Quality Requires Quantity.

I can't help it, I've got to follow the crowd and post some highlights from our family Christmas photo session.

But first, a little note about our session. Our session was with Drew, not a professional photographer. He has a fancy camera and has really learned a lot about how to use it so he does a pretty dang good job. Maybe having Drew take them was a mistake. Maybe had a stranger been there to snap some shots of our darling little boy, it would have been fine. As it is, it took 114 photographs to get 1 good-ish picture. Hence the title of this post. There are no soul-warming photographs here. If you want that, click here. If you want to cringe and laugh in equal measure, keep scrolling.

Believe it or not, our oldest child was the most well-behaved during actual shooting. Prior to the pictures and directly after them, she was a madwoman bent on canine destruction.

But I digress.

The captions are Thomas's thoughts. If he could say the words he thinks, I'm pretty sure he'd have quite the snarky mouth.

"Mommy, don't touch me! I don't like it when you touch me!" 

"Now you are both touching me! Stop it! I'm SO upset!" 

"Look, a star! A King is Born!" 

"I'll do it, I'll jump. Just tell me to smile ONE MORE TIME!" 

"Giselle is too close to me! So is Mommy; get away, Mommy!" 

Notice Giselle's face. She's growing at another dog. Probably seconds away from charging. 

Oh family photos. What an adventure. In patience.


Merry Christmas! I hope your holiday season is filled with fewer tears than this fifteen minutes held.

There's a first time for everything.

And today, October 5, 2015, was the first time that I purchased conditioner without its accompanying shampoo.

Gasp!

I'm still kind of twitchy about it.

See, I'm a symmetrical kind of girl. I like tidy packages and neat bows. And I like matching. I even like matchy-matchy. I do not like odd numbers or uneven lines. I need sameness kind of like how cookies aren't really cookies unless they have chocolate chips. Maybe it is because I am a twin. Or maybe it is because I have 46 chromosomes instead of 23 pairs. I don't know. I do know that the world is likely to end tomorrow because I bought only one hair product and not its match.

Know what else?

The conditioner that I bought isn't the same as the kind that I just depleted. Meaning that my current shampoo isn't the complement to my new conditioner.

I know.

It's awful.

That's it, I'm going back to the store.

28 is the NEW 25!

Daddy likes to make me things as gifts. When he asked me what I wanted for my birthday back in July, I asked him to write Thomas a song and play it on the guitar. In true Daddy fashion, he did just that! Here's a poorly-lit video (the lighting in my parents' house is awful) and the lyrics to help you sing along!

MY NAME IS THOMAS (music - you are my sunshine)

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You never know son, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away

My name is Thomas, Thomas Hoffmann

I love my mama and daddy too

We all live on Springstone in

Baton Rouge,   LA

I love my Red Ball, it's so big now

and I love my dog,   Giselle

And I like those things that rattle

Rattle, Rock and Roll

I am counting my numbers

1 2 3 and those A B Cs

I like TECHs colors and

LSU Purple and Gold

I have a Pap and a Ya Ya

A NaNa and an Opa too

You know With them,I get to do

What ever I want to do

Faking it until you make it

I'm a strong believer in the power of positive thinking. Sure, it's hokey. But I'm okay with hokey. One of my favorite mantras is "fake it until you make it." In Thomas's early days, I said it to myself at least once every hour until I got the hang of our new life These days, I only need it on bad days or when I'm in socially uncomfortable situations and need a self-confidence boost.

Believe it or not, I don't roll out of bed every morning with a smile on my face and a singing bluebird on my shoulder. In fact, if there's a bird singing even outside my window, I'm likely to try to blast it with mind bullets. On those mornings, I fake a smile. I fake a good attitude. I go in singing like a bluebird to my little boy like I was woken by angel kisses instead of baby cries or my cotton picking alarm clock. It might take me a couple of hours or it might not happen until the next day, but if I fake it long enough, the smile on my face will become genuine and my mood will improve.

