Video: Thomas pulling a bag at the airport

Scroll down the page a bit and then click on the link at the right-hand side of this page. It's a picture of Thomas from the back.

I love how Thomas clearly waves off my offer of help at one point. It's pretty grainy so you may not see him smile at the end, as if he's feeling like a big boy... so cute!

Video: Thomas picks up the hose

22 3/4 months

We've been home from Wisconsin for a good week now. Matthew left for Mexico/Toledo a couple of days after we got back, so it's just me and Thomas. The weather down here is back to hot and muggy and in the mid-90s. It's hard to believe we were just wearing long sleeves, long pants and even jackets up there! A few of the things we did in our Wisconsin life came back down to Florida with us. When we were up in Wisconsin, we gave Thomas his baths in the big bathtub which went pretty well, so when we came home, I started giving him baths in the big bathtub down here. There's lots of space for his toys and he seems to enjoy having enough space to lie on his tummy, though I do need to watch and make sure he's not drinking his bathwater while he's down there. It gets pretty soapy because he loves it when I copy Mom's trick of blowing millions of bubbles out of a soapy washcloth. He can say "bubble" pretty clearly now! Also, after eating raw beans out of their garden, Thomas has become more adventurous with raw foods. I have started buying a small box of produce weekly from a local, mostly organic food co-op because I miss the fresh tasty veggies from Mom and Dad's garden and their farmer's market, and Thomas readily eats the raw green peppers and cucumbers now. He's also developed an attachment to his red sneakers (from Katie) that he wore while we visited Mom and Dad. This morning it was hot and muggy, so I presented him with his blue sandals and said, "ok, Thomas, put on your shoes please." He looked around his feet, around the entryway, in the shoe rack, opened the door and looked in the hallway and said, "De? De? (Red? Red?)" I finally pulled his shoes out of the diaper bag and said, "Thomas, do you mean these shoes?" and a huge smile broke out over his face and he chuckled. So he's been wearing them for the past few days, even in this heat!

Thomas' favorite book for the past two weeks has been Kapai's New Mates by Uncle Anzac. It's three stories in verse about a (flightless) kiwi named Kapai having adventures in New Zealand. Many times I've read all three stories back to back before naptime, then again before bedtime, so I know them pretty well now. One day we heard a helicopter make a few passes above our house, and Thomas cupped his hand to his ear and looked at me questioningly. I said, "That's a helicopter, Thomas. Remember Kapai? 'A shiny helicopter came racing through the sky/"C'mon, Kapai!" shouted Doc. "It's time you learned to fly!" ' " I quoted. He gave me a big grin, then ran into his room, brought the book to me and pointed to the picture of the helicopter! Incidentally, once we were also looking at a picture of a kiwifruit in one of his picture dictionaries, and he pointed at the picture, then pointed at the Kapai book. "Yes, Thomas! They are both kiwis!" I was so proud! And here in the picture of Thomas sitting under the table, he has the book open in front of him and he's showing me where his "puku" (stomach) is. He can also wave "Kia ora" (hello/goodbye). We'll keep his kiwi roots strong, thanks to Lloyd and Anne and everyone else over there!

Incidentally, I have finally told Thomas that there is a baby growing in Mommy's tummy. He can say, "baby" and seems interested in all the babies I point out to him as we're out and about. I just had another check-up and now am on a bi-weekly schedule to see the doctor... or is that bi-monthly? Or is it "once a fortnight" for you Kiwis? The doctor says everything is fine, but I should keep an eye on this cough that I picked up. Fortunately it's going away and I feel much better so I won't need any antibiotics. Getting a bit more tired these days, and it is hard to keep cool! The restless legs are back at night, but I'm trying a new calcium-magnesium supplement so hopefully my legs will stay put while I sleep. I'm at 33 weeks now, so it's going to be between 5 and 7 more weeks until The Arrival! Hmm, that's not much time! Better get cracking on ... everything! This is probably my last two weeks of "alone-time with Thomas" before Matthew and then Mom and Dad come for the winter, so I had best make the most of it!

