A Collection of Truman Stories - Part One

 

(Top picture dedicated to Corey, who I thought would like it better than your typical sweet, smiley shot.)

Well folks... Jack and Aly had their turns.  Time for the Truman update of the century.  I really am kicking myself for not keeping better track of his milestones.  I guess I'll just kind of tell you where he is right now, and share a little about how he got there??? Sorry I'm so lame!

Jack has a Whitehead Body.  Alaster has a Burton Body.  Truman has a:

Johnston Body!  It's true!  It's his torso and legs.  They remind he so much of my Uncles and of pictures I've seen of PaPa when he was in the military.  I wish, Gram and PaPa, that you could see him live!  Maybe you could tell me what else it is he gets from that side, because I know it's there!

A Story Only Whitney and I Will Care About (I called her after it happened.  It's so lovely to have a Whitney in your life!):

I was feeding him his nighttime bottle and for some reason it just wasn't working well. He would try but his mouth was just doing this weird biting thing that I had never seen before... and he was all wiggly in my arms... it was just weird.  BUT he powered through, got in his normal rhythm and the rest of the bottle went down no problem.  After it was over and I pulled the bottle out... he looked up at me... and spit out a cooked carrot that had been sitting in there the whole time!  I had myself a good chuckle over that one, and then again when I told Whit!

How He Kisses:

Mouth as Wide Open as Possible.  It gets yucky and wet if there's any lingering!  We try for short and repeated pecks.  For a long time he only kissed mom.  Then one day he wouldn't even kiss me! It lasted for a few months until one blessed day... I was sitting in the living room with a friend and he gave one to me!  Since then he gives them pretty much whenever we (Meaning Mommy, Daddy, and occasionally Jack and Aly) ask for them.  He's so sweet!  Not quite as lavish as Aly was (who gave them even when we didn't ask) but much, much less stingy than Jack :).

Ways He is Different from Jack and Aly:

He's a picky eater. (Grrrrrrrrr!)

He's a light sleeper. (Ever notice there are no pictures of him sleeping on the blog?... J and A have slept through fire alarms.)

He only recently started becoming interested in reading books... and even then it's mostly just to flip the pages. (J and A loved them from birth)

He's not so good (and by "not so good," I mean he's "the absolute worst ever,") at being left for babysitting. (J and A didn't struggle with that!)

He doesn't like to hold my hand. (sob!)

He's never slobbered.  EVER.  Even when he's teething! (One of his best qualities for sure!)

Can He Talk?

Nope!  Not one word!  I'm not worried.  Aly was the same way and look at him now!  The only time I can recall that he even tried to say anything was once when I was hoping for a "MaMaMa."  I "MaMaMa,"ed at him and he looked so intently and so sweetly at me.  When I asked for him to try he said (in the sweetest, softest voice you can imagine) "A RaRaRa."  And that was that.  I sometimes think he says "DaDa," on purpose but I never can be sure.

Why He Threw His First Ever Fit (and really the biggest reason he still throws them):

I made him come inside!  Truman loves to walk about outside. He does not enjoy being told where to walk or how to walk, and he does NOT like the fun to end.  It's a major scene usually.  Poor kid!  I try to air him out daily but it's never quite enough.

Probably Just Trying to Fit In:

Truman is a major sympathetic cougher and fake laugher.  He will cough to make you feel better when you cough and laugh at all your funny jokes even though he doesn't understand!  What a sweet boy!

Something I Thought You'd Like To See:

 Oh now come on!  So sweet!

I am trying so hard to get the perfect picture of his side wispies. They are my favorite part of his floofy head!

A New Challenge:

He can climb!  You should see the ridiculous ways we have had to close off certain areas of our house.  He's actually always been good at it.  One day my testimony of angels grew when Jack found him on the tenth stair of our staircase.  How did he not die?!?!?!  Angels, of course.  Anyway... it's been a struggle, but he is now officially trained on stairs.  It was pretty darn fun to teach him too!  I never got the chance to do that with J and A.  No stairs!  But teaching him how to go down on his tummy was one of the funnest things ever! And he's really good at it now so all our barriers have been removed. (Don't ask Corey about it though.  He's still worried!)

Other Favorite Activities (besides walking outside):

Any kind of "Get-You," game or silly play with his family

Pulling things out of the dishwasher

Closing doors

Hitting my Face

Dancing (Such a darling wiggle! And he has a special arm-only dance too!  It usually turns into clapping.)

Making noise... banging items together... banging things on the floor... banging the toilet seat down repeatedly... you know...

Touching buttons

Putting things in the potty when no one is looking

 Building towers

Throwing balls and chasing them

Throwing laundry around (I'm pretty sure he likes it more when it's folded)

Commands He Responds Too:

Bite

Dance

Share (we're workin' on it)

Hit (Thank you Jack and Alaster)

Soft (again... workin' on it)

Wiggle

Can I have a Kiss?

Again (especially if it's a kiss!)

Can I have a Hug?

Close it

Put it IN

Throw it DOWN (he's so obedient with this one it's hilarious!  Even if it's something he's really enjoying, he does it quickly and forcefully every time!)

Spit it out (So glad he responds to that!  He's put some pretty crazy things in his trapper-keeper!)

Ohhhh! So Sweet! (That means squish your face on my face! and it's only for me!)

Come Here

Let's go! or Shoes! or Walk! (he sits down immediately to get his shoes and socks put on)

Yay! (he claps)

Jump baby! (He tries so hard!  His eyebrows sure go up!)

No, No. (He stops most of the time... or at least looks up and thinks about it.)

Sit down

Stand up

High Five (Jack is his favorite to give them to)

Where's your nose? (Ah! My Favorite! He only does this on rare occasions but it's pretty much the cutest!  And how we got to this point is a story in and of itself.)

Gonna get you! (He squeals and runs!)

Bye Bye! (waives at night)

A Command He Doesn't Respond To:

Blow Kisses! (I have often wondered how the rest of us look -- all 4 of us-- as we blow and blow and blow kisses to this darling baby boy who just stares at us like "what in the heck is wrong with you people?!?")  One day it will work.  He will reciprocate and it will all have been worth it.

 

More Stories Tomorrow.  I gotta hit the hay!

More on the baby head tomorrow!