When I'm somewhere that I don't really want to be surrounded by people that I don't really know, I fake it again. I put a smile on my face. I start small talk conversations with strangers. I assert myself fully into the painful awkwardness that 'grinners' create.I fake it until I strike up a conversation with someone that talks back to me and I can relax a little. Or I fake it until it's time to go home. But more often than not, I can fake being extroverted until I convince myself that I am extroverted for the short time period that I need to social.

As I write this I realize that I sound like I'm not being myself. That's not true. It's more like I'm making a little extra effort to be myself until my true self can get with the program. I AM normally smiling and talkative. I do love getting my little boy out of his crib every morning for snuggles. I'm just not always in the best mood when I need to be. When that happens, I fake it until I can make the situation better.

Next time you are having a less than awesome day, try faking it until you can make your day awesome. I bet you'll come to believe in the power of positive thinking too.

Letters for Thomas - B

Guess what! Since my last Letter post, Thomas no longer needs an hour of hand holding to get to sleep! He now naps once a day and that seems to make a huge difference in his night sleeping. He's adjusted to it like a champ and really, so have I! Not to worry, I still already have his alphabet.

On to B!

Brave - I'm not talking red-headed Disney character Brave, I want this little boy to be courageous. I pray that Thomas has the courage it takes to wake up every day and make it better than the day before, to stand up for himself and those that can't stand up for themselves, to speak up but not show out. Bravery and courage seem to be the same, but they aren't. One can't be brave without courage and one can't have courage without being brave. I want Thomas to be equipped with both and use them. Hopefully, he'll use them in a productive manner and not to jump off the roof because he got double-dog dared...

Bold - I don't want Thomas to fade into the background. I want him to stand out because he isn't afraid to put himself on the line. I know that boldness will get him into trouble just as much as bravery, and perhaps for less just reasons, but man, I'll take the bad with the good on this trait. Let's just hope he didn't inherit my amazing ability to be sarcastic and a smart aleck in the worst situations...

A Believer - I want Thomas to believe. To believe in God, himself, his family, the power of hope and prayer, that he has a purpose, and that he can be anything he wants to be. (Ahem, while still being how God made him. Is it too soon for Bruce/Caitlin Jenner references?) What's that saying, "he believed he could, so he did," is that it? That's what I want. I want him to believe that he can do anything and then set out to do it. I also want him to believe in hard work, loyalty, patience, and generosity.

I know that I've got quite high hopes for this little boy of mine. I'm a bit of an overestimator when it comes to what I can accomplish in teaching Thomas. But man, oh man, what if I succeed?

A Trip to the Farmers' Market

One of my favorite things about living in a city is the farmer's market. Shreveport has one. Baton Rouge has one. Mangham does not. One never knows what all one will see or hear or smell at a farmer's market. Baton Rouge's is nice, but Shreveport's is bigger with more variety. Baton Rouge has crepes; Shreveport has gourmet popsicles.  Much earlier in the summer, the boys and I loaded up and headed downtown to BR's market. Last time I was there was in 2013 and I was doing everything I could to keep from tossing my cookies. (Thought that the constant complaints of morning sickness were over, did you? You were wrong. No, I'm not pregnant again. I was scarred by the morning sickness and am a bit gun shy now.) This time was much better in that there was no nausea (and no vomiting!!) and Thomas was with us in person! 

We saw the most beautiful hydrangeas and herbs when we walked through the entrance. I swear, they try to get all your money on beautiful plants before you even get to the food! 

And then the food started! The food! Glorious food! Truly a rainbow of produce. It wasn't Venice, but it was mesmerizing.

I have a slight obsession with honey. I don't love eating honey, but I love having it and tasting it. I love the idea of honey and bees (not actual bees, I don't want to see a bee at all. Ever.). And honeycombs. And cute little bear containers of honey. We picked up some honey with hints of blueberry. I haven't opened it since the day we bought it two months ago. But I love that I have it.

Something we did buy and use was duck eggs. The thought of them kind of grosses me out right this second, but they were really neat. See those blue and white ones? Those are the ducks. They are HUGE. And very yolky. We used most of a dozen before they went bad. It was a one-and-done kind of purchase, but I am glad we gave them a try.

