Toddling.

Serious toddling developments in the last month. Accompanied by the death of our old hard drive so we lost all our letters to the bug! And hundreds of photos. Happily we were able to reconstruct a good percentage of those photos: do we really need five thousand photos when we have five hundred? There are more pictures of Alex's first year than exist of both his dad and me, ever.

So: serious toddling. We went from first steps, to walking, to almost running now. He can spin around, reverse, change direction. Bend over, pick things up. Get up from a prone position. He's tall, and hip-height, so we need to be careful walking past him; I have on more than one occasion knocked him over by accident.

He's talking, in his own way. He says "Woo woo" when he hears a dog; now, "woo woo" means pretty much any animal, or thing that he wants to point to outside. But it also definitely means a dog. He'll start saying it if he sees a dog, too. When the timer goes off in the kitchen he lifts a finger and says "ah"; pointing upwards means "take me outside"; he'll definitely call me by name "ah ma ma," but only really if he's upset. Da da da, can mean either his dad or me. And he will blow to indicate he wants food prepared for him. So he'll stand in the kitchen doorway, bouncing in the morning, blowing his little cheeks out so that I'll make him his favorite breakfast: oatmeal with raisins. He'll also show his assent by giving you the biggest, toothiest grin: as in--Alex, do you want oatmeal? Do you want to go outside?

He loves going outside.

He also loves playing in the water, in the front yard, where he can see the dogs walk by with their people.

He is obsessed with big kids, between the ages of 4 and 8. We went to the park to show him the duckpond, he said woo woo to the geese, and then was determined to walk around. He found some kids playing in a tent, and stood there for a good 5 minutes talking to them.

Also: teething four teeth at a time sucks.

First Tantrum

I guess this goes with the walking? Yesterday we had a quick preview of one: overtired, didn't want a bath, wanted to go right to bed. Mr. Punch is working overtime and we kept him up too late (nearly 7pm). Tonight, we made the same mistake: but this time it was real. He turned hot and red and twisty and *nothing* helped. Not distraction, not the cave-man ambassador thing, not moving back and forth between his evil parents who wouldn't let him eat dirt. It lasted about 3-4 minutes but it felt like FOREVER. Eventually I opened the freezer and stood there with him. That seemed to work. Then he ate a huge pile of rice and beans and went to sleep.

**Caveman ambassador thing is "Happiest Toddler on the Block" advice: you show the kid you understand him by mirroring his emotion back to him, and then try to distract/calm him. It worked the day before, but not today.

Walking!

Today, my baby is a toddler.

Who is apparently made of iron will. His first steps were not to me, but towards the objects of his desire: the stereo, and then towards his dad who had popped out for a second: step, step--lunge toward daddy, and land on the edge of the couch. And then again seconds later, moving away from me, step, step and lunging towards Daddy.

Meanwhile, I was getting the stinkeye all day long. Brow furrowed, nose crinkled. Sheer annoyance on his face. And I wasn't even saying no to him. I just wasn't Daddy. He was fixated on him all day long. Sure, I'm good enough to nurse him, but the rest of the day was D.A.D.

I guess it makes a change.

Where to begin

Man! All of a sudden so many teeth! It's like overnight, he got four. Which means crunching things is fun. Potato chips, crackers, apples, his dad's finger.

Kid's got a will of iron, and knows just how far he can go before he runs into some prohibition or other. Has perfected the stink-eye, complete with wrinkled nose. Has learned that he has to keep his hat on outside as we live on the surface of the sun, but will whip it off seconds after we get inside. He loves gravity, as it makes for a perfect game with mommy at the table, at the grocery store, in the kitchen: drop the spoon, the toy, the bottle--and this morning disastrously, his cup. He's learned to drink from a straw, and is a champ at drinking from a regular cup. The key problem is the throwing.

He's still cruising, pretty confidently. And he sits cross-legged now. It's too cute. He's perfected this playful swaggering speed-crawl, and swings his head from side-to-side when he's feeling mischievous. The best new game he plays is blowing on his dad and me: you know the blow-kisses you give to babies on their bellies? He gives them back. On his dad's belly, and on me while he's nursing. He giggles when he does it.

Stirring the pot.

Today, I gave Alexander a pot, wooden spoon, and a lid. I showed him how to bang the spoon on the bottom of the pot in order to amuse him. What does he do? He flips the pot over, and for the next 25 min, stirs the pot, puts the lid on it, opens it, stirs again. He occasionally stops to stir the other pot that I bring out, and spends some time comparing how the lids fit on the two pots.

I tried to show him how to pretend eat the soup he was making, and he just looked at me, utterly mystified.

Can't believe it's been a year.

We made it through the birthday party, my birthday and the ensuing unwrapping and assembling of loot. We've had to put a lot of it into the archive, to be brought out later. The mighty mite is cruising around on his push-walker in the shape of a car, and seems to be seconds from running around on his own. He figured out he can fit under the bed if he tilts his head today, much to my horror. He's totally going to get stuck. I just know it.

I keep meaning to a)write him a letter for his book, b)book a portrait commemorating his first year, and also c)go through his clothes yet again and get rid of all the too short stuff.

I have six weeks left to hang out with him before classes start. It's both eternally long and scarily short.

T minus two days

First birthday party on Sunday! Endless trips to the dollar store, the grocery store, the party supply stores. Laura's making a caterpillar cake, and our theme is bugs. Because he's a little bug. We've chosen a theme that has absolutely zero merchandizing. So, I guess that's good (?) I'm making bug antennae, a "spot the ladybug" game, and a bunch of kid's food, and also rice and beans. Mom's making green chile.We're planning kid activities: spot the ladybug, squash that bug (pop balloons with gummy worms inside), cocoon your mom/dad, plant a bughouse (a flower) a pinata and of course, cake. There will probably be about fifty people here, and it will be about a hundred degrees.


I bought a slip and slide.