22 1/2 months -- Wisconsin visit!

Well, we just came back from five nights in Wisconsin! I actually bought a ticket since I don't get any benefits since I stopped working for Northwest. Good thing, too, because it was completely packed going up to Wisconsin! Matthew rode the jumpseat and somehow managed to sit next to me, which was fantastic so I didn't have to worry about Thomas crawling all over other people. As it was, there was a lot of crawling going on because even though the flight was scheduled right at his naptime, he couldn't fall asleep...even after we made it all the way to Wisconsin, a dinner stop at the Old Country Buffet, and the whole hour-long car ride to Mom and Dad's place on a full stomach! A full day of no nap. Amazing. He seemed to be relatively ok, though, besides an almost unhealthy obsession with wanting to be The One to pull Matthew's laptop case! I was told off in no uncertain terms that he was fine pulling it all by himself, thank you very much! See the video!

We were there for five nights, which is a long time for us. As it was, it went by so quickly! We got together with Dominic, Michelle and John a few times, and it was lots of fun to see how the two kids interacted. They're only three months apart, but so different in terms of where their development is. We marvelled at Dominic's amazing vocabulary--which included "Thomas," "Marsha," and even "Michiko!" That one is hard even for adults! We all went out to dinner a few times, and Dominic and Michelle came over once to brave the cold gusty weather to walk up the hill and see the miniature horses. The neighbors were so nice, they even let us borrow their golf cart so we could go out to the horses since we couldn't lure them to us, even with all the apples and carrots that we brought! I think the two boys had the most fun trying to "drive" the golf cart, even more than feeding the horses!

Mom and Dad had dug up some of Utaka's and my toys from when we were young, so Thomas had great fun playing outside with scooters, wagons, little wheelbarrows, and an enormous green Tonka cement mixer. He was also very interested in the garden. Dad picked him a little purple bean to eat, and every once in a while after that, Thomas would say, "bean? bean?" and go over to the bean patch, part the leaves looking for beans, pick one, and then eat it! He was also very busy bringing apples and zucchini to Mom from the garden. Good thing the weather was so nice the first couple of days, because it quickly got too cold to be outside for long (55 degrees on our last day! The horror!).

We revisited Fanny Hill for brunch, took a few photos and reminiced about our wedding seven years ago, and visited other Menomonie must-see sights like Legacy Chocolate, the farmer's market, Acoustic Café, and even the Creamery (which has changed hands and now has a café in addition to the restaurant and rooms!). Dad showed Thomas the corn field behind their house, and how the corn grows. As soon as Thomas saw the corn that Dad husked, he put it in his mouth and tried to bite it. I think it must have been quite a surprise to him as it was corn for cows and not for people!

Of course we took a gazillion photos, so I'll post a few more cute ones on the website soon. Thanks to Mom and Dad for having us and showing us a great time!

22 1/4 months

Well, Matthew has been home for a week! He and Thomas have been having a fantastic time together, even going out or staying in together so that I can have "me time." We've all been doing our usual thing, going to various playdates with our toddler group, going to various shops that are kid-friendly, going swimming in the local pool, visiting Ben and Sarah, and various buying-a-house stuff. Had an inspection, which went very well, and am waiting for the loan lady to get back to us. It's very exciting! And a little nervous!

Last night, as a seventh anniversary wedding present, Rose and Pam babysat Thomas so that Matthew and I could go out! We went to a movie ("The Hangover"--I was pretty dubious at first but it turned out to be very funny!), went to our favorite hangout Borders, and then went to the Cheesecake Factory for some appetizers and a slice of Coconut Macaroon Cheesecake. Yum to everything! It was a wonderful evening for us, and Thomas had a great time too, hanging out with his favorite "aunties"! I was worried about Thomas' bedtime, because for the past few days, he had been going to sleep very late for various reasons including the I'm-tired-but-will-cry-and-take-an-hour-to-fall-asleep-due-to-mysterious-reasons. But it sounds like things went very smoothly and he fell asleep without a protest ... and now we're all perfectly positioned for our trip to Wisconsin because we're all sleeping in until 8am! I never thought I'd see the day our little before-dawn wakeup baby would sleep in ... and even as I type this, he's still asleep and it's almost nine!