There were also artisans at the farmer's market which makes NO sense to me, but whatev. I doubt we'll be back this summer because it gets hotter than blue blazes before the sun even comes up, but it was fun before the heat came. I'm sure we'll go back before we leave ol' BR, but NOT in August. Gracious alive. 

A party for T-baby!

You know how sometimes the days and weeks just zoom by and all of a sudden, it's August? No? Well, I do. This post is THREE months overdue. I would be embarrassed, but I have too much else to worry about so I'll ignore the embarrassment. 

We had Thomas's FIRST birthday party on May 9, 2015. May 9, 2014 was his actual due date so while that was not a factor in deciding the date, it was a cute little coincidence. I wanted to keep it low key, so we only invited our closest friends and family. Not proximally, but emotionally. 

I LOVE bunting so that was Thomas's theme. I know, kids are all about bunting too. We had smoked brisket sandwiches, mac and cheese, the most delicious fruit dip in the history of time, and CAKE! Social Bites made the cake and Aunt May (Marla's most recent Aunt name) brought it down. Matt and I made Thomas a cake for his first bites of sugar-filled delight. He was confused but was able to figure it out pretty quickly. (Side note: next year's Thomas cake will be a little different.) 

After lunch, Thomas opened his presents. It took some time because he wanted to play with what he opened and ignore the rest. There were no meltdowns or tears. From Thomas or his mommy... It was a great day! 

Ignore my arm here. Oh my. 

Thomas LOVES balloons! 

See my hand there? It was preventing him from diving head first into the candle. He so wanted to... 

CAKE!! And the only messy face picture you will ever see. 

Letters for Thomas - A

I know, I have a lot of catching up to do. Thomas's birthday party, Chicago, the Farmer's Market, the list goes on and on. But I also want to do something else.

I spend a fair amount of time each day trying to help Thomas go to sleep. Sometimes I get frustrated quickly because I have a million other things that I need to be doing rather than singing lullabies to a baby who can sing them to himself. One of the ways that I manage to not thing about work while I am putting T to bed is to think about the alphabet. (Let's just go ahead and acknowledge that I am a dork so we can move on.) It started with me trying to think of a wild animal whose name begins with each letter of the alphabet. For example, A - aardvark, B - boa constrictor. You get the idea. Then I attempted domesticated animals. Then I would put the states in alphabetical order. Then I decided that I would rather think about Thomas while I was putting him to sleep so that I could be "in the moment." Rumors abound that I won't have to wrap him up in a blanket and sway him to and fro forever. Instead of animals or states, I think of three attributes that begin with each letter of the alphabet that I pray that he has. Surprisingly, this takes longer than I ever imagined. I started with A, then thought about all the personal characteristics and traits that begin with that letter. Some stood out immediately, others took some time. (Let me tell you about J....) I actually go through a whole dialogue with myself about which word gets the cut and why. I've been doing this for about a month for two naps and at bedtime. Sometimes I have more time than others (an hour last night... but no time for his afternoon nap yesterday), and some letters are harder. My memory ain't what it used to be, so I decided to put my wishes (my letters) for Thomas here. It's okay if you go back to Kate's blog now, but she's probably talking about her kids too....

Amiable - what! What a lame word to start with, I know. But seriously. I want Thomas to be friendly, to not have preconceived notions of people or cultures. I want him to be and appear to be interested in everyone without prejudice.

Adventurous - I want Thomas to seize every opportunity that comes his way (and make opportunities of his own) to explore this amazing world. I want him to not be held back from anything by fear of the unknown. I am sometimes happy to repeat the same day over and over, I don't want that for him. I want him to crave adventure (within reason - I better not hear about any bungee jumping or skydiving).

Affectionate - No, I don't want a feminine or emotionally needy boy, but I do want Thomas to show affection to those that he loves. Today's society doesn't have quite the same requirements that men be strong and silent, but some of those manly characteristics haven't faded. It's only been in the past 7 or 8 years that my own Daddy would tell me that he loved me or that he was proud of me. I don't want Thomas's children or his wife to ever have to wonder. I want Thomas to be affectionate.

