Sand and snails and pussy cat tails!!

My baby has gone... in his place, a real little boy!! Xani has become very confident on his feet now and spends most of his days running around the house, giggling (esp when he's being chased by someone making growling noises!!), and getting into as much mischief as possible. He has also discovered the joyful wonders of OUTSIDE!! I am so glad we have a house with a really good sized back yard, as Xani will often stand at the back door, looking at me (then scream if I DARE go past the back door without opening it for him to go out!) with that hopeful expression, gabbling at me constantly with "ta ta ta" being a regular feature amongst it. Open the door and he's gone! He's now learned how to carefully go backwards down the steps (or walk down forwards if someone is holding his hand), and as soon as those little feet hit the pavement, the babbling returns (it's serious business getting down those steps, don't ya know? Gotta take all the focus, and therefore can't talk while going down the steps) and he's off and running to explore whatever he can. I usually hate summer, but this year I am really looking forward to it... to exploring the outdoors with my lil man and seeing the world through his eyes.
Xani is still very much at the "everything must be given a taste test" stage... hence why he must have decided that "Escargot" was on the menu for his lunch today, as I saw him with something obviously in his mouth, and when I got him to spit it out... out came two well slobbered on (and rather large) snails!! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!! Definitely a BOYS boy this one! *sighs*. He also heads for the nearest pile of dirt or nearest puddle, and is usually wet and filthy within a few minutes of being outside. He loves it though... and if I can get past the mess factor (hey, what are washing machines for anyways?), then I'll admit I rather enjoy it too as I LOVE watching him explore this world!
End of August we took the boys to the beach, and gave Xani his first chance to actually get down and run around on the sand, and as the weather is starting to warm up, in the water. Typical Xani absolutely loved this adventure, and while Gordy's shrieking about the water being cold, Xani was straight in, not even blinking at the temperature of the water. It didn't take long before he was covered in sand, soaking wet, and totally in heaven at being able to get grubby and explore without being held back.

Xani has started to become quite keen for cuddles lately too... with everyone! He comes up to me on a regular basis, wraps those sweet chubby lil arms round me, lays his head on me, and goes "ohhhhhh". The yesterday I was cuddling one of our cats, Tigs, and Xani came over and wrapped his arms round Tiggy to give him a hug. Luckily Tigs is a very patient cat, and tolerated this (although somewhat grudgingly from the look on the poor cat's face)... but it was just so cute seeing him give Tigs a cuddle, with the usual "ohhhhh". Next he sat there and played with Tigs' tail... nice and gently, instead of his usual trying to pull on it. So there is definitely progress with how he's interacting with the animals (although toy kitties still get dragged around by their tails! Thank goodness he hasn't tried that with the REAL kitties yet!).
Also, last night when I put him to bed, I had Albie the rat snuggled in my top and he popped his head out to have a nosey as I was tucking Xani in. Xani very gently reached up and carefully patted Albie goodnight. I love watching this boy of ours learning to treat animals kindly, explore, learn... the joy of childhood!! And I am totally loving being able to enjoy it this time... no depression getting in the way, leaving me numb so that I can't enjoy my child. I am definitely looking forward to the next few months/years ahead. :)

"...and because god loved that fingernail so very much..."

Yeah... sad to say our little Squig could be deformed for life!

He was playing around and got a finger caught in the highchair as it was being unfolded. You know how things go... they need to have a few painful accidents in life to teach them to watch out... and since it seems that to him crashing into things is, at worst a slight annoyance and at best a damn game, this was probably his first "big ouchie"... it tore up his left middle finger pretty badly, ripping off a decent chunk of skin down one side and clipping the fingernail.

Cries and wails for a few minutes while the pain and shock made themselves at home... and we cleaned the worst of the blood away and slapped bandaids on to staunch the bloodflow while it started to clot up, then right back to normal! Smiles only minutes later! Strange lad...

Problem is that in 'clipping the fingernail' it looks like it has possibly damaged the nail matrix too... which could mean nothing at all, and once this nail (which has clearly detached and died, and is only held on by a bit of skin and a few scabs currently) comes away, a new one will happily grow again... or it could mean a deformed cuticle and a lifetime of 'ugly fingernail' syndrome... or it could also possibly mean a lifetime of no fingernail there at all!

Only time will tell... but I am thinking a visit to the doc for a professional look and possibly treatment/removal/whatever.

In the meantime, he is his usual happy, cheeky, chirpy little self... now able to 'High-5' on request, will give cuddles (complete with "Ohhhhh" noises - so cute!), and is starting to understand that the noise a spoon makes in a freshly-emptied food container means "all gone all gone!"

