News And Notes

What’s new in Peterland? Well, he’s been striving to live a more vertical lifestyle these days. Oh sure, he crawls faster than Speedy Gonzalez after drinking a lot of espresso, but young Peter is not satisfied with a quadrupedal existence. So whenever he can find something he can use to climb into an upright position (furniture, boxes, an adult’s leg), he’ll get his way and find himself upright. Unfortunately, he also likes to show what a casual guy he is and he’ll use just one hand to support himself, at which point his parents freak out.

 

He’s also making different sounds now. He’s almost verbal – we think when he says “nanananananananana” he’s making his way to saying “no.” He usually says that when we do something he doesn’t want to do, but he’s not pushed o the point of crying. For example, when we get him dressed he gets annoyed when we put shirts on him. In the past he’d holler and whine, but now he’ll start off with a round or “nananananana” before he’d cry out. And even the crying like that is becoming less frequent (unless he’s tired, of course).

 

He’s also developed quite a eardrum-piercing shriek when he gets really excited, the kind that makes you temporarily deaf after he unleashes its fury on you. He’d make a great car alarm, that’s for sure.

 

Peter has an appointment tomorrow morning for his 9 month check up. We’ll be able to find out if he actually weighs a ton, or if it just feels like it. He is at an age where the rate of growth is supposed to slow down, but it doesn’t really seem like it has slowed much. We’ve had him play with kids that were 6-12 months older than him, and he’s barely shorter than them. Once he even grabbed one of those other bigger kids by the ankles and swung him around in a circle a couple times and called him “Pee Wee” after setting him down. I’m telling you, Peter’s a bid kid now.

 

Let’s see… anything else? Um, he has a new, more mature laugh now, but that’s something that needs to be heard. I can’t really write a description of it. Sorry.

 

Oh yeah, Peter’s politics. So, a couple months ago at the dinner table, Peter blurts out “Obama.” So we tell people Peter said Obama, and everyone has a good chuckle. Now that it’s presidential primary season those seeking the highest office in the land appear on TV rather frequently. When the junior senator from the state of Illinois is speaking on TV, Peter watches attentively and maintains the quiet needed so all can hear what is being said. When that other candidate appears and speaks, Peter becomes restless and whiny. When McCain is on Peter takes a nap. When Huckabee is on Peter looks confused. Now, the Wisconsin primary is a week away and I’m sure Peter looks forward to it, but he, of course, can not vote. However, I don’t think I’ll tell him that. Why? Because he doesn’t like not getting what he wants. And I ain’t gonna be the one to tell him no this time.