new exciting things!

Thomas is so full of surprises! about two weeks ago he started really smiling in reponse to our smiles. before that he would smile and immediately stop when he saw how excited we got. he didn't quite know what he was doing except that it made mom and dad very excited. but now - he really smiles - when we smile at him, it brings a smile in return (sometimes even a wide, open mouth, gummy smile) and it is the BEST THING IN THE WORLD! :)

the next exciting thing was about a week ago... he started "talking" to us. it was soooo neat - but he would only talk once or twice a day. so we were constantly trying to figure out how to catch it on the camcorder. as soon as he would see the camcorder, he would stop. same with the camera. he loves to just stare at the camera. he knows it is something funny, just doesn't know what it is for yet. but he knows it is something foreign. so he talks talks talks and as soon as the camera pops into his range of vision - all talking stops. well, something clicked on this past weekend because all of a sudden he talks a LOT now. i mean, right after eating, during diaper changes, when i am carrying him around the house... you never know when he feels like starting a conversation with you. it is SOOO cute. just talking away (all kinds of noises, esp "ou" and "oooo" sounds). we bought a digital camcorder a month ago, realizing that we didn't want to miss capturing his babyhood. i have a feeling we are going to end up with thousands of hours of footage, slowing stacking up through the years, gathering dust in the closet. then we can watch it when we are retired and he is married with his own kids :)

here he is throwing signs with his donkey posse... yo yo yo what's up!