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I’ll do a different post for all of our Halloween merriment after the festivities, but for now here’s an update on how things are going around here in general.

It’s Henry vs. the Teeth here at Fort Brand…

Last toothless smile picture

He has sprouted three teeth this month!  A solid effort.  Grumpy nights, still fairly happy during the days.   He’s definitely enjoying rolling all around and babbling.  He is also a solid sitter now.  He sits and lowers himself down to roll with relative ease.  He cannot get back up to sitting, however.  He is very interested in getting into crawling position, but we have yet to see any scooting action.

He is such a little heart-warmer.  Obviously he’s incredibly adorable, but he is also so easy during the days.  When company is over he really mellows out, observing the scene.  Whenever Lloyd’s in the room he definitely calms down, so absorbed in watching his brother and waiting with bated breath for a bit of recognition (he gets it every now and then).

He’s 7 months old now and weighs 20 lbs and 5 oz.  (that’s just starting out 12 month clothes in retail-language).

Lloyd has had an excellent month.  Even though there are still tantrums and whiny days, in general he’s been a real joy.  Some new phrases are “I guess so…” and “Of course!”  He says things out of wishful thinking like, “Of course you’re not going to work, Dad” to Greg when he’s getting ready to head out the door in the morning.  It’s sweet.

At a school field trip

His talking is so amazing.  The other day I was working in the office and he was going outside with Greg and he opens up the door, waltzing in saying, “Okay Mom, Dad and I are going to go play!”  It really almost made me tear-up because it was a sentence an 8-year-old could have said.   He really does use the proper “me/I” grammar about 60% of the time.  He floors me… so many adults aren’t even at that percentage!

On a bakery-run with Dad.

Lloyd’s imaginative play has made huge progress.  Listening to him talking to his toys, giving them voices, is my absolute favorite thing.  At first it was very interesting because he was using his toys to play-out interactions he’d had with his friend Libby or us.  Then it became purely imagination.   One day I told him my knee was bothering me (I’m old, get over it) and he plucked out some fluff from the carpet.  “These Mrph Mrphs will make them feel better!”  It took me a while to stop asking him to repeat himself and to understand that he made up a new word just for fun.

For Greg and I it’s been a fall of work-challenges.  Greg’s still very busy working in Dexter and overcoming various obstacles.  I’m doing fine with my work-load but am struggling with the fact that the children are essentially tandem-napping so I always have one little squirt awake.   It’s meant conquering some work after they go to bed and in general operating on less sleep.  I have to remind myself that this baby-toddlerhood is just a brief moment in time.   Next fall Henry will be 18 months and Lloyd will be in preschool!  I work everyday on overcoming the insubstantial stresses and appreciating the good (the great!) in this funny, crazy house.