Enjoying Each Other! 

The New Dog's New Tricks!

Dear Thad:

I forgot to mention a couple of other wonderful things you started doing this last month or so! How could I forget!!!?!!

First, you do this really cute thing when we are reading books, which you LOVE (praise God!!)!! Because your daddy wants you to learn words, he runs his index finger under the words as he reads the book to you (and I do, too, now). Well, now you do it, too. You don't run your index finger under the words . . . it sort of goes all over the page, but usually in a straight left-to-right line! It is so funny. You hold the book with your left hand right next to mine and you take your right index finger and run it along every page. We can't turn the page until you are done.

And then!!! You TURN THE PAGE with your thumb and index finger! Whether it's a board book or paper pages, you get one page and you turn it. Sometimes you know when to do it, like when the reader pauses. Other times, I simply say, "Do you want to turn the page, Thaddy?" (I call you Thaddy sometimes, but I am programming my brain already not to call you that out in public or around your friends because c'mon: THADDY??? No little boy needs that kind of headache.) When I ask, you snap-to, kind of like "Oh yeah! I need to turn the page!" Then you turn it! It is TOO CUTE.

Second, you have started clapping your hands in your sleep! You learned this trick last month and you love to do it. Now I've caught you a couple times rolling over and clapping your hands. They don't always meet each other (YOU try and clap your hands in your sleep, Dear Reader!), but in your heart you are keeping the beat, Baby!

Finally, you wave bye-bye! You smile really big and wave your hand to let people know that you are happy they stopped by and you are wishing them well on their journey onward. Plus, you love that I am praising you like a crazy woman while you are doing it. You'd think you had cured cancer (which I know you are not far from doing) or something.

Still--you are communicating!

I didn't want any new schtick to go unnoticed.

Because I am your biggest fan, Son. Always.

Like Father, Like Son . . . Especially the Bum!

There are pictures of Pete in just this position! Cuuuuuuuuuuutttttttteeeeee!


My SLEEPING angel. SLEEPING! At night! Yea!

ELEVEN MONTHS of Thaddilicious Life!

Thaddeus turned 11 months on Sunday! We celebrated by oohing and aahing over him, marveling over all his developmental milestones and crawling on the floor with him.

Thad, you have electrified my world! You change every single day. Your smile is indescribable--it radiates from your eyes and lets the recipient know that you delight in them. Your sense of humor is a key part of your personality already! Your dad says, "Peeka!" and then "Boooooooooo!" and you just roar with laughter.

You still have that great crab-crawl going, and I finally figured out that it is your way of at least semi-walking since you can't figure out how to do it all the way yet. It's not for lack of trying, though. You are taking a couple steps in between pieces of furniture. You regularly try to stand. The interesting thing is that you can squat without holding onto anything . . . how do you do that?

You are strangely fascinated by paper towels. Actually, it's not so strange--your father, grandfather and great-aunt Ann save and re-use paper towels, so there are always three or 50(!) drying on various surfaces. You like to wipe things with them and you like to tear them.

Which leads me to your other fascination: toilet paper and--yech!--TOILETS! The latter love I can again lay at your father's feet. From your early infancy, you and your dad have played in the sink with the water. You both love to splash around in it. You were frustrated that you couldn't get to it on your own, though. Until now.

Your daddy was on the phone and I was in the kitchen. You were in neither one of our presence and that was unfortunate. Suddenly, I heard waves. While we are somewhat close to the ocean here in Seattle, I have yet to hear waves at our house. So I started walking toward the sound.

You were UP TO YOUR ELBOWS in toilet water . . . and happier than the happiest person in the world!

Your expression seemed to say, "Has this been here the whole time? Why didn't someone tell me that there was water on my level??? I've wasted MONTHS waiting for Daddy to come home and hold me over the sink. THIS IS GREAT, Mom!"

You are babbling away now. In addition to YEA!, you have been known to say Dada, No (sigh), BwebBwebBweb. You are also loving music more and more. If I start singing Doe A Dear, you look over to the stereo and wait for me to put the CD on so you can hear JULIE sing it! You really enjoy Daddy's drumsticks and the new drum you have.

