All About the Kids

Last night, Sarah was working in the kitchen when it came time for Titus’ bath, and since I don’t usually like to stick him in the sink when it’s surrounded by frying pans and sharp knives, we decided to move bath time to the real tub.

It’s a lot of fun giving Titus a bath in the real tub, though it’s a bit more work to be down on the floor level, trying to contain the squiggly little as he lunges for the shiny metal drain stopper!  I usually like to switch between sitting him up and laying him on his stomach (that’s quite a bit of fun), so I decided to try laying him on his back last night.

At first, he was justifiably anxious about going into the water on his back.  As I lowered him down, I kept talking to him to try and keep him calm.  All of a sudden he started grinning from ear to ear!  I figured that when his ears went underwater, my voice all of a sudden sounded pretty funny to him.  Soon after, Titus started babbling away to himself, going through all the sounds he knew how to make.  It was pretty fun listening to him listening to himself!  I think I’m gonna have to try that again sometime…

“People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.”

Now there’s a quote that causes this parent of an almost-9-month-old to stop and chuckle!

Lately we’ve been making a lot of progress in getting Titus to sleep as well as we (and the doctor) think he should. I’ll leave the determination of whether our expectations are realistic or not to someone else! If it weren’t for the temperature…or trains…or circular saws being used in the porch…or squeaky floors…or morning light…or the fact that when Titus flips over in his crib, he typically ends up with one appendage dangling between the bars…we just might get him to sleep for more than half the night at a time!

Even though he isn’t sleeping perfectly, we continue to think up ways to improve our techniques, and I’m confident that we will end up with an 18-year old that makes it through the night without waking us up (in fact, by that time we may actually want to be awakened if my experience as an 18 year old is any indication).

I guess I continue to be amazed at the amount of pure work that goes into parenting. When this sleep thing is figured out, or maybe before, I’m sure another issue will come at us with equal inertia. I’ve heard it comes with the territory! I considered using a number of quotes to wrap this entry up, but none did as good of a job as this:

“My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.”
-Mark Twain

As in the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.

It’s also the sound you make when you say “da” with your tounge between your front teeth, and it’s Titus’ favorite new noise to make! (with excessive amounts of drool included)  I’m glad, since every once in a while he switches to a straight-up “thhhh” or “da” sound, and the latter is the first step in saying my name!  Of course, “ba” is much more well established, so I’m a bit behind in the running to the word “ball”, but I figure I can entertain him better than most balls, so I’m not going to be intimidated!

Last night, I took Titus from his mom and was holding him nearby when he reached out both arms and leaned towards Sarah. That’s the first time he really decided who he wanted to be holding him! I guess I don’t count the times he’s decided that he would rather not be held by someone (particularly both his grandpas, since they have facial hair). Sarah, of course, got a little teary eyed when she thought about the significance of this event. I think it’s fun to see, but I’m worried that pretty soon it isn’t going to be so easy for just anyone to hold him (stranger anxiety, here we come).

Titus is moving (backwards) quite well, and he’s attempting to get up on all fours, though I’m not sure if he realizes the end goal of being on hands and knees. He’s also having a grand ol’ time in some of his new toys. He does laps while sitting/standing in his island toy, and he recently discovered the main purpose of his Johnny Jump Up. Of course, now he figures that each toy, person, and high chair he’s in should bounce him up and down, so I’m sure he’ll end up breaking something sooner or later!

I just finished putting up a picture album of things Titus likes to do. After putting the pictures up, I figured it was a good thing that I didn’t dig back in the photographs more than a few weeks, or the album would be quite long!

The last picture in the album is a funny one. I was giving Titus a bath when he decided that he would like to suck on the faucet. The water was running full blast, but he clamped his little mouth over the whole thing anyways. I only noticed this when he jerked back, sputtering! 5 seconds later he tried again (only with a little help from me this time), and he stayed latched onto that thing for a good 10 seconds, drinking away! He slept pretty well that night–I figure it was either because it took longer for him to get thirsty, or the water burps (sink faucets make quite a few water bubbles) were comforting!

Of course, we have a movie of it, too!