Today, you are one year old.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!
Weight: 24.5 lbs
Height: 29.5"
You have two teeth now. Right in the middle of the bottom. They make for a super-cute smile (but then, so did bare gums. Maybe you just have a super-cute smile...). They came in at the veeery end of August. We were so thankful when they finally pushed their way through. You'd been pretty miserable for about a month before and then, POP! they came up and you just calmed down. I started getting sleep again! Well....kinda. But, a 3 hour stretch of sleep is a vast improvement over you waking up every hour. You're teething again, now, and it's getting pretty bad. I think you'll have your two top teeth before very long. Update: It is November 19. You STILL do not have your top teeth. For a while there, you had three pushing through and I could see them and they were almost out and then they went back up into your head. ARGH! Oh well. I guess I'll take the extra sleep while I can get it!
Just after my last letter, you figured out how to commando crawl and you were getting around really well! You just slithered everywhere you wanted to go; you got pretty fast. Once you figured that out, you started realizing that you could move your feet independently and purposefully and it only took you a couple of days to understand the concept of walking. And then you began practicing. You really are very diligent about practicing new things. It took you almost no time to learn that if you grab onto a person's thumbs, stiffen your legs and arch your back, you can slide out of their lap into a standing position. Then, if they will cooperate with you and will stand up, you can lead them wherever you wish to go. It is your very favorite thing to do. ever. Seriously. It's all you want to do right now.
Marme and Pop got you a pretty cool little walker that looks like a cross between an old 50's-style car and a spaceship. It might be both, actually. Either way, it has a radio. After your initial (it only lasted about 3 weeks) fear and dislike of said walker, you learned how to go forward in it and you cannot be stopped. As soon as I put you in it, you turn on the radio (ok, it's not really a radio. It's a button on the steering wheel that plays 8-10 nursery songs. We call it a radio because you treat it like one. You press the button as soon as you are in the walker and as soon as one song ends, you press it again. Sometimes you press it before a song ends, as if to say "I don't like that song. Change the station!".) and away you go! You are all over the house at a faster speed and a higher altitude than ever before.
You've discovered cabinet door handles. Books and knick-knacks are no longer safe. Your maneuvering capabilities are impressive. You can turn that thing on a dime! When you get all clingy, my ankles and shins take a beating because you are right up on them. I've tripped over you more than once because when I turn a direction, you immediately turn that way and head out and I am just not fast enough to beat you!
The dogs are freaked out by the walker. They don't understand it, I think. What makes it funny is that you love the dogs. L.O.V.E. them. You follow them around. When they are outside, you drive your car over to the door and stand there and watch them and sometimes, you bang on the door to get their attention. You squeal with delight when they walk to the window. And, you follow them around in your walker. And they back nervously away and run into each other and trip on things and sometimes you catch them. It's like watching the Three Stooges. Hilarious!
Somewhere in the midst of all that walking, though, you learned how to really crawl and, since that is a much faster mode of movement, you employ it often. I can hear the spat! spat! of your fat little hands as you make your way up and down the hallway. Now, much to my nostalgic sadness, you almost never commando crawl. In fact, the only time you commando crawl anymore is when you're being dramatic. For example: I walk away and go around the corner. You start to cry and follow me, crawling. But then, it just all becomes too much. The sadness takes over and you just. can't. go. any. further. Your legs give way and the only way you can keep moving towards your goal is to pull yourself along by your arms. But, your body is too heavy and your arms are too weak, so when you finally do see me again, you just lay your head down on the floor and sob. What a sad, sad world you live in!
You are also a little chatterbox. You talk all day long. You don't say any words yet, but you definitely have opinions on every subject. Most days I am SO curious to know what is going on in your head, but there are some days that I am so tired that I'm thankful you can't talk yet because it saves me the hassle of having to respond intelligently. You do say some form of "mama" or "mami" when you are wanting me to hold you or nurse you or when you see me. I've gotta admit; I love it! I have been trying to get you to say "daddy", but all you do is look at your daddy's chair, so I know you know who he is, but you just don't understand what "say" means.
You have also learned how to clap your hands. You get a really big smile on your face when you do this. I think you're celebrating something, but I don't know what. Maybe it's just that you like the sound of a clap.
You can also click your tongue. You practice this fairly regularly. You love to hear the sound, and being the aural little boy that you are, you also love to hear how different the clicks sound when you move your mouth in different shapes. You start out with your mouth wide, like you're saying "eee" and then move to the "oooo" shape. Back and forth you go. You find it highly entertaining when an adult clicks back at you. My favorite time though, was a few weeks ago when we were driving home from Wednesday night church. You hate being in your carseat after it gets dark. I don't blame you...nothing to see, nothing to do, nobody to keep you company. Sad times. It was just you and me because your daddy has class on Wednesday nights so takes his own car and gets to church late. The sounds from the backseat went something like this:
waaaaaggggghhh
waaaaaggggghhh
click, click, click, click, click, click
waaaaaggggghhh
waaaaaggggghhh
You are unstoppable at pulling up on the furniture and then walking along the edge of it. It was a very tense couple of weeks when you first started doing that because you fell over backwards a couple of times each day. It was hard on both of us. Now, though, you're so good at pulling up and walking along that you're able to go from one piece of furniture to the next and you make your way around the whole house.
You love water bottles and books and cups (all cups, not just RPC's anymore) and electrical cords (yes, you've been in trouble more than once for messing with the cords!) and buckles and knobs and handles and strings and rubber bands. Your love of the Cheers Theme Song has morphed into a love of ALL theme songs. You ignore tv except when a theme song comes on and then you ignore everything else. Somehow you know the difference between the radio (which plays on our tv) and a tv show theme song. I marvel at you.
Although you still aren't eating solid foods, nor are you sleeping through the night, life is good. You are an alert, intelligent little boy. You are observant and friendly and you love people. You have come so far since a year ago. We had no idea how being born early was going to affect you, but it seems that it's not slowed you down a bit!
Happy Birthday, Timothy. We are looking forward to another year with you!
Mama