There you go, you can expect 25 more of these posts. No pictures, just words. Not to worry, I'll intermix the fun ones with these. These take less time because I've already done the thinking about don't have to deal with uploading pictures so perhaps I'll post a bit more regularly.

Thomas's birthday week

I've only recently made a big deal of birthdays. Like, in the past couple of years. I try to do something small every day of the week for Matt and so I thought I'd pass that on to Thomas instead of dwelling on the fact that my baby isn't a baby any longer.... I didn't take a picture every day like I had intended BUT we did do something special every day though some days were smaller than others. 

On Monday, Thomas, Matt, and I spent the evening and swung and swung on the swing outside our house. Thomas LOVES the swing and the weather was perfect. 

On Tuesday, Thomas and I went for a walk around the neighborhood early in the morning. You know, before it got smoking hot.

On Wednesday, Thomas's actual birthday, we went swimming! And playing in the neighborhood playground. Thomas tried to swing his alligator but the alligator face planted pretty early one. He loved it. Thomas loved it, not the alligator.

On Thursday, Thomas and I went to the library! He is way too fond of sitting at the base of a bookcase and pulling all the books off so I didn't let him just roam free. We did get one of his favorite books - Llama Llama Red Pajama. 

On Friday, we went golfing with Matt! Well, not exactly. We went to the driving range. I don't think Thomas and I could handle actually golfing with Matt. Thomas isn't one to sit still for long. 

On Saturday, we had Thomas's birthday party!! Details and pictures to come!!

Twelve Months!

It's incredibly hard to believe that TWELVE MONTHS have passed since this little guy was born. It seems like just yesterday that I was calling the message service for my doctor to start the delivery process. I can't say that the last twelve months, or even the last 30 days, have been absolute happiness, but I can say that I've never been happier. Never been this sleep-deprived, this confused, this disorganized, but never this happy. Month 12 was full of smiles and play-time. Thomas is "finally" getting to the stage where he can play and play and play. And laugh, and laugh, and laugh. Oh gracious, that kid can laugh. He cracks himself up all the time. I wish I had a camera on him constantly to record his precious giggles so I can replay them when he's up all night crying or when he gets mad when I won't let him play with a plastic bag. Instead, I'll just have to replay them in my head and remind myself that he laughs more than he cries and he smiles way more than he pouts. 

Thomas weighs   20 pounds and 11 ounces and is 29.5 inches long. He wears a size 3 diaper but is about to move up to size 4s. He is too big for Carter's brand 12 month clothes, but most 12-18 clothes fit him just right or a touch too big. He wears a size 4 shoe but let's be honest, I don't put shoes on him much. He can crawl faster than I can walk. He's cruising all day long. As of May 6, he wasn't really showing any interest in walking but as of the date of the post, I bet he'll be walking within a month. His favorite book is I Love You Through and Through. He sings with me when I sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat and the ABCs. His current favorite toy is a little Indian girl figurine from a London bus set that Kat and Jeff got him for Christmas. There are about 5 figurines - the driver, the steward, an elderly English couple, and the Indian girl. He throws the others away to get to the girl. Then, he promptly sticks her head in his mouth and continues playing. Kind of like a lollipop. It's odd.... 

He babbles and sings like he will forget how if he stops for a second. When he stops, I know he's up to no good. He loves opening and closing doors. If he's on one side of the door and I am on the other, he'll knock on the door in response to my knocking on the door. For hours. 

Happy first year, Thomas! I'm so excited to see what the next year brings! 

Discovering Giselle's paws... 

At the NOLA aquarium 

At the aquarium. 

Playing racecar in an empty diaper box

Side note: "Racecar" is a palindrome.

Eleven months!!

Only one picture because the uploader is being weird and if I wait too much longer to post this update, he'll be a year...

I know. He's starting college tomorrow. 