To add to this list... he can now meow like a cat, moo like a cow and is starting to hiss like a snake on occassion... he's been blowing wet raspberries like a seal for over 6 months though so nothing new there. -lol-

He is also getting REALLY good at shoving his arms into sleeves, taking off his own pants and tops (with a little help on long-sleeved ones), and will (sometimes) put things back where he grabbed them from if he's in the mood to comply with a verbal "Put it back, Xani...". He's known what "Ta for Mummy/Daddy/Gordy", and "OUT! -image of someone pointing out the doorway-" means for the last few months, but I had forgotten to add those in earlier. Not too shabby for a 15mth old, eh.

Oh yeah, he's also discovered "Hide 'n' Seek" too... though he hasn't *quite* got the hang of hiding withOUT being seen doing it... a couple of favoured spots include; behind his bedroom door, and in my office behind a desk made of milk-crates, so he can see you coming after him. He giggles too much and loudly to remain hidden long, but it's one of the (oh-so-MANY) games he loves...

OK, enough from me... 'Nite, readers!

Strange habits

Our little man is most definitely a toddler now, and there are many times I regret that fact that he is so mobile, as I remove something YET AGAIN from those constantly reaching lil hands that get into places that USED to SAFE. But then there are so many more times when I LOVE the fact he can now walk, even run (kinda)... especially when he's grabbed something he knows he's not allowed, and as soon as he hears me coming, he takes off down the hallway, giggling like mad, me in hot pursuit also giggling like mad. How the HECK can you stay grumpy at that?
Xani has still not lost any of the joy he seems to find with everyday life... he is very rarely without that gorgeous grin on his face, and most of the time when it's not there, you can actually SEE him holding it back! Cheeky lil bugger! LOL!

He has a new strange habit too... he kneels down in front of the sliding door, rests his head against it, then starts rubbing his head up and down the door, which of course causes it to vibrate and bump against the door as his head kinda sticks in places. He looks so funny when he does this.. no giggles from him or anything, it seems to be quite a serious task for him. But he does it quite regularly... bumpity bumpity bumpity up, bumpity bumpity bumpity down, then back up again. I think he discovered this by accident one time when he was watching Gordy outside on his bike, when Xani went to rest his head on the sliding door that was then covered with some serious condensation, so of course his head slipped. Since then, he does it whether he's watching his brother outside or not. Weird but adorable lil man.

Not really anything else to add at this point.. he has his 15 month check up at the end of this month, so will be interesting to see how that goes. Will try and add more next week.

-insert hollywood scream here-

It was so funny the other day... the boys were playing and I heard massive giggles and thumps, and assorted other noises, from them. As I peek around the office door I saw Gordy crawling along the hallway with Xani chasing him. Nothing unusual there... but what had me dearly wishing I could record what I saw and save it to a disc or something was that Xani was chasing Gordy for a change, and he had his arms raised up like the old hollywood zombies and monsters, making his "Orange Lion Growl" noises.

It was so cute!

Slappy Smurfday, Squig...

Yup, today our little man hit the first annual milestone. May there be many more to come!

Doe, a deer?

The little ratbag's vocab is increasing steadily... "mama" and "dada" were sorted out a while back, and now he's showing understanding of the various situational uses of "up!" such as when he's in a carseat, on the floor or in his highchair it means he's about to be picked up.

Now he is showing signs he grasps "No"... or, as he puts it... "Doe".

Tonight saw T and I in fits of stifled "Awwww" giggles as he proceeded to wander around the house going to all the places he *knows* are out of bounds, and standing there going "Doe...doe...doe..." while we watched on trying hard not to giggle too hard, thus making it into a game in his mind.

The recycling shelf... "Doe... doe... doe..."
The bookcases... "Doe... doe..."
Daddy's bedside cubbies... "Doe... doe..."

Tomorrow he turns 1 year old! How tempus doth fugit right out the fenestra.

Works on cats, AND babies!

Tonight while Xani was crawling all over the place basically being a pain... I noticed an old laserpointer on the bookshelf nearby. So, just for a laugh (and to gauge his interest) I grabbed it and beamed a 'magic red bug' onto the floor in front of him. It took him a few seconds to process this new input, but sure enough a grin spread over his grubby mush, and he proceeded to crawl after it.

I kept it just in front of him as he travelled, much to his delight, until he approached our closed bedroom door. So, up the door I ran the 'bug' and sure enough, up onto his feet went he, fearlessly chasing down the glowing 'bug' as it crawled up out of reach.

He stood there, totally unaware of the fact he was unsupported, for a good 30 seconds, reaching around as I moved the pointer about him. Then, at T's suggestion, I used it to lure him into his bedroom for bum-changing and eventual bed. While T prepared, I kep him entertained by running the bug around him, and even letting it 'settle' in his outstretched hand for a bit... much to his giggle-filled enjoyment as he tried to grasp it and crush the life out of it's glowing little body. -lol-

All too soon, time for him to pass on into the land of slumber... but the 'bug' awaits another night's entertainment for all concerned. ;) An excellent baby remote control, we have.