How are you all? Everything is ok here. Matthew has been away for one week now. Three weeks to go as he will be away for a whole month this time. Mom and Dad are fine, and they have graciously agreed to stay in Florida to support me and Thomas as ... I am three months pregnant! The new one is due on Thanksgiving Day, two weeks after Thomas' second birthday. Thomas will soon be an older brother! Well, in several months' time. It's funny because this time around I have been SO tired and icky feeling compared to what I remember of last time, so it's been such a boon to have Mom and Dad here. I can't imagine how normal people cope with a toddler and this exhaustion!
For the past week or so, Thomas hasn't been sleeping well, and he's pretty touchy and very opinionated about what he wants and when he wants it, which makes life pretty tiring for all of us. On the other hand, Thomas has learned --and uses-- the sign for "food," and he sucks air through his teeth when he wants something to drink, which is pretty helpful. Also, he has learned how to say "thank you" and sometimes uses it spontaneously and appropriately! For him, "thank you" is a head bob accompanied by a "Do" -- I think it's part of "Domo arigato" in Japanese. It's so cute! And we're working on the sign language for "please," which he now can mimic. His understanding is growing a lot too. This morning he pointed at the TV and said, "Dodo?" which is his way of saying, "I'd like to watch my movie My Neighbor Totoro, please" and I said, "Thomas, you can watch Totoro when Grandma and Grandpa get here." And as soon as they arrived, he took them by the hand and led them to the TV and said, "Dodo? 
Dodo?" Yay! Maybe next will be the understanding of the statement, "Thomas, you can have something to eat after we wash your hands." Usually he stands on a little stool and I help him wash his hands under the faucet. When he doesn't want to wash his hands, he goes limp like a spaghetti noodle and sort of slides down the front of the sink with his soapy hands while I desperately try to keep him standing as he sinks down, down, down. Then I grab him under the arms with my own wet hands, and he ends up with a damp shirt. Oh well, I guess this stage will pass too quickly when we look back at it!
Thomas has been doing a lot of walking and running around lately. As he runs, his arms flail around and there's just as much side-to-side and around-and-around motion as there is forward motion. He can walk all the way to the tennis courts/swimming pool (about 2 blocks) and he knows more than I'd guessed about the neighborhood. One day, I was pushing him in the stroller and, just for fun, whenever we came to an intersection, I asked him which way he wanted to go. He took us straight to Mom and Dad's apartment complex! I couldn't believe it! I think that Matthew would take Thomas over there for a little visit on the days that I worked, and Thomas now remembers where Mom and Dad live. What a smart little guy. Definitely a boy.
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