Another Milestone

Today while BedHeadSid (BHS) was at his first playdate with a Waldorf school chum, StinkyHeadMonkeyToes (SHMT) and I had a little personal time together. SHMT got to sleep in and take his time with mommy. I had time to do some ironing and laundry. With all the things that have been going on lately, this seemingly mundane day was a welcomed and much needed change.



Don't get me wrong though, the day had its moments: SHMT fed himself soup with a spoon for the first time -- well, actually he dipped the spoon and spilled most of the soup on his bib, but he did manage to pop in a few bites of veggies and potatoes. The cutest thing about it was how he demanded to feed himself: "UUUUHHHHHHHH!" he growled as he arm wrestled the spoon away and shook his head at any of my attempts to regain the utensil. [update 10/26: SHMT is now throwing tantrums when we attempt to feed him unless we let him hold the spoon; I've got just one word to say: splosher]


In fact SHMT is very insistent these days. He will fetch his favorite book Good Night Moon and doggedly follow me around with it, waving it at me, 'oooh'-ing or mewling at me until I ask him whether he wants to read, to which he grins his assent and we assume the position (he is a lap reader). I figure I must read him this story at least five times a day -- no joke. Just like his brother, he loves to turn the pages. He's also beginning to take interest in his other literary acquisitions: The Hungry Caterpillar, Let's Grow Vegetable Soup, In Our House, and The Belly Button Book. Oh, and the occasional fluff reader.

SHMT has also begun to address people as we encounter them as well as when we depart from them. "Huh" gurgle "eye! da-da" gurgle. "Hen-goo" gurgle, drool. "Bye-eeeee" gurgle "eeee." Sure, his hellos, thank yous and goodbyes sound like bad ventriloquism, but they are still attempts to acknowledge the niceties of life and that is hella cute!

Have I mentioned what a little billy goat he's become? I've developed better peripheral sight in order to keep up with his climbing and underfoot ways. Seriously, for such a short guy with heavy baggage, baby boy can scoot up the table/couch/anything with a toe hold in seconds. We've resorted to blocking most areas, but little billy here will occasionally surprise us with his ingenuity and determination. He's started to employ the stools and step stairs in his grand and elaborate schemes.

Lastly, SHMT is well on his way to being eco-friendly and litter free...or we are grooming him to become the local trash picker upper. All he needs is that stick with the grabber thing-a-ma-jig and he's set. We've encouraged him to throw his garbage in the trash can by applauding his efforts. He loves the attention and has been diligent even without encouragement. At BHS's soccer practice, he scoured the ground for things to toss in the recycle can.

But somehow we're going to have to temper his enthusiasm since items are now showing up is odd places. Seems his "put in the can" behavior morphed into "put [insert anything] in the [insert to any place]. We now have shoes in our linens cabinet and the remote control can be found in any little crevice at any given time.

[sigh] Seems like only yesterday that we brought the little guy home so helpless and small.