T-Bone Update

There are a few T-Bone things (stories, etc) that I need to write down before I lose them, so please be patient with me... and feel free to read, if you'd like.

1. He now recognizes, associates, and knows the sounds for A, B, C, D, E, F, J, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, and Z.

2. He can do all of the actions for Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wise Man/Foolish Man, Popcorn Popping, and Book of Mormon Stories.

3. He is proficient at going up AND down the stairs.  He also prefers running to walking, but has a funny Frankenstein run that trips him up.

4. He loves the words pumpkin and Halloween.

5. Speaking of Halloween, my mom, sister, and I took him to a little spook alley this weekend. While there we met a little cat that belonged to the nursery putting on the spook alley.  He LOVED that freakin' cat.  He was more interested in following it around and petting it than in anything else. While there we also encountered a life-size, singing, dancing Elvis skeleton.  It is pretty safe to say that he is obsessed.  It's been almost a week and he still keeps signing to me about the dancing skeleton.  He also keeps signing about the scary witches.

6. On the subject of signs, he now knows at least 35 signs (that I can think of off the top of my head).

7. After attending the spook alley on Saturday we took him out to dinner with us.  While waiting for our table a man walked into the restaurant.  He was probably in his 50's, about 6'2" or 6'3", and solidly built.  He was wearing cowboy boots, wranglers, a HUGE belt buckle, a western-style shirt, and a cowboy hat.  T-Bone took one look at him and immediately started making his horse noises. Luckily for us, the man was as amused as we were.  That could have been embarrassing.

8. I bought him a giraffe costume to wear for Halloween. He hates it.  Every time I get it out he starts to whine and says, "Nananananana, Fffff." (Translation: No, no, no, no, no, no, giraffe)  Needless to say, we've moved to plan B.  He's going to be a pumpkin for Halloween, because he loves them.

9. He LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins. He calls Mickey Mouse "Mow", but he won't say it out loud, he whispers it.  Little Einsteins is "ship", and he keeps telling me about the "Mmmmmbop" (translation: Robot) that we saw on the show last week.

10. He is in the midst of his first ever ear infection.  Poor little bubby.

And that is enough for now. :)

Fall

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

~L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

I love autumn-time. It is, far and away, my favorite season.  However, this subtle slide from the lazy days of summer into the cool crispness of fall always make me somewhat wistful.
Something happens when we reach this spot on the calendar. Maybe it has something to do with switching out my shorts, tshirts, and summer scarves for boots, sweaters, and jeans.  Maybe it's the anticipation of the holidays (really, who doesn't love Halloween and Thanksgiving?). Maybe it's football season. Maybe it's the food: the Honeycrisp apples, the pumpkin everything, cider, pie, and comfort food.  Maybe the changing color of the leaves simply releases magic into the air.

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”

~George Eliot 

I think it has something to do with autumn being a time of harvest: the reaping of what has been sown, the enjoyment of the, literal, fruits of one's labors. Where spring is the time of planting, rebirth, and growth; fall is it's simpler, more relaxed cousin. 

And so, I will embrace this change of season. I will put on my sweater, pull on my boots, and march down the sidewalk through the red and golden leaves.  I will throw open my windows and drink deeply of the richness of autumn.