Overheard in our house

Truman just woke up from a nap and I took off his pants and diaper, saying "you're free."

And he says: "I'm free!"

Shocked I respond, "you're free!"

"I'm free," he says, "free, free, free."


We'll just hope he eventually enjoys pants.

Lipstick

Truman found a long forgotten lipstick. This was the result.

14 to 17 Months: From Pizza to Potty

(camping at Gooseberry Falls over labor day)

It's been a while since I've talked about Truman, so here is a review of this summer's achievements.

Around 15 months he started becoming very interested in "saying" things, but was having a hard time with many of the words he wanted to say because the compilations of sounds were too difficult. So we started practicing animal sounds, which he started picking up right away. The first was "meew," which he picked up rather organically from playing with cats and stated before even being prompted.

Dog (arf), monkey (oo, oo, oo, ah, ah), chicken (boc, boc, boc), cow (moo), tiger, lion, bear (all raaaawr), snake (ssssss, which is also the sound for pee) and a few others followed.

Then, a few weeks later word after word tumbled out of his mouth. Words like pizza (pzzapzza) cheese (cheee) and ball (ba) flow frrely these days. Other favorites include blueberries (bweebewy), water (formerly a tongue-wiggling sound water makes when you poor it and now wa'er), bye-bye, hi, and, of course, mama and dad.

If we tell him a word now, he usually will try to say it.

And it became clear he understood so much more, too. He stared being able to follow directions more (if he was willing=).

On this front he has started to come to the bathroom following my prompting and will even initiate this by telling us he has to go about once or twice a day (usually by patting himself or saying "pee" or "potty.") At 7 p.m. yesterday he was still using the same dry diaper he went to bed in the previous night with no pees having occurred outside of the potty. Today we've had a few outside of the potty, but mostly due to parental misunderstandings, not for lack of initiative on his part.

It will probably be a little while longer before he can reliably be out of diapers full time, but these are huge steps that have resulted from an elimination communication process that began when he was 6 months.

Truman continues to have huge feet (size 8, as of now) but is making up time on the teeth-front, popping molar after molar this month. He now has eight front teeth (4 on top and 4 on bottom) and three molars (one on top and two on bottom) that are coming in.

For the first time he is starting to outgrow the length of pants before the waist.

He loves to be outside and asks to go outside (mostly by whining and grasping madly for the door handle) every time he comes near our front or garage doors. He loved our camping trip and even did his share of hiking.

I am now planning lots of physical activity into our days. And this fall we are taking an art class for 1- & 2-year-olds from ECFE.

Objects of Curiosity: Book House

While in San Diego we had the awesome opportunity to see Aaron T. Stephan’s Building Houses/Hiding Under Rocks, a cube-hut of books that I was magnetically drawn to because it reminded me of The Raw Shark Texts (blogged here). Besides being an object of pure curiosity, the cube was built with great precision — none of titles of any of the books were visible because we're meant to forget that these are books. The center of the cube is carved into a sphere so carefully the interior acoustics are enhanced like a tiny amphitheater for one.

I suppose I'd be the perfect place to read over drafts of your own poetry aloud alone, letting your own voice, traveling through your own words, return back to you from the walls of books.

I could of stayed in there all day, but it was a behind-closed-doors exhibit at the New Children's Museum and we had to wander the rest of the place.

If I'm ever near another one of Aaron T. Stephan’s exhibits, I'll definitely want to check it out.

King of the Rice Puffs

If only I could get Joe to grow a matching mustache ...

I think you all get the idea how we got here. It's the same way we got to the Chili powder pile and the sauce sea. It's the same reason his carseat is perpetually full of snacks. The kid likes to dump his food all over the whole world, then splash around in it. He has a zest for life.

Take your son to work

And he ends up naked covered in water from a bird bath.

Taken, upon Jill's request, while Elizabeth was taking a nursing break during her session.

14 Months: A Little Boy Emerges

We gave Truman his first haircut last weekend, removing the hockey-hair mullet that had been amassing for months. I cut one side and Joe clipped the other; then I evened the whole thing out.

What emerged was a little boy with an almost immediately thinner face. It's been fun to watch him explore the world with his new hair the last few days. The hair is just an outward sign of an inward transformation.

At 14 months it's becoming more and more apparent how physically adept Truman is. He is impeccably aware of his feet and their position. When placed on a tall surface he will move his upper body while keeping his feet still and firmly planted. He runs "drills" in the house, dodging various obstacles at high speeds and loves to flip (with my aid) and spin. Last night he discovered he could look upside down through his legs if he bends his head down all the way to the ground.

