Silence

Silence is golden, even in the blogging world sometimes. I've taken some time off from blogging lately in the hopes of finding more of the elusive things in life: free time, rest, quiet moments, playtime with the kids, reading time. It definitely worked. I've managed to be in bed most nights with the lights out by 10:30. Getting 8 hours of sleep at night feels amazing. And, I've enjoyed many quiet moments, alone and with the kids. But even thought there have been more moments for savoring things, life continues on at the same quick pace. Here's what we've been doing...

Theo crawls speedily all over the house. He's learned how to climb stairs, pulls himself up on everything, and even cruises around a little. He has a habit of disappearing, silently, as soon as I take my eyes off of him. If I put him down on the floor of his bedroom and carry the laundry into the laundry room, he's gone before I return. Sometimes he races to check if the bathroom door was left open by chance. Other times he speeds into Elliot and Mattie's room to check out what's been left under the beds. He's gotten three new teeth over the last ten days. Added to the two he had, he's starting to have a very toothy grin! He seems to be stuck in a terrible sickness rut, getting a new cold every 10-14 days. I guess it's not surprisingly when you have three older brothers at two different schools, but it's not fun. He had his first mild ear infection last week, which kept him up most of one night. But, his illnesses haven't manged to slow down his growth at all. He's moving up into the next size of clothes AGAIN. He's become very interactive, and clearly understands what we say and what's going on around him. He threw his first temper tantrum two weeks ago, in the bath. He is also copying many of our sounds, and will repeat things like "hi" and "bow wow" back to us when we say them. I know he's watching everything we do, and taking it all in. Whenever he finds a ball, he looks at me (just to make sure I'm watching,) and then throws it, something no one has "taught" him to do. I also found him on the floor this morning with a small indoor hockey stick and a puck. He had crawled around and picked up both items intentionally. He was pushing the puck around the floor with the stick. He puts everything into his mouth. He can often be found sitting silently under the dining room table eating teensy crumbs off the floor. He loves to find paper or tissue to snack on as well. We finally moved him out of his infant seat and into a big carseat last week. He's loving that! He has a much better view of his brothers, and everything that's going on in the car now. I'm still struggling to get him to eat much in the way of solid foods, but with his exponential growth, we're not worried. And, despite his increased mobility, he is still happiest in our arms (or on someone's back.)

To be continued...