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February 21, 2009

Baby Talk

I was looking at one of those milestone charts the other day. You know, the ones that tell you what most children your child's age can do? It said that Devin should be using "two words skillfully" by now.

Eh. Not so much. He says "mama" but I'm still not convinced that he really knows that's me. Chef Michelle says he says cracker and I do think I heard him say it once. I could swear I've heard him say both hi and bye. None of these things are consistent, however. Verbally skillful, he is not.

Emerging skills for a 13 month old include holding out arms or legs to help you dress them and he does that. He also does one of the advanced skills of rolling a ball back and forth. There are some skills listed for 14, 15, and 16 months that he does. So, I'm not worried about his development.

I do wonder if he may have his daddy's "shy gene". If you know my husband very well, you know that he can talk a blue streak. But most people would describe him as quiet and shy. He was, in fact, so cripplingly shy when he was a child that he once had someone drive him nearly all over God's green earth to find his home because he could not bring himself to speak to tell her where to go.

Some things are very difficult for my husband because he's so shy. He's come a LONG way since I first met him but sometimes it is still a struggle for him and some of the stories he's told me about his childhood are heartbreaking to me.

Devin is definitely not as social and outgoing at this time as Dax was. (But, let's be honest, sometimes Dax is just a bit TOO social and outgoing.) Sometimes he is clearly overwhelmed when too many people are around or if someone new is around. I know this is normal at this age but I confess that I do find myself wondering: Is this normal or is he shy?

shyguy.jpg

February 12, 2009

The Goof Gene

As if there was not a strong enough familial resemblance between Cat and the boys.funny three.jpg

Those of you who have been with us since the very beginning will recognize the first and last pictures here as they were pulled from Dax's journal (September 27th, 2005 to be exact). And, yep, that's Devin in the middle making the same face his brother made when he was about the same age.

I really think it has to be genetic.

February 06, 2009

Ch-ch-changes

Devin had his one year appointment last week. Unfortunately, he also picked that exact time to contract the stomach virus that had already leveled Dax and I. As soon as I buckled him into his stroller to take him up to the pediatricians' office he unleashed a disgusting geyser of sick all over himself, the stroller, and me.

The best part? Because I was also under the weather I was not altogether focused when we left the house so I had no spare clothes for him. That's right. NO. SPARE. CLOTHES. I cleaned us up best I could and wrapped him in his brother's karate shirt and we went on up. PARENT OF THE YEAR!

Luckily, he did not barf again while we were there and he managed to still be mellow, cute, and charming. What? You didn't know that is part of the one-year-old physical? Why, of course it is. He showed his doctor how he can walk and wave and pretend to be shy and bat his eyes. He is exactly in the 25th percentile for both height and weight. He also got over his bout with the virus very quickly and was back to his old self again in no time.

In other news? Our little one is quite the goofball. He enjoys making very silly faces and trying to make us laugh at every opportunity.
goof.JPG

He is such a sweet, sweet baby. He loves to cuddle and I, of course, encourage this. Of course, now that he can walk, he is not quite as snuggly for as long as he was when he was immobile but I take what I can get.

Yesterday Cat turned Dev's carseats around so he now gets to face forward. I don't know why but this seems like such a big deal to both of us. It's just one of those "Your baby is growing up" sort of things that we would rather hold off on I guess. Take this as a warning that the kid may not get a haircut until he's four.

But just think of the entertainment value in the mullet he's sure to grow!