12 1/4 months old

Well, Thomas' birthday celebration went pretty well. Three of my friends came over for dinner and cake with Mom, Dad and me. One of my friends was running late so we took pictures of Thomas with the cake before dinner, and then more pictures, and then ... well, there was a lot of noise and activity and it was just too much for Thomas. He cried. In the end, he didn't even want cake. But he got some beautiful presents from everyone: beautiful clothes, a children's book about airports and airplanes, a cute monkey, and a dump truck with blocks. Thank you, everyone! We had a great time chatting around the dinner table, and at times we laughed so hard we woke up Thomas. Sorry!

For the past four days, Mom and Dad have been down in Plant City at Boot Camp, learning the intricacies of some of their dances. They came back for one night on Saturday night, the night Matthew returned home from his trip. This trip was pretty short -- he wasn't even gone for two whole weeks. He expected to come home in the early afternoon, but his flight leaving Toledo was delayed due to snow so he missed the connection and he ended up arriving after 10pm that night. Darn that airline! Who was that, anyway? Oh, was it Northwest? Oh, well, I guess everyone makes mistakes sometimes .... Must forgive and forget, haha! Matthew says he met a couple of my coworkers as he came in, and it was nice to hear about them. I had just seen a few of them the night before at an informal wedding reception. Mom and Dad babysat, and Thomas did not want milk from a cup or bottle. Does this mean that the weaning process will go easier than I expect? Wouldn't that be nice!

Thomas' understanding is progressing quickly. When we say, "Where's the airplane?" he points and looks up (even when we're in the house). When we say, "Close the door please," he closes the door of the cupboards that he has opened! He's also started clicking in his African dialect again, after months of nothing! He's also developed this funny smile that looks like he is trying a little too hard to be social. His eyes squint, his cheeks bulge, all six of his teeth are bared. And diaper changes, after a wiggly relapse, have become quieter affairs. Thomas can quite easily push buttons on his LeapFrog or his "cellphone" these days, so these are very helpful in keeping him occupied on the table! Another tool that sometimes keeps him quiet is the baby-hypnotism. Sometimes, I can get him to be quiet by getting in his face and talking or singing very quietly, and he gets this kind of wide-eyed, vacant stare. I'm tempted to continue with, "you are getting veeeery sleepy" or "when I snap my fingers, you will cluck like a chicken" -- but he doesn't even know what a chicken is yet!

A couple of days ago, Matthew was putting a very wiggly Thomas into his cardigan so that we could go for a walk (it was cold! 55 degrees!) and suddenly Thomas stopped and started crying inconsolably. We noticed that he was favoring an arm, and cried whenever he tried to use it or put weight on it. We decided to ask the doctor to check it out, and thankfully she had an opening in an hour and a half. She sent us to get it X-rayed. They took four X-rays in the end and it took two technicians and Matthew to hold him still enough to take the X-rays. I sat outside on my hands listening to Thomas scream as if banshees were after him. It was pretty harrowing for all of us and one technician said to us later, "you have one strong little boy there. He's going to be a football player!" I remember the nurses giving him a blood test and also the nurses delivering him said the same thing! I guess he DOES NOT like to be held down! Anyway, after all that struggling, something must have popped back into place because his arm was as good as new. He could crawl and hold things, and he started smiling again! What a relief! Even the doctor was happy it all worked out so easily! When Mom learned of what had happened, she admitted that the same thing used to happen to her regularly when she was a child. I guess Japanese blood isn't completely superior! Ha ha!