Baby Man

In the last week or so, I've been amazed at how much Thomas is growing up. He just hit his 9-month "birthday", and he goes to the doctor later this week for a checkup and for shots (and I'll be sure to post his height and weight afterward, which I'm sure will be impressive!).

Thomas is now eating finger foods -- Cheerios, graham crackers, pieces of cooked carrots, and whatever crumbs or debris look edible on the floor. He used to just play with any little paper bits or lint that he found while scooting around on the floor, but now it goes straight into his mouth. Ack! He has also started up with some high chair antics (much to the amusement of Jack), like blowing raspberries with food in his mouth, and yelling or growling when he doesn't think you're shoveling in the food fast enough. As his Aunt Wheetah noted yesterday, he's very good about not wasting any food by dropping it onto the floor. :).

Thomas is also surprisingly good at playing with a toy where you send plastic balls down a spiral ramp and they roll out of holes at the bottom. I think the toy is really designed for babies that can stand up (which Thomas is in no way close to doing!), but if you sit Thomas next to it, he'll take a ball as it comes out of the chute, reach up as high as he possibly can, and then put the ball back into the spiral ramp. I just didn't think he had good enough hand-eye coordination, or that he'd even understand that's how the toy worked, so it really surprised me when I saw him doing that over and over again (and really enjoying it!).

Now, the next thing I've seen Thomas do might just be my own imagination. BUT -- I've seen him do it several times, so there might be something to it. Thomas makes lots of noises now -- he babbles and blows raspberries and all of that. But I could swear that I've heard him make a baby version of a car "voooom!" sound, mostly when he plays with Jack's toy cars. The clincher is that he actually kind of moves the cars back and forth a little while he's making the "voooom!" sound, so I kind of suspect that it's the real deal. Jack certainly makes enough car noises around him, so it's definitely possible that Thomas picked it up from him.

Anyway, I guess it's just hard for me to believe that Thomas is doing all these things because in my mind it just doesn't seem possible that he can be growing up this fast! In reality, he'll be 1 year old in less than 3 months, so he's quickly going from "Baby Man" to "Little Man".