Feeling better

Tam's fever is down to nearly normal...

But he developed a rash that looks very similar to a heat rash. So, Tam is sporting the mottled-splotchy look. Called the doctor about it and he said it was just result of the virus.

He's feeling better since he's up and running around again. We even went outside for a bit a played with side-walk chalk. Tam's still not too good at scribbling, but he thought getting it all over himself was swell :-)

Pretend play

I just started noticing that Tam's beginning to attempt "pretend" play. He not only moves his trucks back in forth in front of him, but pushes them across the carpet and across me or Brian. Yes...he is still totally enamored with trucks and cars.

He is also fascinated by our cat. Magellan tolerates Tam pretty well. He even lets him pet him if he gets cornered. And we have never had an issue with the cat swatting/hissing/biting our little dude. Most times if the cat is annoyed, he runs away 'cause he is still a bit quicker and more agile than Tam.

The other night, Tam was eating Cheerios with a spoon as post-dinner snack. Since it was just Cheerios, he was eating them from a bowl in my hands while we sat in the family room. "Mmmm" was Tam's cry of delight. Then, like the second act in a play, THE CAT entered the room. "Ca" cried Tam. (He hasn't mastered the end of the word yet). His voice also gets very high in pitch when he is excited by seeing the cat. Our cat ignores the kid and proceeds to lay on the couch with Brian.

Tam promptly runs over to the cat to pet him "gently." Then, to our surprise, Tam runs back to the bowl of cheerios and runs back to the cat with the spoon. Back and forth he runs, from bowl to cat...He was trying to feed the kitty :-) "Mmmm" he would cry with giggles. Brian and I couldn't help but praise Tam for being so nice and praise our cat for being so tolerant. Ahh...so cute. I can't wait until Tam's a bit older and I can make him a pretend kitchen/food so he can pretend to cook and feed us too.

Painting a birthday gift

Tam isn't too interested in art yet. He only makes a few scribbles with the crayons before he tries to eat them. So, to broaden his horizons, I let him have a go at finger painting again. This is just a bit of food coloring in foam soap, so it is really easy to clean off of him.

Beautiful.

I, of course, will treasure this abstract artwork forever :-)

Wordless Wednesday - Father and Son

Playing basketball at a local park...

Master of Smizing...Smiling with the eyes.

Still trying to keep cool...III

Tam's growing so fast...where is the summertime going? I can't believe that it is already mid-July! The school year is just around the corner and Tam is almost 8 months old. It is so hard to motivate myself to start thinking about the upcoming semester...especially when Tam is being so fun and/or cute.

It was warm again yesterday, but not hot enough to go in the pool. I tried a "parent hack" and filled Tam's high-chair tray with cool water. I stripped him down to diaper and shirt, then let him have at it. He would smack the water and then be shocked that he splashed himself :-)

Lots of giggles and laughter, and my floor got a little cleaner too.

Tam's first outing to a playground - 7months old!

It's warm; the sun is shining; and we are looking for a new adventure for Tam... So off we go to a nearby playground!

The park is right next to my school, but still about 1.5miles from the house, a little too far to walk there and back again. It is a nice, small park with lots of grass and a great little playground. After kiddos afternoon nap and bottle, we all grabbed our hats and headed out the door into the sunshine.

The play equipment had several pieces of various sizes, plus swings. We let Tam try just about everything with our help. He has finally mastered sitting up with out support and so really enjoyed just sitting and watching the other kids around him. There were about 5-6 other children all around the ages of 1-6 playing too. One of the 3 year olds was really friendly and often came over to try to talk to us and to Tam. Tam, of course, just squealed and grinned, but who knows, that might mean "Howdy, Partner!" in baby-talk. There was also a puppy on a leash, which captured Tam's attention too. Nice doggie :-)

We would let Tam sit on one of the levels with one of us, and then the other would go higher or lower to give him different perspectives on the world. Giggles all around.

We let him try the really short slide on his back and he wasn't too sure about that. Not really a frown, but definitely a "I'm confused" look on his face. We then took him down the larger slide sitting up with one of us and he liked that better!

Then, we tried the swings. They had a baby reclined swing and the bucket swings with lashes to hold him in. He again wasn't too sure if he liked it or not... He did like going forward and having the wind in his hair but didn't like going backward as much.

There was also a merry-go-round that I was excited to try with Tam. Unfortunately, it was off its axis due to too many wood chips piled under it. I guess that means it was a merry-go-stop.

We also saw that they had little kiddo cages! These were two "pods" connected by an enclosed plank. The pods really did look like little cages :-) It was the perfect size for Tam to sit and stand in to look out at the world at our eye level. He really liked this spot!

All and all, it was a great little outing for us and we had some quality family time together. I know that goober won't remember this stuff yet, but I also know that we're grateful for starting to make these awesome memories together already.