movement for his age, but it sure is fun watching him do it. Now I just need to get him to say "bye bye" while waving.

favorite item of the week: the aspirator

Thomas seems to go through one week periods where one particular item becomes his favorite thing. Other items will be played with (usually while firmly gripping the favored item), but he always returns to his favorite of the week. He wants to take it everywhere. This past week his favorite item has been the aspirator (pictured above, it's your standard blue bulb syringe used to suction out their noses). It has taken naps with him, slept with him, bathed with him, joined us on a trip to the mall, went to the swimming pool with us yesterday (it stayed in the locker room), comes along in the jogging stroller... Wherever Thomas happens to be, you can be sure this is with him. I wonder what it'll be next week?

feeding self

I have a love/hate relationship with the whole concept of "baby feeding himself". I love seeing his joy in accomplishing what seems to us as a simple task. I love watching him hold the teething biscuit in his chubby little hands as he studies it and eventually brings it up to his little mouth. Seeing all the nooks and crannies where food ends up is always a fun surprise, both in and around him as well as everywhere else. But the messiness of it all I could do without. And this is just a teething biscuit. It's going to be an entirely new ballgame when he's using utensils and food is flying around the room. That's how I picture it anyway. Food all over him, us, the dogs, the kitchen...

first swim

Yesterday I took Thomas for his first swim at the local community center. He didn't know what to make of it initially, but he grew more comfortable once we moved around and warmed up. He enjoyed holding onto the pool's tile edge with his feet pressed flat up against the side. He also enjoyed watching the swimmers in the adjacent lap pool. It must have looked strange to see arms flying, water splashing, and the occassional capped head bobbing up and down across the pool's length. He didn't like being splashed when a young boy jumped into the pool beside us, nor did he care for the rinsing shower before and after swimming. Overall, I thought it went really well for his first swim. Maybe next time I'll remember to put his swim trunks on... hey, at least I remembered the swim diapers!

For about the last two weeks, Thomas has been biting. It's usually on the shoulder while you are holding him. We've been pulling him away and saying No Biting! but at 9 months, does he really get it? Tonight he got his own fingers while eating a teething biscuit. He even drew blood! Of course he cried but only for a few seconds. I wish he could put two and two together and understand that biting hurts everyone.

love is in the air

Thomas got an even bigger and better balloon today from his daddy.

9 months

Likes: avocado, couscous, hummus, rice crackers, oatmeal, apples, pears, mangoes, cottage cheese, water, corn, bananas, toast, anything orange (vegetable, fruit or otherwise) and wants whatever we are eating

Dislikes: nothing

Bela... always in need of extra love

blue balloon

Thomas got this balloon tonight and refused to part with it...

Greta

Greta and Thomas are pals. She brings him stuffed animals. She won't flinch when he pulls her ears, slaps her tummy, or pokes at her nose and eyes. They love to stand and look out the living room window together. She loves to sniff him when they greet and he always smiles back at her. She looks worried when he is upset. She gives up anything that he tries to take from her. He loves to watch her wrestle Bela. He loves to watch them both eat and drink water. He tries to say Greta's name. She looks mean in this photo, but anyone who knows her would say she's far from mean. They are both lucky to have each other.

sunny day

It's still a cool 50-something degrees this week, but the sun is out and the whole world is suddenly a happier place. We needed some fresh air and the sun was irresistable so we walked over to the park where Thomas enjoyed his first swing.

Interest in crawling forward?

The cold is still hanging around but Thomas appears to be feeling better and is on the move. He's enjoying tummy time (finally!) and almost seems to prefer it so he's been hanging out on his belly quite a bit. He pushes himself around in a 360 degree circle and pushes himself backward, but hasn't gone forward yet. He like to rock forward when sitting and enjoys throwing himself forward, esp. when we are holding him. I still think he may just start walking before crawling, but only time will tell.

baby's first cold

Just two days ago I was thinking how lucky we are that Thomas hasn't been sick yet and how healthy I have been since his birth. Last night that all started to change when I told Mike my throat felt sore. I am feeling under the weather today and Thomas also seems to have caught himself a cold. We make a good pair. He seemed okay this morning, sneezing more than usual, but his spirits were up and he appeared to be feeling fine. By the time he went to bed tonight, his nose was running and he was completely wiped out. Hopefully this will pass quickly and we will all be healthy again soon.

puppy love

We've noticed lately that Thomas will give some love to his favorite things. It's fun to watch him pick something up and press it against his head or face so sweetly. Learning Puppy is one of those favorite things. So was this 10-1/2 month old girl yesterday at the library's storytime...

Thomas with his daddy

Standing tall

Last night during Thomas' evening bath, he stood up. Yes, our little guy has finally managed to pull all 22 pounds of himself up into a standing position. He's been trying this for weeks, but only while in the bathtub. I've encouraged him to try in softer places, such as the living room floor. I've put his favorite toys on the sofa hoping they would entice him into pulling himself up and reaching for them. He wouldn't have any of it. Instead, he's only been trying in the bathtub. The cast iron bathtub. Weeks ago I could sit on the toilet lid and sing songs to him while he sucked on his bath toys and splashed. But lately I've had to be close by and ready to grab him for fear that he'll bang his head into the side of the tub. And now he's figured out how to get himself up. Oh, how things are quickly changing!

Children's Museum visit

First visit to the Children's Museum today! Thomas had a great time with all of the different things, but this was his favorite. He loves to watch kids play and there were plenty of them at the museum. Once he's walking we'll get a membership. This is a good place to "wear out the children". After an hour, I was done.

New Trick: fun with tongue

Thomas has been practicing and perfecting this new trick for the past week. Sometimes he's just running his tongue over his teeth, other times he's sticking it out at me, the dogs, strangers...

View out a window

Thomas loves to look out the bathroom window and watch Bela and Greta run around. The squirrels tease them from the neighbor's tree, driving them absolutely insane. During the summer months, they'll be out back all day hunting squirrels. Once it warms up he can be out there enjoying the show, but for now he watches from inside.

Zoo and Library

Took Thomas to the zoo today! It was cold but we walked around for an hour and looked at the animals. This is the greatest benefit to membership -- we can make these short visits and not feel like we have to stay for hours to get our entry fee's worth. He didn't care for the monkeys today, but did enjoy the enclosed area of the primates. With all the hard surfaces inside the exhibit, his babbling echoed which only made him want to babble more and louder. Poor monkeys, though I'm sure it wasn't the first time. We also enjoyed seeing the elephants close-up and watching the bats hang upside down in the bat caves.

I have been taking Thomas to storytimes at the local library since summer, but we hadn't actually spent time in the library itself. He has just started to show some interest in the books I read to him so I figured it was time to start making trips to the library for books. This afternoon we got him his very own library card and checked out three books to read at home. He enjoyed hanging out at the library -- he pulled books off shelves, watched the other children who came and went, and babbled loudly. The library has a nice selection of board books for infants and a great little corner with a small table and chairs just for these smallest of library patrons.

teething biscuits = yummy for all

Thomas with his first teething biscuit. The girls were a little too curious and wanted to try the biscuits, too (note their noses in this photo). Thomas gave his first biscuit to Bela and thought it was the funniest thing when I reprimanded her. The second biscuit he dropped on the floor, also to be quickly snatched up by Bela. The girls are now banned from the kitchen when baby is eating.