Month Eleven was a month of firsts!! First major injury (his little mouth is just fine! The bruising has faded and his bottom and tooth teeth line up just right), first haircut, first Easter egg hunt, first softball game, first half-marathon, man! March was a very busy month for T-baby.

He's still in size 3 diapers, but he's busting out of his 12-month clothes. Carter's brand at least, most other brands fit him with a little room to grow. He's about 29 inches tall. He crawls and cruises and generally moves as fast as he can wherever he desires to go. He loves hats more than anything else in the world (except for maybe his pacifier). He adored the Easter bunny and got a little upset when he had to leave it. He is an expert egg hunter and will scurry to get an egg as fast as the other eggs in his hands will let him go. His favorite book these days is I Love You Through and Through. His favorite song is Jesus Loves Me and is his cue to close his little eyes and go to sleep. He takes two naps a day and will "sleep" from 7 p.m. until about 6 a.m. usually waking up at least twice. He opens and closes drawers and cabinets like his mission in life is to open and close drawers and cabinets. He can pull up on things that are smaller than he is and won't hesitate to use whatever is around him to do so. Thomas understands the words 'no' and 'Thomas.' When he hears either, he'll turn and look, smile, then get back to whatever he was doing - usually playing in the dog's water bowl.

Oh, and my favorite thing, when Matt gets home from work, Thomas crawls to the door as fast as he can while shrieking. Once there, he tries to climb up Matt's legs until Matt picks him up. His hilarious. And makes me tear up every. single. time.

Going through the big D!

And this time, I DO mean Dallas!!! 

Last weekend, Marla and I ran another HALF MARATHON!! Like, 13.1 miles. Though, the GPS on my phone said it was more like 13.5 miles. Seriously. Get it together, Rock and Roll Series. 

Matt, Thomas, and I flew into to Dallas from Nola. Marla drove and we all met up at hotel Friday night. We put Thomas straight to bed and then pigged out on burgers, fries, and overpriced cocktails. After that, no one slept. Thomas cried and screamed and cried. I felt so bad for Marla. Like, awful. I warned her, but it was even worse than I expected it to be. There were at least two occasions that I just sat up in bed and rocked him. Ever tried to rock without a rocking chair? It takes some serious core muscles. That I don't have. No kidding, my abs were sore when I "woke up" on Saturday. About 5 a.m. Thomas got up for the day. We went to the bathroom and watched Daniel Tiger so Matt and Marla could sleep. It was awful. Awful.  

Saturday morning, we went to the expo to get our running stuff. The convention center was connected to the hotel so we didn't even have to pay any more to park.... While at the expo, we watched a video showing the course. It lied. The hills didn't even register with me. They should have. Oh. My. Goodness. Then, Matt, Thomas, and I went to a fancy mall so Marla could get some sleep. We bought some super cute clothes for Thomas, I got a few tops, and we ogled a pink diamond at Tiffany's until the security guard asked us to step away from the display. 

Outside the expo. Thomas is the dot on the i! 

Saturday evening, we met up with Luke and his GF, Kadie, for dinner. We had a quick dinner while Thomas threw a fit. I took him back to the room early so I could give him a bath and put him down for bed. I had him all ready for bed and pretty much asleep until I realized that I had forgotten to give him supper. It's funny what being awake for a million hours can do to one's mental processes. After I fed him and got him back asleep, we all went to sleep. At like 8:00 p.m. I didn't hear anyone complain. Thomas slept better but not great on Saturday night. Marla got up at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday and I didn't even hear her. I slept like a rock when I slept. We got up, had breakfast, and prepared for the run. We had been worried about rain but decided that the rain was over and we were going to just go like it would be dry. Luckily for us, the rain HAD ended. Maybe I should say that it was lucky for the 25,000 other people there that the rain had ended because my running gear wouldn't hide much if it was soaking wet. 

About 7, we headed down to the start line which was just outside our hotel. Matt and Thomas came with us to see us off. They actually stayed in the corral for several minutes after the race began. I kept worrying that overeager runners were going to plow over them but it didn't happen and they were able to escape the barricades safely before we actually got to the start line. 

