so many changes

he doesn't have a safety blanket or "lovey" item yet, but one thing he has always liked to do is put his hand up our shirt sleeves while drinking milk. once in awhile, he will sit in our laps (infant nursing style) and drink, but he mostly likes to sit on his own when he drinks. however, it we're not sitting next to him, he will follow one of us around, motioning to his arm, until he can drag us over to his chosen sitting spot for the evening. this is to ensure a shirt sleeve to fiddle with. sometimes he sticks his whole hand in and reaches around for some unknown sweet spot, sometimes he likes to just feel the edge of the cloth b/w his thumb and fingers, and other times, he just sticks his hand in and lets it sit there. it is actually one of our favorite things to watch him do because he is growing up so fast, and when he does this, it feels like he is still a baby.

as you with kids know, toddlers change really fast. it seems as though new traits and behaviors pop up almost every day. it is hard to remember every single one, but the most significant one that has surfaced in the last month is that he clearly understands and has remorse when he upsets us now. before, he would just look at us with this puzzled look on his face, or sometimes bark back at me what i just said, "Thomas look what you did!!" in Thomas speak "Aaaaa AAAA AAAAAA!!!" and look with curious anticipation to see what i would do next. very irritating but very funny in the back of your head too. now when i act upset with him, he clearly shows a change in demeanor as well as a "prolonged period of droopy, puppy-eyed expression", followed by no movement. ie. this afternoon, i got irritated with him b/c he would not let me finish clipping his nails. so i smacked his rear as he squirmed away for the 10th time, and said "fine. ok FINE." he lay very still and watched me walk away. when i passed the den a minute later, he was still laying there; just his eyes followed me as i walked by. i came back a full 5 minutes later, and he was sitting very still in his froggy/buddha position, hands in his lap, eyes terribly downcast, wounded look on his face. the pic below is the closest i have captured to it - but this afternoon, the corners of his mouth were much more pouty, and his chin was more downward, allowing him to capitalize on the puppy-dog droopy eye look. i'm not sure if it was my imagination or not, but his eyes looked a little red too, like he was almost about to cry.


so i cupped his little face in my hands, and said that i shouldn't have gotten mad at such a small thing, but that sometimes, mommy needs him to sit still, even when he doesn't want to. when i reach down further to hug him, he reach up and got into my arms. we just hugged for a few moments, and all was forgiven.
oh and as eric and timothy's dad, Andy, says, snuggling in bed with them at this age is the best thing ever. thomas actually wants to snuggle now and doesn't try to wiggle away. he fits so nicely under my chin, right up against my chest. he lays on his side, but every moment or two, he looks up into my eyes, touches some part of my face, then turns to his side again. sometimes we both giggle from the eye contact. i love how his head smells, even when he is a little sweaty :)