Owen crawls.
Favorite thing to put in his mouth: books
Favorite edible thing to put in his mouth: bananas, turkey, and bread
Favorite word: da da da na na da da na na
Favorite activities: Tasting toys, standing/cruising around furniture, taking a bath, getting attention from Samuel or Jude.
Favorite book this week: Basketball lift-the-flap. Last month: Mommy Go Away. Yes, this does harm my self-esteem.
Favorite games: kick a ball, catch a ball, throw a ball. “Keys and balls” (aka Cranium’s Cariboo board game).
Guaranteed conversation starter: “Hey, Jude, remember that elephant we saw at the zoo?” (giggles) “Eat a gick! Effefant eat a gick! That be funny. See giwaffes. Eat bananas, watch giwaffes.” We saw an elephant bite a stick, and we ate bananas while sitting in the giraffe house. While there, his comment on the three giraffes with their backs turned to us was “Tails. Bottoms.”
Favorite thing to practice: any kind of fine motor skill – coloring, painting, buckling, putting things in or taking them out of a small container, zipping. “MYSELF! Do it MYSELF!”
Favorite game: cars and running. Recently, he refused to clean up his playdough. Suddenly overwhelmed by a desire to play Hot Wheels, I exclaimed, “Oh no! I was looking forward to playing cars with you after you finished cleaning up!” You’ve never such a happy, efficient playdough picker-upper.
Cool new skill: writing letters. He has learned a lot about the alphabet at school, and can write capital letters so that most are recognizable. Surprised me!
New fascinations: dinosaurs, spaceships
Old standard fascinations: trains, cars, trucks, airplanes
How he amuses me: Thinking aloud. Here’s a conversation we had recently while I was working on a copyediting project. I was feeling a little overwhelmed at the time.
Samuel: What are you doing?
Me: I’m working. Remember I told you that my work is thinking.
S: What’s wrong with you? Are you tired, Mama?
M: A little bit.
S: Jesus loves you, Mama.
M: Thank you for reminding me of that.
S: Jesus helps you in your mind.