Family photo!! 

We're ready!! 

He doesn't sleep at night, but sleeps in the middle of 25K people. Sure... 

On one bridge while looking at another bridge... 

I stopped for a selfie. I was over running by mile 2. 

Neither did I. A marathon wasn't an option with this run. Signfail. 

I ran passed this billboard and would have stopped for a burger if there was one anywhere close. But there wasn't. There was nothing. 

Just under halfway. I literally hated the man standing by that sign. I feel like he could have made it say 15K if he really wanted to. 

The inevitable happened. I stood in line for 5 minutes but in the end, couldn't even close the door. Several miles later, I found an open 7/11. I shouldn't have hydrated.  

There's that bridge again. 

Lemme tell you how I feel about hills. Stupid Dallas. 

I finished. I didn't finish nearly as quickly as I would have liked to, but I finished. Felt like I was going to die afterwards, but I finished. No, I don't have that euphoric feeling and haven't signed up for another one already. But that's okay. I finished. Even with the hills. Stupid Dallas.  There aren't any post-run pictures. I was laid out on the floor trying to talk myself into breathing...

Then, Mar drove us to the airport and we flew back home!! Oh, and I ate the most delicious brisket. I should blog about that brisket.

TEN Months!!

I'm pretty sure that everything has changed from the way it was just a month ago. Thomas can crawl now! When he wants to go somewhere, he is a little speedster! In fact, sometimes I think he crawls faster than I walk. This morning, we were in the living room and he heard Matt talking in the bedroom. Thomas dashed in there faster than I could put my coffee cup down. I'm pretty sure he was just a blur as he darted past me.

He's got four teeth and is eating much better! Still purees. He likes yogurt melts but can only be tricked into eating a puff. We've tried a Cheerio here and there, but no luck. He eats sweet potatoes, butternut and acorn squash, applesauce, and yogurt. He's tried peanut butter and seems to like it. He didn't take to those itty bitty star-shaped pasta though. He HATES carrots. HATES them. Almost as much as he hates avocado.

He wears mostly 12-month clothes but can still fit into some of his 9-monthers. I've taken to putting him in shirts and pants instead of onesies and he looks so much like a little man it kind of breaks my heart. I do put him in some onesies when I want my baby back.

We started the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program on February 18th and are having fun with it!! It gives me extra motivation to read to him. Thomas LOVES books. His favorite right now is actually I Love You Through and Through. I think because of the baby in it. Thomas smiles and laughs when he sees other babies. I get a kick out of showing him baby videos on Youtube, especially if the baby is laughing.

He doesn't really say words but babbles a lot. He knows words though. He responds as well as Giselle when I tell him that his daddy is home. Signing isn't going well. And house-proofing the baby just ain't working at all. He's drawn to Giselle's water and food bowls like a moth to a flame.

He waves and points when he sees someone or something he likes. It's interesting to see who he is most interested in when he go out in public. He wants everything in the counter at Ambrosia bakery. I can't say that I blame him....

And now, pictures!!

Check out his arm.... 

The dilemma of TWO pacifiers (and a mom who doesn't know how to work her camera). 

First beach trip this year! 

Had to lower the crib.... 

Meeting cousin Foster! 

"Reading" like a champ! 

Slightly weird eyes, but happy baby! 

Five things I've learned from being sleep-deprived

I can't tell you the last time I slept for more than 5 hours at a time. Probably before I got pregnant. Seriously. So, about a year and a half. In the past 18 months, I've learned quite a few things about myself. Because I'm SUCH a giving person, I'll share them with you.

1. The most awful thing I've learned is that I can't do math well without sleep. Mental math has always been tough for me, but man, being foggy-headed all the time makes my brain work as well as a TI-83+_with no battery. Thomas eats every three hours. He has since he was born except for the occasional growth spurt or nursing strike. I still have to write the time down so I can remember it and do the math on when he'll be hungry again. It's slightly embarrassing. And more than slightly worrisome.