He continues to concentrate heavily on finer motor skill tasks, as well, and is now able to twist lids on and off. He can use a spoon, but prefers his hands. Actually, he prefers tipping an entire bowl up to his mouth as though he were Winnie The Pooh. He still loves food on a stick and can now hold a tooth pick.

He's doing well with potty learning and is starting to tell me when he has to go more often, though the signals are varied and I sometimes get confused until after the fact. Yesterday he even tried to sit on the potty by himself.

He's seems to be taking a detour in the spoken language department, but continues to find more and more non-verbal ways to communicate and continues to enjoy music, exhibiting good rhythm when he plays the keyboard, other instruments or in his dancing.

He loves to kiss and hug and snuggle. He has become incredibly secure with himself while exploring the world and understands that Joe and I have to leave him occasionally but that we come back.

He is incredibly independent when we are out and wants to explore the whole world without holding my hand; yet when we're home he usually wants me near him.

Truman in the grass at 10 weeks:




and now:

BIrthday Boy

Truman turned one on April 11 and we had a big family bash. Unfortunately I was sick but thinking I could will myself out of being sick (a plan that worked fairly well). As a result there are a lot less photos of somewhat lower quality than you might expect from moi. Ritual apology.

We had a feast of roast, oven fries, chicken, salad, watermelon, carrots and two kinds of cupcakes I baked from scratch. Let me tell you, baking is not easy but most of the attempts were edible.

On a sappier note, this year has been amazing. Already Truman has made our lives fuller and renewed my sense of wonder in the world. Happy Birthday my darling boy!































Thank you everyone who came in person and in spirit and for showering him with gifts. He is so well loved. It's just a matter of time before he starts telling you all how much he loves you back.

Sneaky, Very Sneaky

One minute he's diapered and playing on the floor. I turn my back for the next minute and this is what happens:




I think we've entered a new era — the climbing era. The previous era will be referred to as B.C. (before climbing).

"Remember that time at 12 months b.c. ..."

His Little Red Balloon

He got his first balloon at Trader Joe's this week. His face lit up when he saw it. He kept wiggling his wrist to make the balloon move and once he figured out I could pull it close to him, kept asking me to bring it close so he could stare at it. Then he took a nap with it in the car.

Avacado on a Stick

Truman discovered the next big hit for the Minnesota State Fair: Avacado on a Stick.








Alright, it might not catch on, but Truman loved it yesterday when he had sushi (just cucumber rolls) for the first time. We went and got him his own pair of chopsticks after so we can recreate his favorite way of eating, on a stick.

He's definitely a Minnesota boy.

(We) Let Him Eat Cake

Truman's one. His birthday was a wonderful family get-together involving delcious food and cake. I have more photos and video of him digging in to share, but it may take a bit to blog about. So for now enjoy this:

And the Bunny Says ...

"get these ears off of me!"

Truman had a great first Easter watching dad sing at church and then spending another wonderful day with family. He even got to play the piano and sample a cookie.

12 months: It's a Big World and I'm Going to Run Around it

At twelve months Truman is a 25 pounds on-the-go toddler. It's hard to believe that a year ago I was still waiting for him to come out and say hello. Or, "Hi, I'm new here," to be more exact.




There is so much accomplishment that comes with this birthday for Truman, but also for Joe and I. He has grown from a little, nearly-helpless being into a pint-sized boy who feeds himself, uses the potty, signs for milk and calls my name when he's looking for me. He sings along to music in his own little language, much of which I am convinced is real words pronounced strangely because he hasn't yet mastered the art of uttering them. He says mom, dad, poop, pee and boo often and he has said peak-a-boo, book and hi a few times.





We watched him journey from rolling over at two-and-a-half months to walking at 5 days before ten. Now he runs all over our lawn in his little red shoes bearing the four slow-to-arrive teeth he has.





At a year he loves music, looking at books himself but not reading them, and anything that involves stacking things or placing lids on things. He will sit for 5-15 minutes if concentrating on a task or studying if something will fit inside or stick to something else. As a result, we call him a little scientist or engineer.





Of course with his cool red kicks and harmonica (our birthday gift to him) he looks a lot like a little rocker, too.











I am an entirely different person than I was a year ago. I am calmer, happier and more confident, even if I'm running all over the place chasing a toddler and telling him that crayons are not food for the 100th time. Parenthood is as amazing as everyone said it was going to be and I can't wait for the adventures yet to come. He's a kid now and we're ready to explore the world together.

Rest assured it will be a rock'n, well photographed adventure.