back again with a Thomas update

they say like father like son. so true! william's morning bed hair...

thomas' morning bed hair... with more examples to come.
Hi everyone! sorry about the lack of activity on our blog but it has been really busy and time to blog has been usurped by busy work elsewhere. not to mention the need to sleep. warning... this is a long post. mostly just details i don't want to forget along with memorable pics.
you know what i need?? a video cam eyeball! then i could record the funny things he does w/o him knowing it. everytime i get the camcorder out, he stops doing what he is doing and just wants to see playback. little shyster!

william gets a goodbye kiss each morning... more like 2 or 3. i get kisses too. thomas loves to give us kisses. we call them marshmellow kisses b/c his little lips are SOO soft and completely wonderful to kiss. we've discovered that's why witches always eat babies in the fairy tales... they are so squishably delicious. :)

Thomas is now almost 20 months old! we can't believe how big he is. all the clichés are true... they grow up right b4 your eyes and b4 u know it, they are off to college. btw, this is a truly CUTE age. i keep thinking he can't get any cuter but this has to be it! b/c i can't stand it. i actually get sad thinking about him growing up and out of this stage.

here is a nifty trick: i showed him once that he can use a stick to get toys back out from under the computer armoire. he now knows exactly what to do. but he does get frustrated when it takes more than a couple tries to get it out. wonder where that trait came from...

i have him in bunches of activities now that it is september. there is a reason people with kids go by the school year. everything starts and ends with it! so every Tuesday we have a local church-sponsored, mothers/preschoolers event called MOPS. sara's mom (Regina) CONVINCED me to go and i LOVE it! and i love her for pestering me about it. for 2 hours i get to relax, eat yummy homemade goodies (frm other ladies in the group) and listen to the wisdom they have to share about raising kids and keeping home where the heart is. 2 of the Tuesdays each month are called "$2 Tuesdays". for only TWO dollars (that's only $1/hour), you drop your kid off, and bring anything you want to work on AWAY from kids. i am going to bring my laptop and catch up on emails! thursdays are Barnes & Noble days. we go to story time, catch up with some of the friends i've made there wth toddlers around thomas' age and let him run around until he is tired enough to nap. then grandparents come around 5pm (william's parents). they have been very devoted to coming every thursday, bringing us food and a little break from watching thomas.

fridays, we have mother goose story time at the dublin library. it starts tomorrow from 1:30-2pm. i think thomas will love it. it is geared specifically for his age and involves lots of songs, matching motions, dancing and waving scarves around.

thomas wanted to wear william's t-shirt one day. so william obliged by wrapping him up like a little sumo wrestler. he had lots of fun walking around flapping his arms.
and can you believe how much thomas looks like william when william was a little boy??! the only difference is personality. william was more of a quiet boy that would sit doing his little activities. probably more cautious and shy as well. thomas is one crazy busy little boy.

i'm just going to list some funny things he has been doing lately. it is hard to remember off the top of my head all the changes he has been going through lately. every week something new crops up!

thomas' lower teeth are crooked exactly the same way william's teeth are. and look! if you click on the full-size of this pic, even their tongues are the same shape. ha ha... they waste no time being completely silly together.

here's another winner. look at that concentration as he tries to copy what daddy is doing... tada!!!
he's eating like a typical toddler. has a good appetite but is picky. the food has to taste good to him. if i ask him to try it once, he usually does. but if he doesn't like it, he will NOT open that little mouth again... unless he sees that it is something different being offered. he is very good about examining what is on the spoon or fork as it is coming towards him. it is very cute, but very frustrating when you just want to eat so you can get out the door. makes u want to laugh and just squash him flat!

he drinks milk 3 times a day, about 3 cups. usually 6 oz in the morning when he wakes up. 1-2 cups before his mid-day nap and another cup in the evening b4 brushing his teeth. btw, we use a braun vibrating toothbrush on the low setting. it is a lifesaver and makes toothbrushing much easier. in the mornings, i will usually brush with a regular toothbrush so he can try to copy me. want him to at least learn how.
one thing i have noticed is he likes to chug milk b4 his nap. sometimes he will even drink over one pint! that's right, 10 oz, followed by 8 oz. down the hatch. i don't think i can even drink that much milk in one sitting.

he loves to play ball, rolling, throwing, kicking, any which way. we have this big exercise ball upstairs and a couple weeks ago, i got this great shot of him sitting, just as I rolled it towards him. all you see is 2 feet and hair. too bad his arms aren't long enough to show his finger tips around the sides :)

just yesterday, i was laying with him at nap time. since he sleeps on the twin, one of us has to lay next to him until he falls asleep. (yes this is ALL william's fault. he has undone a lot of my very good training in the sleep and eating areas.)
anyways, he was not wanting to take his nap. he kept pointing to his toys. so i told him he could get one toy and bring it back to the bed. this little guy, actually starts walking, but reeeeal slow. he NEVER walks slow. but there he was, one slow step at a time, not even going in a straight line!?!! can you believe this little creature?? so i told him to hurry up. he took 3 fast steps and then looked back at me, and proceeded to take slow little steps. sheesh!!! i can't believe at this age, they comprehend on that level, that they can delay bed time by slowing their actions down. amazing! completely frustrating wonderfully amazing!

another good moment was at barnes & noble last week. there were a lot of kids (mostly older than him) at the train table and no free trains. so thomas was hovering near me just observing. then one boy (who turned out to be 3) happened to put both his trains down. well, thomas quickly zipped in, swiftly grabbed the smaller of the two, and zipped back over to me. he stared at the other boy (who was now crying) and "hid"the train behind his back. LOL!
the other boy's mom told him to stop crying and to share with the baby. "he's just a baby, you can share, you still have one." but he was not happy. so i leaned down and said to thomas, "you know that little boy is crying b/c you took his train. can you please go and give it back?"
to my surprise and joy, thomas took the train out from behind his back, looked at the boy, and walked over to him and held it out. the boy grabbed it. his mom said "look! the baby is sharing with you! how nice of him to share. can you share back and give one to him?" the boy did not want to share. so thomas decided to read a book with me. the mom gave her boy 4 chances to share as he choo-choo-ed around the train table. each time, he did not want to give either train up. the last time, she finally said last chance, and when he didn't give one up, she grabbed them both out of his hands, and half carried/dragged him crying and kicking out of the store. thomas cried just a little when he saw that but i told him it was ok, b/c it was his mommy. then he went over and picked up both trains. i was so proud of him that he gave that train back to that boy :)


one final moment. today, he was not wanting to nap (yet again) but this time he stayed on the bed. he re-discovered his puppy stuffed animal. he kept hugging and kissing and putting his feet on puppy, then squealing or giggling. lifting up his ears, pulling the nose side to side. i was tired so i closed my eyes but every time i peeked on him, he was hugging puppy, talking to him, giggling, rolling around, trying to find different ways to love puppy. (again, need that videocam eyeball replacement!!) a couple times, he just flopped down, with puppy on top of him, and all four arms and legs wrapped around puppy.
i must have drifted off to sleep for a bit, because when i opened my eyes next, all was still in thomas-land...