Monday, December 22, 2008

8 Is Gggggrrreeeaaaattt!

Tommy is 8 months old now! I can’t believe how big our little man is getting! He hasn’t quite gained the confidence to start crawling yet, but Tony and I feel it will be any day now. We were laughing as we explained to friends of ours how exciting it was when he began to crawl/turn in a circle last weekend, and that every time he gets into the crawling position, whatever activity we were involved in is immediately forgotten as we drop to the floor, to encourage Tommy to crawl for the first time.
He amazed us last night. First, I should tell you that lately he has been trying to play with all of Mavericks dog toys – including trying to put Mav’s chew bone in his mouth. (Yuk!) So there we were on the floor with him during belly time. We saw him staring at Mav’s dog bed, but really didn’t pay any mind to it. Next thing we knew he reached over and tilted Mav’s bed so that the chew bone which was lying inside fell out and into his arms. We laughed and marveled at how “brilliant” our little guy was, as Tony tucked the chew bone near himself, and away from Tommy’s reach. Amazingly enough…Tommy was not giving up so easily. He proceeded to first turn himself so that he could try to reach for the chew bone again, then when that did not work, he rolled himself over towards Tony – and right to the chew bone! He were laughing hysterically. Of course, we couldn’t let him have his prize, but we clapped for him and tickled his belly. He was being silly this morning, so of course, I had to video tape him!

He’s too funny. Sometimes I’ll see him stop and stare at something, and I swear he is just trying to figure out the mechanics of the thing. He’s just like his daddy – soon he’ll be taking my furniture apart just to see how its put together!
Tommy has also begun to do a sort of bop dance whenever he hears music that he likes. So far his favorites are Styx (yay!), Led Zeppelin, The Who, and the song “Frosty The Snowman.” He also has two musical toys that he’ll play over and over and over again. We picked up a little toy piano as part of Tommy’s Christmas gifts, and we know he’s going to love it (though he may drive us nuts with it hahaha)!
He’s also learned to love bathtime. The last time I gave him a bath in our kitchen sink, he splashed so much that there was water Everywhere! It was all over the floor, all over the counter, and all over me (see pic below). Luckily…he did manage to get himself all clean with his splashing too. We’ve since began to bathe him in the big tub in our upstairs bathroom. In there he can splash as much as he wants too! Right now he only has a little rubber ducky to play with while in the tub, but come Christmas morning he’s getting a little bag full of little tub characters to play with.
The last of Tommy’s recent accomplishments, is that he is really trying very hard to communicate with us. Whenever someone talks with him he watches their mouth, and then tries to mimic the movements they make. He can make some noises, but the best has been him saying “Dadadadadada” “Duhduhduhduhduh” (Doggie), “Bahbahbahbah” (Bottle), and once in a while he’ll even say “Mamamamama,” which melts my heart and makes me so proud of my little guy. He can also shake his head “yes” and “no,” though I’m pretty sure he’s not completely aware of their meanings yet.
Of course, with all this positive growth….comes…well....something not so great. Temper Tantrums. Yikes – is all I have to say to this. To be honest, I’m still trying to recover from the gigantic one he had last night, it was horrible. Not only do these tantrums include kicking and crying, but screeching, hair pulling (his own), and a super runny nose. Last night it took me giving him a bath just after midnight in order to finally calm him down. If there is one positive thing about the tantrums, its that my son know’s what he wants, and won’t give up until he gets it! All in all, he’s a really happy and sweet little guy. Always smiling, and very loving. He’s grown so much in these last 8 months, and I just can’t wait to see what else he has in store for us.

No comments: