The Joy of Discovery

There is lots of discovery happening over here. Jude is discovering that he is alot more 'in the action' now that he can sit upright on the couch. He is also learning about mmmm hands. Very interesting. They seem attached to me, I can move them and look at them and even eat them. Nice.

Callum is busy discovering, well, just about everything else. The new echo in our house seems to be, "What is it Mama/Papa?" The other day he was wondering "What is it?" about his wrists and we realized he was asking about his veins. We just said, "Blood." I mean, what do you say to that?

If it isn't 'What is it?' it's "Who is it?". Everytime we see people walking by, he asks this. Especially if they are pushing a stroller, he assumes it is a friend. Then he says, "I don't know them." Cal is also discovering the joy of nonsense words. In retrospect, this seems inevitable from our Irish-blooded gift of the gab little man. He has now assigned each of us a silly name. Mama is Mam-ba, Papa is Pop-da, Callum is Cal-dom, Jude is Baby Doob'd, and the cat Nush is Nush-tee.

Mama and Papa are also enjoying some new discoveries. A favorite is that Jude is ticklish on his neck and will let our a great little laugh if you kiss him there, that is if you can find his neck beneath the layers of chin.

And, along with the joys are a few less than pleasent discoveries including the fact that yes, folks...the twos are for real. The push and pull of wanting independence and needing Mom and Dad is certainly cause for a good deal of emotional uncertainty.

For example: "Don't hold my hand" is said while going down the stairs but is followed by a hand reaching for a helping hand. This instinct is swiftly nipped in the bud by balling said hand into a fist to avoid inadvertantly receiving/accepting help down the stairs. All of which makes getting down the stairs "BY SELF" all that bit more shaky and unsteady prompting a desire for help. Sigh. We are trying to weather this storm with lots of strong coffee and a sense of humor.

The cat has also made some discoveries. She discovered that the only way to get any love is to sit on the newspaper during the one moment of the day that everything is done and the adults can sit quietly while their drink is still hot and attempt to do a little something for themselves. Thanks Nush.