2. Just because there is a sign and I read it, I may not understand. I find myself triple and quadruple checking restroom signs just to make sure. Even then, I get worried until I'm inside and see the furnishings. I have the same problem with push/pull signs on doors, exit signs on the interstate, and bumper stickers. It's a real problem.

3.  My temper is almost always close to the surface. Let's just say that it's a good thing that I'm not around many people during the day. Poor Matt usually bears the brunt of my rage. Though, I'll admit, I sometimes tell my sweet baby to "get it together, Thomas!" but in a loving tone. Really.

4.  I'm always tired. I haven't gotten used to the lack of sleep yet. I'm pretty certain that there's a tiredness curve. I haven't gotten to the top yet. When does that happen? When will I be used to it? When will I not want to go to bed at 8:00 p.m.? Probably never. I do love to sleep.

5.  I forget things. Things that happened yesterday. Or this morning. Or five minutes ago. I don't remember what I told to whom. Or if I brushed my teeth. Or if I had breakfast. It's sad. I've been trying to do crossword puzzles to help, but I lay them down to take care of something and then can't remember where I put them. This time, the struggle really is real.

Matt and I are working on helping Thomas sleep for longer periods of time. I have full confidence that by the time we all get it mastered, I'll find my book of puzzles and go into the ladies' room without giving a piece of my mind to the restroom attendant who offered to take my coat.

NINE Months!

I think it every time the 6th of the month rolls around, but man, oh man, this time especially. Where has the time gone? Thomas has changed so much in even the past 30 days. He cries now when he gets in trouble or when I tell him that he can't have something. (Sorry, kiddo. I'm never going to let you chew on your daddy's laptop cord.) His face lights up when Matt walks in the door. He doesn't just watch the Roomba do its thing now, but chases it around in his walker. He can play by himself for several minutes before even looking up to see what else is going on. Sometimes, at night, if I'm really lucky, he'll sleep for more than three hours at a time. He's old enough to miss me when I'm gone. I never thought it would happen, but it has. I don't get a "daddy smile and wiggle," but I get a "come and pick me up now look." He only naps twice a day, instead of three times. He eats food! Pureed food, but he eats it! He is all grown up some days and still my baby on others.

He will still curl up in the fetal position when I attack him with the tickle monster. He'll still stare up at me like I hung the moon first thing in the morning when I go pick him up out of his bed. He still wants to sit in my lap to read books instead of sitting on the floor. He still wants to hold my hand when he nurses. His eyelashes are still impossibly long. He still giggles and giggles when I "eat" his hands or feet. He's nine months old, but he's still my baby.

He weighs 19 pounds and 5 ounces. He's 28 inches long. He wears size 3 diapers and 9-12 month clothes. Nine month pants are really too short for him now. With this spring weather, he's been wearing shorts lately!!

He has eaten peas, butternut squash, and sweet potato. He hasn't mastered a sippy cup, but will drink water out of an open cup...

As of his 9-month birthday, he hasn't learned to crawl, but can crawfish like a champ. See below... He doesn't sleep all night long. He still loves being swaddled. Since he isn't rolling around at night, we're leaving him to it. I'm sure that we'll change that soon, but not tonight. My resolve to get him out of the swaddle fluctuates with how tired I am.

Crawfishing! 

Reading in the tub. 

Reaching for his mobile. 

Giving kisses!! He gives them open-mouthed. It's cute and slimy.... 

Look closely at this picture.

 So, let me tell you about that picture just above here. I ran out to get a king cake. I hurriedly brought it in the house and put it on the coffee table that is now used as a barrier between the kitchen and the living room so that Thomas can't "walk" into the living room while I'm tied up in the kitchen. Usually, the coffee table is clean because Thomas is a reacher and a puller. I forgot to move the cake off the table before I put Thomas in his walker. I was washing dishes when I heard the crash. I turned around, saw the scene, laughed, and took a picture. That poor king cake never saw it coming. Ignore the roomba.

It's all smiles and kisses until it isn't. 

Happy Mardi Gras !

 Happy nine months, T-baby!!!!