Sit, Sleep and...know when he's quiet he must be up to something

One of our neighbors is preparing to sell his house and brought over this chair for Tommy last week that belonged to his grandson.  Tommy made the cats sit in it first to test it out, but now he likes it

Holding court in front of the TV with his juice

Those teeth have been bothering our sweet boy this past week and he woke probably 4 of the past 5 nights very upset.  Fortunately he was soothed most of the nights if I laid down on the floor next to the crib and let him hold my hand, and he went back to sleep.  But one night he was inconsolable until I brought him in to Mommy and Daddy's bed.  We don't make a habit out of this, but sometimes a little snuggling goes a long way to make you feel better!

John came upstairs to find us like this and snapped this very flattering shot of me. 

When I got up to shower, I couldn't resist...and yes, the boy does not like to sleep under any covers

Notice that Orange Guy needed snuggling too...one morning he brought in Panda, Tux the stuffed cat, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Moo the Cow, and Tux the small stuffed cat...and Orange Guy!

On Thursday night while I was making my dinner (John had to work late), Tommy quietly sat watching Dora, one of his favorite shows.  Our set up is one big "great room" so the kitchen looks into this room. Notice the gate behind the couch and in front of the counter?  That's so someone can't reach up and grap anything off the drying rack anymore...wonder who that might be?  While dinner cooked, I walked in to sit with Tommy, and was reminded that if a child is too quiet, assume he/she is up to something, since I found this:

No tissues were harmed or used in this photo

Daddy came home just as we were starting to read books before bedtime, and Tommy demanded  that I leave so Daddy could read and put him to bed. It was hysterical!  He stood up, pointed to the open door and said, "Mommy!" He has been doing this for the last week or so a lot, which is funny to me, because if we are both home, it's always me who does the reading and putting to bed.  Since John came back from his weekend away, Tommy has wanted Daddy to do that a lot more, which is fine by me, because it gives me a chance to get some other things done.  Admittedly, however, it is one of my favorite times to spend with Tommy, but I think it's important that both of us do it.  When John would do the routine when I had to work late, he would always complain about how long it took Tommy to go to sleep, or how he wouldn't cooperate.  I think that was because he didn't do the routine enough. 

Intently following along to make sure Daddy does not skip parts, as Tommy has caught him doing

I've pushed his routine back a little bit and it seems to have helped getting Tommy to cooperate and actually go to sleep.  The other night we had only read one book, and he was not interested in any book I offered as the next one.  So I asked if he wanted to go in his crib to go to sleep, and he said YES! He got down from the chair and stood in front of his crib until I put him inside.  Once or twice he has just gone and stood in front of the crib and tried to climb in. 

He is particular about which books he wants to read, depending on the night. Lately he's liked a nursery rhyme book with Baa Baa Black Sheep, Jack and Jill, Little Miss Muffet, and Hey Diddle Diddle.  In the bath the other night, I started to recite them to him, and let him do the last rhyming word of the phrases, to see if he knew them...and he DID!  I was so proud!

Music is another area he is quite particular about.  When we are in the car, he will say "noooo" and shake his head if he does not want to hear a particular song.  I have 6 CD's in the CD changer in my car, and most times this past week, all we listened to was the Elmo song about 6 or 7 times in a row (to or from daycare).  Yesterday was the first day he didn't say "no" to any of the songs on Jack's Big Music Show's CD.

And one other big milestone - we removed the baby gate from between the living room and kitchen.  In all honesty, we haven't really locked the gate itself that often the past 2-3 months.  Tommy is pretty good about knowing where he can go, what he can or can't touch, and the gate was really more of a hindrance to us than a help for keeping Tommy contained.  John had it in the dining room for 2 days before Tommy noticed it was missing.  When he found it, he said, "Ohhhhhh nooooo!"  He wanted me to move it back to where he knew it was supposed to be!  We do still put up a gate at the bottom of the stairs if Tommy seems to be interested in going up the stairs, but that is not too often.  We do have a gate installed at the top of the stairs, but Tommy rarely will venture down the stairs on his own.  In fact, he prefers to be carried.  Sometimes we indulge him, but when my hands are full, I don't give in and make him figure it out.  He has been going up and down for longer than I can remember, but I think he just finds it easier if we carry him.

We're off to visit Grandma, Pop-Pop, Aunt Cindy, Uncle David, cousins Emily and Fin on Saturday for the day, and Mommy is hoping we get a family beach day in on Sunday!  I'm sure there will be some interesting stories since Tommy is not the biggest fan of the sand...I'm a beach bum, so I've got to get this kid to understand that he is going to like the beach!!!