You definitely came with a Will! You are able to let me know when I am not pleasing you. You are really exploring where the boundaries are and what my limits are with you. The CDs on the shelf, folded laundry, Mommy and Daddy's laptops, the toilet paper . . . all are calling out your name quite loudly. Equally as loud is Mommy's voice telling you "No touch the (fill in the blank), Thaddeus. Thank you!" Which voice to hear, which voice to hear? I can see the struggle all over your face. So far, though, you are easily redirected and if you do throw a fit, they never last more than 30 seconds or so. You are a good baby.

The Sleep Issue still is with us. Daddy and I say we want you in your crib, but we miss you when you aren't with us. Plus, you are none too happy to be in your jail, as you seem to regard your crib. You are just now starting to sleep through the night with only one or two wake-ups. Mommy is very, very grateful. MOMMY IS VERY, VERY, VERY GRATEFUL, HONEY!!!

Daddy and I still turn to each other and say, "How did we get so blessed? Isn't he the best?"

You are. Just. The. Best.

Enjoy your last month of babyhood . . . Next month you are a TODDLER!

xoxo Mommy

HE IS JUST. SO. VERY. YUMMY. YUMMYYUMMYYUMMY!!!

-

BABY FETISHES or I CAN'T WAIT TO BE A PAPER BOY!!!

I only turned my back for FIVE SECONDS. HONEST. JUST FIVE LITTLE SECONDS. When I turned, the Thaddinator was gone. I called him. "Thaddy! Where are you baby!!?" I heard a scuffle, the slide-clump of the crab-crawl, coming from the bathroom. I turned the corner and saw this:

Unbelievable, I had the camera in my hand. And people say there isn't a God!!

His paper fetish is expressed in many ways. Apparently, not only do I not dust enough, but I have not been cleaning the kitchen floor to the ThadPole's standards . . .

He's giving me a Thaddipus Complex!

Still, with a smile this . . . He can clean my house anytime!!

I LIKE ME SOME PRETTY GIRLS!

Meet Tara, the new nanny! Thad took to her from the moment she walked in the door! They enjoy a few hours together three times a week so mommy can get some things done (or take a nap, whichever seems more NECESSARY at the time!). Tara is wonderful and we feel fortunate to have her through the end of the year!

Those are TOTALLY the Shepherd-Christianson Genes--With MAYBE a HINT! of ANDERSON!!

His first pasta dinner . . . which ended up all over his face, in his ears, throughout his hair and in the near and far environs!

Methinks you are having too much fun, my son!

Yes, yes . . . the Christianson genes. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

BINKADELIC, BABY!

Thaddeus guarding his stash. This is the baby who REFUSED to take a pacifier until he was, like, FIVE MONTHS OLD. And then, ONLY FOR HIS NANA. Now he stockpiles them, hiding them in strategic places so that he is never more than 10 steps away from one should crying be required.

He deals binkies, truth be known. He will let you have one. For a price. Namely, time at Mommy's Milk Bar.

Sometimes a pickle will entice him (thanks to Aunt Julie!). For a while. Because the sourness is just so . . . intense. But before long, he has to have his fix again.

So he crab-crawls off to find his stash and work one over with his one snaggletooth.

Still, the pickle is pretty worn by the time he's done with it. And watching him pucker is Just. So. Delicious!

But the best thing about thing about the bink is that IT IS PORTABLE, unlike the pickle, which the 'rents make him sit in once place to eat, with a cloth under his chin. Sigh.

So he just pops the bink in the mouth, case the joint for new places to explore and then sets off!

And if he is really lucky, he might encounter Daddy and be able to crawl ALL OVER HIM AND WRESTLE HIM AND SUCK ON HIS NOSE AND ON HIS KNEE AND ON HIS KNUCKLE AND ON HIS HEAD AND MAYBE I CAN GET HIS GLASSES BEFORE HE TELLS ME NO OR TAKES THEM OFF, IF I AM SNEAKY AND ACT NONCHALANT LIKE THE LAST THING I WANT IN THE WORLD I WANT IS DADDY'S GLASSES.

Cause I'm BINKADELIC, BABY!