It’s been so soon since the last post, I bet you’re all shocked! But I’m
back in form, proof that things really are settling down to a new normal.
I’ll start with a few more pictures from the Catskills wedding, too, with
photo credits to Mridul. Evidence of how sweet Toby and Joelyn’s reunion was…
And Toby’s “head, shoulders, knees & toes” skills, which Joelyn spent
many hours cultivating when he was a wee lad
Just when I think the most exciting milestones must be behind us, Toby pulls
out something new and cool. The one I’m most excited about is singing. He’s
been reciting long stretches of songs for a few months, but just as poems. On
September 21st I heard him actually sing for the first time – the
first 5 notes of “Twinkle Twinkle.” Hooray! His pitch seems to be pretty good,
too. Here he is accompanying himself on the xylophone. (He’s actually pretty
good at this – not hitting the right notes, but getting good rhythm and tone.
And he usually sits down – this time he was excited because I told him if he
played it for me, I’d let him watch the video of himself jumping.)
Jumping is new and cool too. And it gives him the giggles.
I don’t know if it strictly counts as a skill yet, but he has been
ice-skating once. Matt says Canadians all start skating when they’re two. Toby
loved it – I got tired much faster than he did, and whenever I suggested maybe
we were done, he would say “more skate!” Matt regretted that they had no hockey
skates for tiny feet, but he was only a few sizes away. By the end of the
session, Toby could stand on the ice by himself, was making movements with his
feet while we propelled him around, and was cheerfuly up an hour past his
bedtime. We even ran into a friend, my coworker Josh’s wife Amy, who teaches
figure skating at the rink! So we’re feeling more at home AND having fun. I’m
sure there will be a lot more of this.
Matt also got Toby interested in balls, and now he spends part of every
day throwing. More impressively, he can catch and kick! This only started in the last
week or two. But only if Matt throws. I can’t do it right. It’s a mystery. I
don’t have a picture of that, but here’s an amazing tower they built together.
Last weekend we made a foray into a local riparian area. The goal was to
venture onto an island in the Willamette River – although it’s only an
almost-island right now, since it’s dry. Matt has been volunteering with the
Mackenzie River Trust, and this was a tour on one of their sanctuaries. Toby
and I fell quickly behind, and didn’t make it to the island, but had a
fantastic time. It started with a short but brisk hike – for a couple of
minutes, Toby led all the adults! Then rocks: stacking, throwing, banging
together. From there the two of us (we’d lost the other big people) moved on to
walking on fallen logs. And then – joy of joys! – we discovered an enormous
slug, which occupied us for at least 30 minutes.
Apparently it was a banana slug – it was greenish brown, but according to
Matt not all the local ones are yellow. Toby poked it gently at first, and we
had fun watching it squish itself small and excrete goo. When I convinced him
to stop poking, he decided to eat the rotting log. To put a stop to that, I
explained that little boys don’t eat dead wood, slugs do. After that, he tore
bits of moss and log and “fed” the slug (i.e. piled detritus on it) for a long
time. Win! We spent about three hours total romping along a 1/8-mile section of
trail. Picture is from the weekend before, but could have been the same day.
As you can see, Toby is increasingly independent and outward-facing. We
celebrate this development, although unsurprisingly his Mama has to work a
little at not holding too tight. I think I’m doing okay, though, because we’re
steadily moving toward weaning! I took the extended nursing approach and have
mostly thoroughly enjoyed it. Around his second birthday, though, I started to
feel ready to slow down. Toby didn’t exactly agree. So I waited until we were
settled after our crazy summer and started limiting nummies during the day. It
has been interesting helping Toby figure out if what he really wanted was a
snuggle or a drink of water, but with a little practice (and some fussing,
though less than I expected) he is getting good at it. He asks to nurse less
and less, and has even completely dropped a few sessions without any nudging
from me. Watching this mutual cessation evolve amazes me. And since he’s still
just as snuggly as ever (often with a book), I’m able to really enjoy the
transition.
Although I’m not in love with our apartment, we do have one really nice
neighbor – Bruce! He has a stump in front of his door with moss and rocks on
it, which Toby loves. One day, Bruce made the most delicious bbq ribs EVER, and
Toby got a piece. Nom nom.
We watched much of the grilling process, too. In fact, his interest in
cooking overall continues to increase. Last week he started flipping pancakes!
I’d say he has 50% success currently, which is enough to keep him excited. Here
he is mixing batter all by himself for Aunt Margo’s veggie croquette recipe.
In a final note, fall is here. In western Oregon, that means rain. The
clouds closed in for the first time a week ago on Sunday, and we saw our first
rain the following Tuesday. There are still plenty of sunny days before the
clouds become a permanent feature, but overall the change is welcome. Maybe we
won’t still feel this way in December, but a thunderstorm and some mud is
pretty fun right now. And rainy days are great for dancing!
