Tales of *tiny* Ty

As of Thursday Ty is fifteen months old, and what an eventful two days it's been since that threshold was crossed :) For real, it's like stuff happened overnight. Over two nights, I guess. Or maybe I'll give him the entire week for good measure since I can't swear to remembering exactly.

I'm talking about talking, mostly. A couple of days ago, he started repeating the word "up" and would even say it upon request occasionally. I decided that he did it too consistently and too clearly for it to be a fluke (you know babies do that, "say" something that sounds like something else to which others are quick to assign actual meaning). For instance, he's been babbling "mama" and "dada" for months, but most of it doesn't count. But yesterday, while putting dry pasta into the muffin tin and listing to nursery rhyme songs, he said "UP!" after hearing the line, "Jack and Jill went up the hill." Twice.

His B words are also coming along nicely. Granted, they all sound mostly the same, but as his mother, naturally I can discern what he means (false...I can pretend). He does say "baby" pretty well, though. It sounds more like "bay" in a high pitched voice, but he can identify babies on things like diaper packaging so I think it's legit. Some of his other B words that we think he's trying to get out are: bike, ball, book, bear, and bus. I don't know why so many of the words we say to him start with B. Is that just us?

Another really adorable new thing is his gorilla imitation. There's a picture of a gorilla in his animal book and the other day I showed him what gorillas do. So now when we ask him what the gorilla says or show him the picture (which he now goes flipping through the book to find), he beats his chest and says "AAAHHHH!" It's too much. It's actually the same sound he makes when he runs (I use the term loosely). Even if I'm not the one outside with him, I can tell when he's running because he does his own war cry. It's hilarious.

Another fun new favorite is the way he responds when he hears "Ring Around the Rosie." He picks that rhyme out of his book and I sing it to him, smacking the floor on "all fall DOWN!" and he loves it to the point of beating on the ground himself. He heard the song come on yesterday (also during pasta-in-the-muffin-tin time) for the first time and as soon as the lyrics started he whirled around to identify the source. Then he danced a little. So, so cute :)

He will very consistently sign the words for please and thank you—sometimes unprompted—, he loves throwing dirty tissues in the trash can (I know that's gross, but he really enjoys it...I can't resist how happy it makes him :) ), he  is fond of taking me by the finger and leading me to wherever or whatever he wants and he absolutely hates being left in nursery at church. That's pretty much him in a nutshell. He has had me laughing and smiling an awful lot this week, and all his attempts at new words are exciting and long-anticipated :)

Did he really used to look like this? And be like this? So still and...still.

Now he prefers doing things like "going round and round," as pictured below (I know it's impossible to tell, but he is in fact spinning in a circle, with a rock in each hand).

And this I just think is really cute of him. It's not recent. Our Easter picture, actually.

Tales of *tiny* Ty: Ty {almost} Unscripted

Let's be real. This site is more of my journal and life documentation than an actual, beneficial-to-the-general-public blog. For example, I could not for the life of me remember when I had to ditch my weddings rings when I was pregnant with Ty, so I just went back and read some old Wednesday Storks, the series where I documented his pregnancy. I'm guessing no one else has needed to reference those posts since the time they were written, but they have helped me remember what happened when.

I also shamelessly admit that I will frequently look at the pictures from the early days of Tales of *tiny* Ty. I'm always struck by just how cute he was (I know). It's like I forgot what he looked like. Probably because I did. I want to be able to look back a year from now and say, "oh, right. He used to do that," or "that's what he looked like! I remember now..."

It is in that spirit (and the fact that I needed a photography project :) ) that I am leaving myself this documentary of a small piece of one of his days. I know they won't look like this forever. On the contrary, they might not even look like this in a month! Not all of these require captions, but I have added them where further explanation is helpful :)

The dry winter air of Pretoria has been wreaking havoc on Ty's skin. Here I'm applying some coconut oil to his sad, sad scalp. It makes for an oily head but I don't think he's trying to win any fashion shows.

And this is his morning lotion treatment :) 

Often his first choice out of the toy basket, his "Scooby" truck. One day he'll see a cartoon with a dog named Scooby Doo and think they based a television series on his favorite truck toy :) 

This was a first...

Reading The Little Blue Truck

And that's a nap ;)