22 months

Thomas and I visited a new park, about 10 minutes down the road from us. The park is split into two fenced-off sections, and one has a climbing frame for 5 to 12-year olds shaded by huge live oak trees covered in Spanish moss and is right on the shore of a big lake with a roped-off swimming section. We could even stay until 11am (wow! so late!) before it got too hot, and there were only a few small spiders under all those trees, not like the monsters up in Gainesville at Utaka and Shauna's old place. Even I felt comfortable moving them from the slide. The park is right across the road from a new house for which we're putting in an offer! It's got four bedrooms and two really big rooms for playrooms or TV, and a lovely small yard that is completely fenced in and private. And the kitchen is gorgeous. I'm excited, and we're going to do inspections, talk to a lender and fill out the paperwork and do all the stuff that needs to be done for this enormous decision!

Matthew comes home soon, and Thomas has added "de" ("red") and an elaborate back-and-forth of his hand along with a hissing sound for "white" to his vocabulary (where did that one come from??). Today I started singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" while I was making breakfast, and he made almost all the motions that go with it! It's nice to see him do that spontaneously because he never does that sort of thing at Toddler Time at the Library when we sing the song! And usually when I start singing it, he shakes his head and says "nooooo" and pumps his fists up and down to request his favorite, "The Wheels on the Bus." He's been off the Itsy Bitsy Spider for quite some time, ever since he learned the sign "all done!"

Thomas and Ellis at Seven Sisters Coffeehouse in the playroom.

21 3/4 months

Well, everyone's safely away. Mom and Dad are almost back to Wisconsin, just in time to catch the beginning of Labor Day weekend traffic. Their plan this morning was to stop tonight somewhere in Illinois, so that will make three nights on the road. It sounds like they stopped by a few great museums, including the museum for Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind. They left a couple of days after Matthew did, which I think was great for Thomas (and me) so he didn't go suddenly from a bustling 5-person household down to just him and Mommy! Matthew is out, too, flying back and forth between Mexico to Toledo, Ohio. For the first time ever, he rode to work on an international flight on a Mexican airline! Usually he's on a domestic carrier with a layover in the States

somewhere.

While everyone was here, we ate out here and there and visited my new favorite coffee shop with the toy area for kids (and the chocolate shop in the back), and Matthew and I got away a few times which was great! Mom and Dad did a lot of stuff for us, including planting a gardenia plant the day they left. Thomas "helped," too. He stood ready with the hose and even sprayed water for Mom and Dad to wash their hands.

Usually it's so hot and muggy we can't even go for a walk after 9:30am, but yesterday because of rain and other stuff, it didn't even get over 80 degrees the whole day! I took Thomas out for a walk intending to be back in half an hour to start dinner, but we ended up staying out much later because the weather was just so gorgeous. At the empty tennis court, Thomas found a puddle and took great pleasure rolling and bouncing a ball through it. He even said "rai" (or was it "ain?") and did the sign for "rain" when the trees dripped water on him! He's suddenly coming out with a lot of signs and half-words. "Co" with accompanying sign for "cold" when he complained about his milk, an up-and-down motion with his hands for his request for "The Wheels on the Bus" song, a hand doing involved acrobatics with accompanying airplane noises for "airplane," "Geen" for green, .... it's coming along!

Baby is still kicking along, apparently still head up in breech position. Still have three months to go, so I'm sure she'll sort herself out by then! I'm listening to my hypno-birthing/relaxation practice CDs every day, and I love them. To fall into such a deeply relaxed state, especially right before bedtime, is so wonderful after being so busy and feeling aches all day. I think I'm right on the brink of the third trimester, so the tummy is just starting to get uncomfortably big, and it's getting difficult to bend over to tie shoes and stuff. Even some of my "smaller" maternity stuff is getting ... small. Still feeling good, just getting a bit more tired these days.