Step-by-step

Monday afternoon Truman took 5 steps on his own, afeat he hasn't since repeated.

We were both so exited. I clapped; he clapped. I laughed; he laughed. We were connecting on a different level, both excited for the same thing.

Knitastic Pants

Truman has a few purchased knitted items. Whenever he wears them people ask me if I made them. Well, I wanted to be able to say yes, so I jumped into the wonderous world of knitting. Here's my first pair of knitted pants on Truman. Of course, they're orange and blue. What else would a spellbound baby wear?

Hooray for Amy-made Onesies!

Auntie Amy made some fabulous onesies for Truman, including necktie onesie 2.0. Thank you Amy! Here they are in action:




Truman's even playing a little Sudoku in this one:

Snuggle Time, No Snuggie Required

Truman had fun snuggle times with grandma after an impromptu sleep-over at Kellie's last weekend. I got to use my lightsphere. All was well in the world.

Random Truman Goodness

I should mention that Truman goes around saying "good, good, good" all the time. Often it is when something good happens — when he's picked up, or goes to the bathroom, etc. Sometimes it seems without purpose, just for the sake of saying "good," but who doesn't want more good in the world?

So, in honor of what we'll call his first word, here are some photos of him exploring the world from my point-in-shoot.





First snow:




Shopping in San Diego:




He knew just what to do with the camel pack:







Having some milk at the airport. I like the reflection in this photo:










Truman's fortune from his cookie:

Test Shots

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Since my last "outtake" got rave reviews, I decided to share these hilarious shots I took of Truman and Joe while I was testing the light for portraits of Joe's co-workers.

Notice Truman now enjoys putting the entire pacifier in his mouth, not just the nipple part:

Hanging with Uncle James

We went over to James' a few weeks ago where Truman got to oogle himself in James' giant mirror and play with the lovely new blocks sent to us from grandparents Mac.

Happy New Year, Baby!

Rock-a-Baby

Cousin Elizabeth's brothers were teasing her about getting a mohawk last weekend, so I figured I'd give him one.

Old McSpadden...

When I was a kid we would sing "Old McSpadden." These pictures of Truman in my dad's hat, reminded me of that.

On the Trail with Grandpa

That hat belonged to my great-great grandpa.

He's likes to Pot-tay!

On the potty, of course. We've been practicing elimination communication with Truman for a few months now. The technique works on the premise that babies are born aware of when they urinate or poop and that over time diaper use trains them not to notice it. While babies don't gain the ability to start controlling when they go to the bathroom until around age one, their parents can help them go to the bathroom in the toilet by learning to recognize the cues they give off when they have to go.

I tried to learn Truman's poop faces when he was tiny, but never discovered a reliable pattern, so elimination communication went on the back burner until he was about five and half months old. I have been telling him "pee-pee" and making a "psssssss" sound whenever I notice that he is peeing or when he sees me pee his whole life.

So, when I noticed that he would wiggle excessively at night when he had to pee a few months ago I decided to start holding him over a small metal mixing bowl when he wiggled at night making a "psssssssss" sound. It worked.

I took the bowl along in San Diego without many expectations. I was surprised to find that we caught many pees and 5 poops in 5 days during our trip. The first time he pooped in the bowl he basically asked to do so, motioning toward it and smiling when we brought it over.

When we returned to the cold he wanted little to do with the chilly metal bowl, so we decided it was time to get him a potty of his own. He seems to like it.