Sunday, July 29, 2007

An illustrated version . . .

You should re-read Allison's post, "First words."

Be sure to read all the way to the end.
ps - We like to read your comments.

Organization

I'm playing with a new way to put videos up. Let me know which way you like best. Here's Tobin organizing my CDs in a way only he could.

Summertime is Playtime

Click the above picture for a video depicting how we spend
a lot of our day during the summer.


If you'd like to download it to your hard drive to keep (or put on your iPod), use the following links:
Windows format
iPod format

Saturday, July 28, 2007

On the Run

I was looking at the difference between the Toblog this year and last year's and I have a pretty simple explanation: mobility. Last summer I happily typed away, relating nuggets of neophyte parent observations while watching Tobin sleep or rock back and forth in his bouncy chair, somewhat aware of the world around him. This summer, the world is wide and needs to be explored. Naps have been foregone in the name of toppling, scooting, and playing. It's pretty rare lately to get a spare moment during the day to reflect and type. After T's bedtime, I usually like to sit and enjoy a few still moments before going off to bed myself.

That isn't meant at all to be a complaint. This summer has been even more fun than last one; the only downside is I'm not recording as much of it for everybody else. A part of constant movement that has been really good this summer is running with T. We run pretty much every morning with the jogging stroller. A lot of times, he yells encouragement to me and to other people out running. Other times, he drifts off around the time we hit the first mile mark and snoozes all the way home. I tried to figure how many miles we've put on the stroller since Tobin got it for his birthday, and my best guess is 50 or 60 miles.

The next step in Tobin's movement is walking. Allison and I have decided that T has all the tools necessary to walk. He cruises well and stands up without holding on for as long as 30 seconds. It really seems to be a matter or comfort. There was a brief period when he would make a strange, whining noise when he would let go of the coffee table or whatever he was holding onto. He's really careful and tentative. Plus, he's such a fast crawler that he might just not see the benefit in walking yet.

I've tried to film him standing, but his interest in the camera outweighs his will to walk. I'll keep trying, and I'm sure we'll get the word out quickly when he's embraced the biped lifestyle.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

First words

Tobin has been talking for quite some time now. Only recently have Matt and I been able to understand him better.

"Dah" and "duh" have been used for months now. Of course, we thought that "dah" was "Dad" or maybe "dog," but one couldn't be sure. Then sometime shortly after his 13-month birthday (as best I can pinpoint, it was 6/20 or 6/27--feel like a bad mom that I didn't write it down, but I did spend the last 20 minutes looking at cell phone records to try to figure it out!), Tobin said his first, unmistakable word: "gentle." As Matt tells it, he crawled over to his sister Hannah and started petting her, saying "gentle." Matt called me to tell me as it was happening and I even got to hear Tobin say it a couple of times over the phone. It was crystal clear and adorable. You see, we've been trying to teach Tobin to be "gentle" with Hannah and pet her gently rather than pull her ears or bop her on the head. (We're successful in communicating this message 3.5 out of 10 times and possibly improving. Hannah is really a good sport.) So it's really sweet that his first word was "gentle." He has a very gentle spirit himself, so we think it's appropriate. Now, we've since come to realize that he may use the word as a noun as opposed to an adjective--i.e., Hannah is a "gentle" and also a "dah" as well as "Hah"--but at least he's associating the right words with her. Matt will teach him about parts of speech next summer. :)

In addition to gentle, Tobin also regularly says "Daddy," light ("dight"), Hannah ("Hah"), and, most recently, "dratch." We're still trying to figure that last one out. Oh, and he says Cheerios (his next favorite food to breastmilk) with a very efficient "chuh" and open and closes his fist--sounds and signs he also uses to tell me he wants to nurse.

We're enjoying our communicative little household very much these days.