Little t Lately

I am sure there are some of you readers who patiently check in each time I announce an update with fervent hopes that it is about the cutest member of our family. I am writing with you in mind today. It is hard to believe that a year ago today Jan 8, 2010, this was little t…very little, very puny, very tired (notice the bags on this kid, poor thing’s parents hadn’t figured out yet how to get him to sleep). I can still remember those days, though they are quite foggy…long long nights, all of us getting to know each other, trying to figure this whole new world out.

And here we are today. I almost can’t even believe that this is the same boy! While he has always been wonderful, A and I are enjoying little t in fresh new ways each day it seems. What is he up to you ask? I thought I would show you in pictures…

Here is the birthday boy – fresh in this crazy country. This was taken the morning of his birthday, our first morning in K-town. What a handsome little man he is! And yes, that wall is pink...

This is at his party later in the guesthouse. Some friends made a cake for him, we sang, had presents, the whole nine yards. He was still pretty tired, so was slightly out of it, but seemed to have a good time.

Little t wanted to help big time with the moving and unpacking…he was constantly into suitcases or boxes; pulling stuff out, dragging it around the room, adding stuff to suitcases and boxes that didn’t belong, or in this case, climbing all over them. He was a constant source of entertainment on those long days of getting things unpacked and set up.

Again, always the helper, this is one of little t’s fave spots these days. He is constantly following us around the kitchen, holding onto our leg and trying to help however he can. It takes about three times as long to get anything done, but you can’t turn down good help these days! When he is no latched onto us he is “cooking” on his own in the pot he has claimed for himself, full of his utensils, measuring cups, bits of cracker, etc. He sits and stirs the pot with a spoon, talking away to himself the whole time. He is also in the no no phase and spends many minutes a day sitting in front of the stove saying “no no no!” and shaking his head at the stove.

Little t was delighted when we put up pictures of family back home in this little nook. He immediately went to work trying to climb up there, so he could get a good look. We have to keep an eye on him because he is climbing on everything these days, which is fine. But like his momma, he does well going up and horrible coming down. The difference between us is that I get stuck and can’t come back down. He, on the other hand, just does a nose-dive and calls is good…this is a fine method is you are going down one small step. Window ledge, a cardboard box, multiple stairs, mom and dad’s bed among others, don’t make such safe nose dive material, however...little t hasn’t quite internalized that nugget of truth.

In his favorite spot, little t all snuggled up to watch a movie. He sits here on the cushions and watches watches watches! My mom couldn’t get over his attention span and it is quite impressive. He usually gets to watch something with I get supper ready or when he is winding down before bed. Last night I put on Happy Feet. His eyes lit up when he saw the penguins come on the screen and he said “oohh”. When the penguins started singing like Elvis, he immediately started scowling and looking very confused at what was going on…he watched for a while, not quite sure what to think of the penguins!

What else is he up to that hasn’t been captured in a picture? He is still a good eater – he has discovered peanut butter and like his father can’t live without it! Especially if he sees A using it, he insists on having it on whatever he is eating. He loves the local bread and eats a substantial amount of it each day. He also likes pancakes with peanut butter and jelly, oatmeal for breakfast, cheese (loves cheese), fruit cocktail, applesauce, chunks of apple, soup and will pretty much try whatever I offer him. He refuses to drink juice but is great about drinking water through the day.

He must be our son because he is a talker! He babbles all day long and always has an opinion on everything. He tries to interrupt A and I while we are talking and will yell at us from across the house. No no no is his favorite right now and he will point to things that are no no (cords, the oven, the birdcage, the heater) and say no no and shake his head. This morning he pulled a puzzle off the shelf and the box fell against the heater and he automatically started saying, no no no! He also is learning to ask for more when he is eating and says either nan nan (bread) or more more when he wants something to eat. He says night night when he is tired. He is always talking about daddy. Most recently he has started wagging his index finger at us as he talks away looking very concerned.


Sleeping has been interesting lately. I put animal pictures from a calendar on the wall of his room above his crib and since he has been refusing to take a morning nap about three mornings a week, he spends that whole time ripping the pictures off the wall. So, a morning nap is hit or miss…he either plays in there for about an hour, cries for a few minutes and falls asleep for about half an hour, or cries hard and won’t go to sleep at all, or falls right asleep and will sleep for about 2 hours. Each day is a mystery as to what he is going to decide to do. In the afternoon he consistently sleeps for an hour and a half or so. The other day I had to wake him up from his afternoon nap and he was really out of it, he looked up at me and said night night and laid his head on my shoulder, obviously not ready to face the world, yet! At night he consistently goes down at 7 and sleeps until 5. I get up and feed him and put him back down and he sleeps until 7. A says I should let him cry to get that out of his system, but I know that there are kids who are up for the day at 5, so I don’t complain that he goes back down…and we are all in one small room, so I don’t want to lay there and listen to him scream. Edit to this – in the recent days since I wrote this, little t is up around somewhere between 12 and 1 at night…he will scream as long as I let him, but I am getting tired of it so go in and nurse him so he will sleep. It is a habit and I am not happy about it, but am not sure what to do at this point. He would cry for well over an hour if I let him. We have moved back into the living room from the bedroom because he knows when we are in there and will not sleep if he senses us in there. So we are tired and slightly frustrated with the sleeping department these days...

Another issue we are having in the sleeping department is Blue Dog, his little blanket. He often tosses/drops him over the side of the crib while his is playing/destroying his room. This is quite the crisis and he gets very upset…but even more upset if he sees me when I go in to rescue Blue Dog for him….so not sure how to handle this one yet. Now, when he is playing and I ask him where Blue Dog is, he scours the house looking for him. He crawls around and looks on the cushions and around his toys. When he finds him, he squeals and crawls as fast as he can to get him…pretty cute.

Well, I could go on and on, but you are probably bored. I will write about the little guy again soon. He is very fun and always up to something exciting!

Side note - The curtains in our house in this post are hideous...I know. It was one of the first things that my mom and I worked on and thankfully they are down and the new ones are much better! Will work on a house post with pictures soon!