Our first summer with Thomas was spent mostly indoors and in
the shade trying to protect his very sensitive skin from the deathly heat and
humidity of last year. Ultimately, it didn't matter and most days he looked like a cherry tomato. This year, we threw that plan out the window and have
spent nearly every waking moment outside in an effort to expose him to as much
dirt and sunshine as possible (disclaimer: Karen coats him in 75 sunblock, a
hat, a UV protective shirt and chauffers an umbrella over him at all times, but
hey… outside is outside). So far, so good.
THE POOL
We try to go to the pool most weekends that we're in town. It's one of those zero depth kiddie friendly pools, so he mostly wades around in waist deep water, but recently he's become increasingly brave and now jumps in from the side, goes under, walks around on his hands, and laughs and screams the whole time. Just last week, he started going down the slide. It's up a flight of stairs and is maybe 15 feet long, and he never had any interest in riding it before. For some unknown reason (likely my support and encouragement) last weekend a switch flipped and he would do nothing else. Karen and I took alternating 10 minute shifts walking him up those stairs and then waiting for him again as he slid down and ran back around to do it again. It must have been 40 minutes worth of sliding. After a few times of going down on his butt, he started going down on his tummy. After climbing into the slide he would hang onto the edge, look up and say "bye Dada!" and then go sliding away. Of all the things I like about the pool, I like that part the best.
OHIO
We finally took Thomas to Ohio to meet the Van Ripers and O'Connors. He loved meeting all of his aunts and uncles and cousins from my side. He also went to his first wedding, where he got the chance to show off his dance moves which consist of "the stomp" and "the spin". Lookout Julliard. At Rob and Judy's he recieved a number of gifts including a 30 gallon sack full of clothes that Aunt Candace actually bought, or as I prefer to believe, she hijacked a Babys R Us truck last year and has been subsidizing our clothing needs ever since. Either way, we were very grateful. He was also given a motorized child's red Mercedes Roadster. You know it's funny, I still remember Christmas of 1993... Michael got a Teddy Ruxpin (a talking robot bear) and a godd***ed Fisher Price Power Wheels Bigfoot Monster Truck. I got a sweater and a pack of skittles. Great Christmas. Anyways, we decided to re-live that happy day with the unveiling of this beautiful Mercedes. If one more person gets a child's motorized car before me, I'm going to raise hell.
PHILADELPHIA
Uncle Bruce lives in Philadelphia and rents a house on the Jersey shore every summer. He has found it in his heart to allow us to crash his one month of peace and solitude a year 3 out of the last 4 summers and it continues to be my most anticipated trip of the year. Thomas LOVED the beach. This is the third time we've taken him to a beach, but really it's the first legitimate beach experience he's had. The sun rose before us most days, but just barely. We were the first people on the beach each morning, and Tommy loved playing in the water, digging holes, building sandcastles, spotting seagulls (he called them eagles) throwing sand, stealing strangers' toys and loving every minute of it. After a few hours of digging his hands raw, he would say "house sand" which meant we had to head back up to the house so he could go play under the deck with... more sand. I never thought I would have a passionate opinion about sand, but I do and it's not favorable. But the boy loves it, so I'll tough it out. Here is a sample sentence from our vacation "Brucie beach sand dolphin ocean MOMMY NOW."
TALKING
He is really talking now. He's talking in little sentences and he's talking all the time. He's got most of his books memorized and you can't even get to the end of a page without him jumping ahead. He remembers things you said hours or days ago, what color clothes people were wearing and the exact date and time of the last popsicle he ate, lest he miss out on his regular scheduled snack break. He's also developed a couple of charming conversational strategies that are just delightful. The first is the use of "Daddy NO". A few examples:
James: Thomas do you want Krispies for breakfast?
Thomas: No.
James: Thomas do you want Loops for breakfast?
Thomas: No.
James: Do you want oatmeal for breakfast?
Thomas: No!
James: Toast, grapefruit, banana, juice, hot dog, ice cream, bowl of sugar?
Thomas: Daddy NO!
Karen: Thomas, how about some Krispies?
Thomas: Mommy Krispies.
James: Tommy, I'm going to work can I have a kiss?
Thomas: No freaking way.
James: Can I have a hug?
Thomas: Hell no.
James: Will you let me touch your hand?
Thomas: Absolutely not. Go get me a popsicle!
What's happening here? I'm being iced out of my own house.
The other lovely skill he's learned is to repeat whatever the last few words you say are. It's forced me to really choose my words carefully, as our little parrot will say anything, ANYTHING that we say.
Two months ago, you may have heard something like "This remote is a piece of crap!," which would result in a volley of "piece crap, piece crap!" from Tommy. So now I'm throwing a "but I like it!" on the end of everything which seems to be working and also, improves my mood. Give it a shot if you like.
It's been a great summer. Maybe the best one yet but we're nearing the end. Karen is going back to school, Tommy is going back to daycare and if I'm lucky I'll be starting a new job here in the next few weeks. Please enjoy these pictures of all the fun we've had this summer and please remember the last word rule when you see the boy next time.
