Developments

Oh how I would love to establish a regular posting routine, but alas the best laid plans . . . Nonetheless, I shouldn't let the absence of regularity keep me from posting some random Tobin tidbits on a particularly slow day at the office for me.

"T" is for Tobin: Among the many objects Tobin can identify are letters ("lellers"). Matt and I made an effort of pointing out T's on Tobin's alphabet blocks, books, and magnets, as well as on book covers, sweatshirts, and T-shirts. We always say, "T for Tobin." Tobin caught on and now looks for Tobin T's ("Munna T's") whenever he sees "lellers." In fact, about an hour before waking this morning, we heard Tobin say "Munna T, Munna T" in his sleep.

Nodding: Tobin now nods to indicate an affirmative response or to otherwise let you know that what you're doing pleases him. Occasionally, he'll even say "yes." The nodding is adorable and a welcome change from the emphatic, yet still mostly polite, no's we hear. No's still outnumber yes's and nods about 4:1, but we'll take what we can get.

Giving direction: T is increasingly willing to let us know what he would like for us to do. Some might call this being bossy, but we try to think of it as confidently communicative. We also feel extra special because we are routinely being instructed/invited to play along side him. Examples of such requests/instructions include:

"Mama, bed?" (Time to go to sleep.)

"Pweez get down." (All done with a meal. Often followed by "Mama/Daddy, all done?" to prompt one of us to leave the table to join him in play.)

"Bwack car, Daddy?" (Please go get my black car over there and bring it to me.)

"Ouch head? [Sniff.]" (Please kiss my head because I accidentally ran into something, if ever so slightly. "Head" can be interchanged with various injured body parts. This request will be repeated until it feels better.)

"Hat?" (Please put on this hat, or pull on your hood, or do you have a hood on your jacket?)

"Big Josh?" (Please play my favorite song, "Joshua Giraffe.")

"Monstas?" (Can we read my new favorite book, Where the Wild Things Are.)

(Again, this list is illustrative, not exhaustive.)

Geography: Tobin knows that on a normal day Mama and Daddy go to work ("wok"), Hannah stays home ("ho"), and he goes to school ("skoo"). He also knows that Aunt Ashley as well as Aunt Sarah and Uncle Dan (still "Dee!") live in Georgia ("Ju-ja"). We're working on Florida (Mimi and Grandpa) and Kentucky (Grandma and Granddad). We haven't yet tried Louisiana (various including Uncle "Ohll") or Tennessee or Missouri or Texas . . . Goodness, this kid has quite a list of multiple-syllable states to learn!

Ashley juice: We learned this past weekend that Tobin likes sweet tea. He named it for the person who let him have a sip of hers and he has since requested it most meals. We're okay with him having it, watered down and decaf. And when this pitcher runs out, we probably won't have it around, so I can stop worrying about giving him such a sugar-laden beverage. But, seriously, he's a Carolina boy, the son of a Georgia girl and a Kentucky boy (who oddly enough doesn't like sweet iced tea) so we feel this fancy was entirely predictable.

Life with Tobin is indeed an adventure. Half the time Matt and I feel like we are trying to keep up or figure out what's going on. And for at least the rest of the time, we are simply marveling at our amazing little boy.