my active little monster

I don't want to rush him into growing up. That is happening plenty fast enough. But I can't seem to resist trying activities for which he's either a) not old enough, or b) just too hyperactive.

I really hope it's (a).

I bought sturdy, shiny posterboard and a set of Melissa and Doug crayons (I highly recommend these!). This activity is, somewhat, a success. He LOVES sitting on the posterboard. He likes making lines on it with the crayons. The problem comes after about 2 minutes when he absolutely needs to carry the crayon elsewhere or the world is going to come to an END.

And I take the crayon away and the world ends.

The other activity that I so long for is reading a book together. This isn't quite what I thought it would be. I always pictured my toddler and me sitting together with an open book. He'd help me turn the pages and enjoy looking at the pictures and listening to the words and touching the book.

This is not how it is.

He won't stay on a page long enough for me to read more than two words. He yanks the pages by, gets frustrated if he can't get the next page in his fingers, and tosses the book down before we're halfway through. Every now and then it will be HIS idea to read (he'll carry the book to me) and we will make it to the end of the book, but it isn't relaxing and there isn't any actual reading taking place, just rapid page turning before he runs off to see what else there is to attack do.

"Active" doesn't begin to describe his personality. It's no wonder he sleeps so much in between his sessions of world domination.

stitch

Churching with a nine-month-old is vastly different from churching with a four-month-old who dozed placidly in his car seat.

This older baby is a curious, crawling, climbing, determined, unstoppable godzilla. Actually, he reminds me of one of my favorite animated characters of all time, Stitch from Lilo and Stitch.

By the end of the church service, all I could say to Andy was, "We survived." Of course, I think the only part of the sermon I really heard was that if Jesus was on Facebook, The Bible would be his profile page. Ah, Mark Zuckerberg, your invention has so many applications.

I have to agree that this stage of babyhood is a riot. When he's awake, he goes NON-STOP, a little machine going up and down, over and under, over and over again. His latest skill is standing without support. He always looks a little surprised when he gets this far, and I'm never quite sure if he's thinking, "How do I walk now?" or "How do I sit without smashing my face?"

But I'm keeping my eyes peeled for those first steps.