The Small Family   

Theo is teething. All the time. He has been teething for the better part of seven months, yet he still doesn’t have a single chopper to show for it! And so, he continues to teethe. He is also into everything, and his latest obsession is the toilet. Put those two activities together, and you’ve got our son, the potty-mouth. Literally. The toilet is his favorite teething item. He crawls over to it at lightning speed whenever we forget to close the door, and he happily pulls himself up to a standing position and gums the toilet seat. EWWWWW!!!

Chris says this is some sort of warped therapy for me. You see, I have long been a bit of a germaphobe. Much less so now that I have a baby because, frankly, I’m just too darn tired to stress about germs! But I have my standards, and they don’t include watching my son teethe on the toilet, for heaven’s sake!! Anyway, Theo’s fascination with both the toilet and the garbage have forced me to just accept that my son will like gross things. It’s a fact, and I am learning to live with it. By my god, Theo, the toilet?? ACK! (Or, as Kim would say, “BIG ACK!”)

Anyway, you’ll see a couple pictures of Theo wreaking havoc in the bathroom this week, but none of him gumming the toilet because, naturally, I pull him off it the minute I see him start to open his mouth and lean toward it! I did have to make an exception, though, and let him continue playing with the toilet brush for a minute while I took some pictures. I was just so impressed by his determination to get it! Chris hides the toilet brush for his bathroom behind the toilet, so Theo had to crawl around a magazine rack and squeeze behind the toilet to get it. He did, pulled it out, and sat happily playing with it until I decided I’d had enough of the grossness. That’s what I get for having the boy in there with me while I’m cleaning the bathroom, eh?!

I’m entering the final stretch on the Book from Hell (a.k.a. David Perry on Game Design); it is supposed to go to the printer on Tuesday morning. Alas, there have been some last-minute glitches in layout, so I get to go over 1,072 pages of material AGAIN to make sure no more problems have cropped up. This book may be the death of me yet...

Anyway, the Book from Hell kept me busy all week, so it was pretty quiet around here up until Friday, with the only exception being a visit from Emma and Janeane on Tuesday! It was neat to watch Emma and Theo playing this time because Theo is a lot more interested in other kids now. They don’t quite play together (at 2+ years, Emma’s play is obviously quite a bit more advanced than Theo’s!), but they played beside one another and did interact with each other. Emma chattered away at Theo and Luna (who loves her!), and Theo played and stared in awe at the lovely Miss Emma. I think he thinks she’s the most beautiful little creature he has ever come upon! (Good taste, that son of mine...)

I also had photography class on Monday. One of those days where I was really too busy to go...but glad that I was forced to, because it ended up being a really nice break. Theo has had a big case of “don’t leave the room”-itis this week, and it has been getting rather old. (That is, he has reached the stage where if Chris or I leave the room, he erupts in screams. I’m hoping this doesn’t last too long, as it can be rather exhausting!!) Anyway, he was very grumpy Monday morning, so I can’t say I was entirely sad to hand him off to my Mom and go to class, even though I had a lot of work to do. And, as it turns out, he was very good for Grandma Diane, and I got a huge, gummy grin when I got home from class, which of course melted my heart.

We got our first shooting assignment in photography class, and boy, is it hard! It’s motion—we have to shoot four different types of motion, specifically. I won’t bore with the details, but let’s just say that it’s a lot harder than I expected. I’m learning each week that photography is truly an art and a science...there is a lot of balancing and ratios to take into account to create a really good image. I can’t believe how much I’m learning each week—the class is wonderful! My only regret is that the weather lately isn’t cooperating for me to get out and practice shooting motion shots. (Lots of rain and cold lately.) However, the swing pictures of Theo this week (in the cute little hat from Auntie Lisa and Uncle Chris!) were at attempt at capturing motion at our local park, which we walked to on a not-so-icky day. The motion part didn’t work, but the Theo pix are cute, so it wasn’t a loss.

