Tommy's Soooooo Big!

I had to share this picture from this morning of Tommy playing "so big." He cracks me up because each time he lifts his arms, he bends his head back so far that he he almost falls backward. Its hilarious! Our little class clown. You can thank his Aunt Carrie and his Gramma for teaching him this little gem. Until recently he would only play "so big" with them, but I finally won him over!

He's getting so much better at balancing himself when he's walking. Still he can only take about six steps before pitching forward, but he's very brave and tends to take off toward what he wants with little or no encouragement. It's fascinating to watch him transition from baby to toddler. He is always talking and singing, and sometimes the words are quite clear. He likes to say "Ma" now, continues to say "Dada," and does well with identifying with everyday objects (those he is use too) and activities - especially things starting with a "B." His favorites being "Bah Bah" (bottle/sippy cup), "Bayh" (Bath, he heads towards the stairs going up toward his bedroom and gets really excited when we turn the bath water on), "BawrBawr" (BearBear - our dog) and "Bawl" (Ball). He also REALLY loves when I ask if he would like some Juice. He starts calling "Dus." It's so cute. I can't wait for him to learn more words, it’s nice to communicate with him and actually know what it is that he wants. We're working on saying “Duck” now (just in time for Easter!). He has always been a big fan of Ducks, he plays with two rubber ones in the tub every night, has a couple small stuffed animal ducks, and we got him a cute little book about ducks for his Easter basket (we won't be doing candy Anytime soon...or ever if I have my way, except maybe peeps...I love peeps, all that sugary awesomeness).

Anyway, Tommy has pretty much transitioned out of drinking a bottle. He drinks “milk” (formula) three times a day, the only one he drinks out of a bottle is his nighttime one…so we’ve definitely made some excellent progress. He has only ever drank his juice out a Nuk sippy cup (it has a super soft rubber top but only comes in 5 oz cups), which I think helped him with the transition of his other bottles.

We spent much of this past weekend indoors working on home improvements, baby-proofing, and household chores. It was so windy and rainy (still is) this weekend that we really didn’t have any choice. Now that Tommy is more mobile and has better balance on his legs, he’s begun to explore more of his surroundings, including trying to open all of the kitchen cabinets and drawers, trying to bust out of the baby gates, and climbing up stairs. We thought we were pretty well baby-proofed…but we thought wrong. Just this weekend Tony had to purchase yet another baby gate for the stairs in the playroom, and add special child-proof hooks to all of the cabinets and drawers within Tommy’s reach. It’s worth the time, effort, and cost to keep him and the other children I care for safe.

I repainted our backdoor, and most of the window and doorway trim throughout the powder room and laundry room over the course of the weekend (during Tommy’s naps and at night). I was trying to win tickets to see the Allman Brothers Band, so I had lots of classic rock tunes playing while I painted everything a crisp white. The biggest improvement has to be the backdoor, it looked almost gray…now its stunningly white. I love it! (bad picture, sorry) BTW…I didn’t win the concert tickets, which stinks, but what can you do! At least I gave it a good try! We stopped over at produce junction to pick up some fruits and veggies on Sunday, and I saw some flowers I just HAD to have. A beautiful Orchid which I got for $8! I have no idea how to take care of it, so hopefully I don’t end up killing it (I don’t have much of a green thumb). I also picked up two yellow Begonias, and was able to plant them by our front steps outside in between rain storms. I want to plant all yellow flowers this year, so that our front lawn looks bright and sunny and welcoming. I fell in love with the Begonias. They are so pretty. The only had two of them in the yellow…so I might stop back and try to find them in another color, for my pots in the backyard. They were only $3 each, which is a steal for something so lush and colorful that’s also easy to care for! I can’t believe this upcoming weekend is Easter! I’m looking forward to attending church services (we took Tommy to church this past Sunday for Palm Sunday – one of my favorites – and he did really well…charming all the little old ladies!). We’re also going to spend some time with our families – including Tony’s cousin and his family (they have a son who is 3 mos. younger than Tommy), so that will be really nice. After this weekend I’ll be in full party-planning mode to get things set for Tommy’s big 1st birthday bash. The invitations are being mailed tomorrow (or Wednesday)…we’ve invited somewhere around 100 people (yikes), so hopefully the weather is decent and we can enjoy our spacious backyard…I don’t even want to think about trying to stuff 100 people into our house. Don’t get me wrong, our house is plenty big for us, and for various parties we’ve had in the past…but I’m not so sure it’s 100 people big! Hahaha…lets hope for sunshine!