Rainy Day

Well, we apparently missed our shot at getting a video of the cute new face because all the responses he was getting from everyone for it have led him to exaggerate it, making it more weird than cute. But I did get a video tonight of him playing basketball and making the new version of this face. You may have to click on the HQ option at the top to make it clear enough to actually see the expression. I'm wondering if he'll ever go back to the cuter version or if this is here to stay.

And here he is proudly showing me his basketball. Between standing holding the ball, the mouth full of teeth, and the new haircut, he looks like such a big boy.

From 2010 June

He is acting more and more like a big boy all the time as well. Well, except for the fact that he can't talk and so when he wants something he just whines really insistently or tries to forcibly pull you towards the desired object.

Today when he insisted that we had to go outside, I decided to humor him even though it was raining. I figured we'd take one step outside and he'd want to go back in. So shoes on, light coat on, and downstairs we went. And he was a little taken aback at first, but didn't turn back. So we stood for a few minutes just a few feet outside the door with him watching the rain intently and occasionally turning his head up only to flinch and look back down. We ended up staying outside for 15-20 minutes exploring the world in the rain. This included a delightful time at the little stream that forms at the edge of the parking lot whenever it rains. He though the boats I made out of leaves were fascinating. Not because they were like boats since he doesn't really know what those are yet, but because he could watch them move with the water.

It was great to watch him. Most of the time he was studying things intently, but every couple minutes he would look at me with this huge grin and sparkling eyes like I was his accomplice or something. It was a "Mommy, we're having an awesome adventure!" look and I hope I can keep it imprinted on my brain because it absolutely made my heart melt.

He really is our little scientist, always looking for new things to figure out and testing things very methodically. Today at Storyville he carefully took all the plastic eggs out of their carton and then in putting them back in their spaces would test them in each space to make sure they were all the same. He isn't quite up to the shape sorters yet because anything beyond circles and squares are too hard to get properly oriented, but once he has the motor skills for that I think he will love those toys. Luckily we can adapt some of the blocks he already has to this purpose simply by putting the lid on their box.

We have to start being careful what we say around him because he knows a lot more words than I realize and he is picking them up quickly right now! Today we were talking to the people in the management office at our complex and one of them mentioned he had seen us playing in the rain and Nicholas promptly turned towards the glass door to look out at the rain. A few minutes later the woman asked him what the bird was, referring to the Oriole on his hat, and he started pulling me towards the door. And sure enough, there was a bird outside the door that he could see through the glass. I didn't know he knew what a bird was or what rain was. There are multiple incidents like this every day right now. It feels like high pressure with him picking up on so much we say.