I’ve included a couple of my motion attempts in this week’s album, but they aren’t very good yet. Well, they’re not bad pictures, I suppose, but they’re not what I wanted...so I shall try again when the weather clears up! Good thing I have until March 1^st to get this assignment done.

But as long as we’re on the subject of photography, I will share the most exciting part of the week. My friend Amber clued me in on a local art show/contest going on, and on a whim, I decided to enter a couple pictures of Theo I had used for my Portraitures class. Chris and I went to the reception on Friday night (with a sleepy Theo), and what do you know—I won second place in the Adult Photography category!! (Amber won first place in that category, which I was glad to see. Her pix were gorgeous, and in fact I voted for her winning one for the “People’s Choice” overall award. She didn’t win that, but she did win first place in Adult Photography, so super-congrats to her!!) Anyway, it was really cool to win something for my picture. And the neatest thing is, when I walked up to get my ribbon, someone stopped me and said, “I absolutely love your picture!!” Awwww...that made my night! And when I went back the next day to take pictures of the art show (it goes on all weekend, and I was too dumb to remember to bring my camera on Friday night!), someone stopped me and said, “Is that Theo?” and motioned to him. It occurred to me that I had titled one entry, “Peaceful Theo,” and she must’ve recognized him from the picture! I thought that was very cool.

Another coolest part of the week was that Theo has learned to give kisses. At least, I think that’s what he’s doing. I kiss on him all the time...just can’t resist kissing those soft, chubby little cheeks of his. (Poor kid!) And now, he is giving me kisses. He opens his mouth wide and lunges at me, slobbering all over my cheeks or ears...wherever he manages to plant one. It’s very sweet, even though I end up covered in slimy drool! (I try not to think about the fact that the same sweet little mouth gums the toilet whenever possible. GAH!)

Theo is also saying “Da-da” a lot lately. He says it in the car while riding happily along...it’s very cute! And he waves now. He doesn’t quite get the idea that you wave at people, though. He waves at plants and things. Today he waved at the rack of DVDs in the store. But hey, it’s a start!

He’s also getting more and more able to stand without holding onto something. It’s still only for a few seconds at a time, but we’re seeing improvements in his standing ability every day. I think walking is not far from happening!!

We had a fun Valentine’s Day—Grandpa Tom and Grandma Kathy came up for a visit! And Grandma Diane came by for dinner, too, so the five of us feasted on Chris’s excellent spaghetti, while Theo enjoyed a lovely bottle and played happily with all his doting grandparents.  Chris and I did the romantic thing on Friday night...or, what amounts to romance for parents of a baby. We waited until Theo went to bed and ate some yummy desserts Chris had bought me (a piece of chocolate cheesecake and a piece of red velvet cake), and we each had a small glass of wine that I had bought him (a delicious dessert wine). And Chris brought me a rose plant, and I got him a card. Heck, I thought it was romantic that we even remembered Valentine’s Day, with how hectic it has been this week with work and Needy “Don’t Leave the Room for a Second” Theo! This V-day happened to be our fourth anniversary as an “official” couple. How time flies!

Today an icky storm blew in, and thanks to computer problems on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I spent most of the day trying to catch up on work. So, I can’t say Sunday was particularly exciting.  We did go to the mall for some exercise for us and people-watching for Theo, and I made dinner (filet mignon, sweet potatoes, and bruschetta). No, I’m not usually such a fancy cook, and we are far more likely to usually feast on ground turkey or something equally exciting. But Chris’s parents bought us a big supply of goodies from Omaha Steaks for Christmas, so I figured it was time to attempt the filets. And I must say, they turned out pretty good. For once, I didn’t cook the meat to death. Given that I tend to be rather meat-impaired when it comes to cooking, I’d call it an overall success.

Well, Theo is yelling at his father, so I must sign off for now. No joke—he is cussing him out in loud baby babble. It’s quite amusing, actually. Hard not to laugh at it when he is so vehement in his, “BLAH BLAH DA DA BLAH GA DA DA DA WOW WOW WOW WOW BLAH BLAH BLAH!” He’s clearly annoyed about something...