This has been a big month for Thomas. I’d even say it’s been “full of firsts” except that’s what I said last month. I suppose Thomas has hit the stage where all he does is learning and growing.
A few days ago, I was cooking and Thomas and David were in the living room. I stuck my head out of the kitchen and asked, “David! What is Thomas doing?” David answered, “I don’t know. Probably learning something.”
This month Thomas went from crawling to crawling, he’s pulling up (mostly to his knees, occasionally to his feet), he’s sitting on his own, and he’s consistently sleeping through the night. Oh wait. How did that get there? Thomas isn’t even thinking about sleeping through the night.
Last night I was going to bed and looked at the clock, wondering how many hours of sleep I would get. Because the time I go to bed and the time I wake up have no bearing on how much sleep I’ll get. I’m the parent but my kids, they have the power.
Thomas is very, very good at crawling. He’s suddenly so fast; he crawls at the speed of “elbow-deep in the cat food before I even realize he’s out of the room.”
The cat bowl and the toilet bowl are his only two destinations. And how does he know? How does he know that, if I were to make a list of the top three places I don’t want him to go, numbers two and three are the cat bowl and the toilet. (Number one being Mama’s Cheeto stash.)
When I find him somewhere he isn’t supposed to be, I say, “Thomas, what are you doing?” And he immediately flattens his body, raises his eyebrows and looks at me as if to say, “What do you mean? Me? I’m not doing anything. Look at me, lying here, prostrate, and completely immobile. I have no idea how I got here.”
Thomas is making more sounds, and started saying “Ka! Ka!” all the time. Maybe KA for “cat” or “Caleb”? He also started the adorable habit of patting my back whenever I pick him up. It’s so sweet, that every time he does it I smother him with kisses and then melt into a puddle on the floor. So maybe what he’s saying is, “Can someone get over here? My mom is being ridiculous.”
Thomas is eating more and more table food. His favorites are meats and pastas and whatever he finds on the floor. He is still the only Krieger who doesn’t scream about eating at dinner. (Adults included.)
Sometimes, on the nights he shovels macaroni into his mouth, he goes on to wake up once instead of his usual three times, and I wonder, “Maybe he needs more solids? Maybe that’s why he isn’t sleeping through the night?”
But that can’t be it. He can’t possibly be that he’s hungry, what with all the protein he gets from his daily bowl of cat food.
I recently realized that every morning I absentmindedly check Thomas for a fever and teeth. I think Thomas had a fever or two this month, but I honestly can’t keep track anymore. And teeth? I’ve been watching his lower teeth make the slow, arduous trek through his gums for a month now. I swear, they emerge and then shrink back under his gums.
This has been Thomas’s fussiest month. He’s drooling, chewing, fussing, and has swollen gums with little white nubs just under the surface. He’s been like that for weeks, though. So I’m raising my white flag. I’ve given up on these teeth. I can only assume the fussing is Thomas’s way of expressing his opinion on the Trump campaign.
Dear Thomas,
Your father and I starting some new strategies to get you to sleep through the night, or at least just wake up once at night. We talk a lot about what we do and what we should do differently, and we’re considering a lot of things, including putting you to bed with a gallon of ice cream. Because even if you’re not be asleep, at least you’ll be occupied.
When you wake up, your daddy keeps offering to go in your room and rock you until you fall asleep on his chest. I disagree with this, because it’s just creating another bad habit, right? Because now every time you wake up, instead of nursing, you’ll need to be rocked.
I asked your daddy why he keeps advocating this new habit, and he responded, “Because I like holding him when he sleeps, and he won’t do it for much longer.”
He has a point. If we’ve learned anything from having babies, it’s that you won’t do this much longer. So for now, while we still can,we’ll hold you.
Love,
Mama
