19 1/2 months

19 1/4 months

Mom and Dad made it safely home! They spent a couple of nights in Gainesville with Utaka, and it sounded like they worked very hard, boxing things up and cleaning up the yard and getting rid of lots of stuff. Then they drove up to Wisconsin, I think spending only two nights on the road. It seemed really fast! Then when they got home, they discovered that something was wrong with the water supply so they had to stay in a hotel that night. Otherwise, it sounds like the neighbors have been taking care of the asparagus patch, and the rhubarb has been very prolific. We miss them down here, especially Thomas. Whenever we pass by the entrance to Mom and Dad's former apartment complex, Thomas always points and says, "doo! doo!" as if he's trying to say, "hey, you passed it, you passed it!" I always tell him that Grandma and Grandpa aren't there anymore, but I’m pretty sure it doesn't compute.

Thomas is getting very adventurous these days! I think he may be over some of his separation anxiety at last. The other day at McDonalds, he went up the playplace stairs to the second level all by himself-- for the first time. And for the first time, was out of sight for a several seconds at a time and was fine!! No crying or anything! And he was approached by another girl and she started playing with his "motorcycle" that he was sitting on ... and he was ok with it. And then he actually approached some other little kids and played with the motorcycle they were sitting on! Whoa. Where did this self-confident little kid come from? It's so exciting to see! On the other hand ... now is the time he'll start running away from us!

Thomas has a cold again. This one is number two. It started out as sneezing, and wincing when he coughs. Then his nose started to run and it just got runnier and runnier. He gets pretty tired and clingy at bedtime, but he's going to sleep a lot easier in the past couple of days. The only thing now is that he is getting very picky about his food and refuses to eat dinner, so he wakes up in the middle of the night hungry. We're figuring out what to do about that! It also looks like another tooth is about to erupt soon. This will be a bottom-left one (to make a row of four). Funny that this one is coming so late, after getting four molars!

19 months (Mom and Dad return to WI)

Hey! Who's driving this bus?

Getting driving tips from Dad

Bonus hug

19 months

Everything is motoring along here, things in transition all over. Mom and Dad moved out of their apartment and rented a U-Haul trailer for the trip back to Wisconsin. Then they stayed at our place for a couple of nights, waiting for Matthew to come back so they could say good-bye. They plan to go up to Gainesville to give Utaka a hand packing up the house to get ready for moving and selling. It sounds like they've got their work cut out for them! And then the drive up to Wisconsin!

On Saturday, a few hours after Matthew came back from his trip, Andrea picked up Javon (we were babysitting again) and Rose and Pam stopped by to babysit Thomas. Those three had a fantastic time, it seems. Thomas loves his Auntie Rose and Pam. He is nothing but giggles and smiles when they are here! So while those three were having fun at home, Mom, Dad, Matthew and I went out to eat at our favorite Japanese restaurant! I think it was the first time we went out as a foursome without Thomas! We had a very peaceful, relaxed meal, eating all kinds of yummy things. No walking Thomas around and around to keep him occupied, no shrieks and no worrying about whether his food is wholesome enough or not.

This week, Thomas and I went shopping for a 70's dress to wear to my seminar (theme: 70's disco!). I was really dreading it, but I walked in to my favorite resale store Dechoes and asked the woman behind the counter if she had any thing like that. She pulled three dresses down from the shelf, I walked into the dressing room, gave Thomas some nuts, animal crackers and his music pad, and tried on the dresses. Thomas was distracted enough that I was able to try them all on in peace (miraculously, they all fit around my expanding tummy) and I was able to concentrate on what I was doing! Easiest, fastest shopping trip ever ... and that with a young toddler! Ha ha! Don't worry, I'm not going to tempt fate by going clothes shopping with him (too often).

18 3/4 months

Hi again. Well, after 3 weeks away Matthew was able to come back to Orlando for a 2-night, 1 day stay! He was pretty tired after all that flying, but he still managed to come back home and we put him right to work! Yay, we say! Thomas was very excited to see him, and it hardly seemed like Matthew had been gone at all, they got on so well. Matthew took him swimming, playground, and walkies and he jumped right back into diaper-changing and mealtime routines. He even babysat (with Mom and Dad) Thomas AND Javon for a few hours so that I could go to a Mom's Club Annual Banquet! What a guy.

I was in the kitchen the other day, and I handed Thomas the tub of spreadable "butter" and said, "Thomas, can you please put this onto the table for me?" And he walked out of the kitchen and put it onto the dining table! I was half-wondering if he knew what a table was. Apparently he does! We have also heard him say a few new words. "To" for toast and "mame" for beans, like edamame soy beans, not the green bean variety. He is also starting to say "no" and shake his head! On one hand, this is great to see his language developing, but it's not so great at mealtimes. "Thomas, would you like some peaches?" And he will answer me with a "No!" and a vigorous shake of the head. He has been refusing

vegetables and all fruit except for bananas for the past few days. I would say he's on a carb diet but he's not even eating potatoes. He used to eat veggies and fruit happily, but now .... I wonder what happened, and if it's just one of those temporary refusals or if this is a real shift in the way he eats. We'll see. I'm trying not to worry about it!

Ok, another update at the end of this week! Matthew will be coming home, and Mom and Dad will be going back to Wisconsin via Utaka's place in Gainesville to help him do a bit of packing and cleaning before his big move to join Shauna in California. We will miss them all terribly, but I'm sure they want to check on their house, mow their jungle lawn and plant a quick garden before turning around and coming back in time for the next baby to be born around Thanksgiving. Yay! More soon!

18 1/2 months

How are you all?  Everything here is going well.  Mom and Dad are good, and are still in Orlando.  Dancing has petered out a bit, so they're in the neighborhood a lot more these days, but they are thinking hard about going back to Wisconsin in the next couple of weeks.  Matthew is doing a back-to-back in Calgary, but hopefully we'll see him over the weekend!  I'll send another update after the weekend.  Also, I may be over the worst of the morning sickness!  Yay!  And I have a lot more energy these days, so maybe I'll be able to get these Thomas Updates out more regularly again.  Except ... we'll have to rename them to "Perry Updates" or something like that, with the new one on the way! 

Thomas is doing well.  On our morning walks, he's directed the way to Mom and Dad's apartment a couple of more times, and while we're there, he enjoys playing with the flashlight, opening and closing all the doors, exploring the contents of Mom's purse, and pretending to go to sleep on the bed.  We are still going to Rhyme Time at the library, even though Thomas is hitting the upper limit for age (it's supposed to be up to 18 months).  We still go so he can be with his playdate buddies, and even more importantly, after months of going to this event on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, Thomas has just started smiling during some of the activities.   I hate to introduce him to something completely new just after he got comfortable!

We went swimming one morning with a couple of Thomas' playdate buddies.  At first the weather was fine, but after about half an hour or so, the black clouds quickly rolled in and it POURED with lots of thunder and lightning.  Attached is a picture, and it's during the lighter part of the storm.  The rain came down in sheets and poured off the roof!  No

 more swimming after that!  The funny thing was, I took about 20 minutes to feed Thomas and change out of wet things, and when we walked out of the changing room it had completely cleared up!  The only thing left from the rainstorm was a huge mud puddle in front of the swimming pool and a light grey sky.  It was still nice to get out of the house, though.