Time constraints being what they are, it has proved very difficult for me to maintain a consistent blogging schedule. While some rejoice at this prospect, others are a mite miffed at not getting their recommended daily allowance of Ty Goodness™. My apologies all around.
The most important thing to know off the bat is that everybody is doing well. Both my parents continue their steady improvement and have felt strong enough on several occasions to take Jonah out for a walk. Yesterday, they took him to see some farm animals. (How did the barn smell? “Yuchy!” said Jonah, though that didn’t stop him from wanting to explore around.)
Our health here at Davison HQ is also back to normal, which is to say that we’re physically fine and mentally unbalanced. The horrid stomach flu which gripped us by the lapels and shook us like rag dolls has happily slunk off in search of other prey. I don’t remember ever being that sick, and let’s face it I don’t even want to remember that I was that sick. You have my sympathy and compassion should this year’s stomach flu come a-callin’.
Jonah’s rapidly approaching birthday number three, and we look back with amazement at the year that was. I can’t believe I was witness to the changes that the boy has undergone in 12 short months. The physical changes are obvious enough: He’s taller, stronger, faster, and so forth. Mentally he continues to pick up little factoids that you’re sure he missed, and occasionally he bursts forth with something that you have no clue how he picked up. He speaks English in sentences, mangling tenses and pronouns every now and again. (Who among we haven’t done that?) Though he only speaks French in words and small phrases his comprehension is well beyond mine. Erin is frequently able to tell Jonah something in my presence that he understands while I can only manage a dumbfounded look—not a difficult achievement, as many of you know.
He’s a very good big brother, and despite occasional tantrums—for what two year-old doesn’t have tantrums occasionally (indeed, what adult doesn’t?)—he’s a pretty nice and sweet kid on the whole. I’m a biased observer, sure, but I’m also very proud of him.
I am similarly thrilled with Elisha and her progress. Her bottom two front teeth came in months ago, and while week-after-week we anticipated other dental arrivals, for longest time the only permanent occupants of her mouth seemed to be those two teeth, her tongue, and her thumb. Happily, that changed within the last week or so, and some of her top front teeth began poking through. Finally, her dietary universe will begin to expand again. (Though having said that, she’s likely to continue on breast milk in one form or another through her first birthday.)
In most other respects, she is developing faster than Jonah. She’s been verbalizing for a while now, though other than “Mama” meaning something akin to “I want” or “gimmee” a lot of it is just cute, colorful audio noise. Still, girls typically get their verbal game together a couple months earlier than boys, so I wouldn’t be surprised to have her scoring at least 2 on the Public Speaking CIM test before the year is out.
Physically, the girl is a monster. She climbed the stairs by herself yesterday and again this morning. She can pull herself up to standing, and stand by herself without holding on to anything if she chooses. While she usually prefers to hold onto someone or something with one hand, I anticipate that she’ll take her first solo steps within the next day or two. She’s been cruising for awhile now, so it’s only a question of time. Seeing Jonah walk, run, and jump has totally fueled her fire, and she is seriously rarin’ to catch up with him. One never knows how these things will turn out, of course, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she were an amazing athlete.
But that’s for another day. For right now she’s a cute, cuddly, growing bundle of love, and I know it’s her Papa saying this, but I’d swear if you look closely you can see a halo around her head.
Which returns us nicely to the topic of stomach flu.