Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Teddy-isms

Lots of things have surprised me about becoming a mama, but one of the biggest has been how quickly my son's personality as emerged.  We had a couple of scares during this pregnancy, but I suppose the upside of that was we spent a lot of time getting monitored.  TJ and I got to to sit and just watch him on a big screen for hours at a time.  Granted it was under very stressful circumstances each time, but we still got a unique look at his personality before he was even born.  For example, whenever I was having contractions he would stretch his arms out to give himself as much room as possible.  He would drape his arm over his eyes and then refuse to shift.  Our perinatologist (high risk doc - it's good if you don't know who they are) we were referred to actually commented that she'd never seen such a stubborn baby and then in the same breath said, "Has Mie Mie talked to you about the size of his head yet?  If he keeps up at this same rate I doubt seriously that you'll be able to have him naturally.  Don't worry, his brain activity looks great.  It's most likely hereditary [long look at TJ and then she smiles]." Poor T. Bear - he does have a large noggin.

Top 10 Funny Little Teddy-Isms

10.  When All Else Fails - Go Outside.  He loves it!  I sit with him on a blanket in the front yard most days from 4:00 - 6:00ish.  There are some days he's just in a bad mood and cranky and all we have to do is walk outside and he's an instant happy camper.  It's awesome.  I have no idea what I'll do on inclement weather days, but for right now this is what our afternoons look like. (Moose is starting to take liberties from my diverted attention.)


9.  He loves the water.  As much as both TJ and I are obsessed with water (ocean, lake, pool, bath - it doesn't matter) and being outside, I'm really glad that so far he seems to like everything to do with water.  I'm sure all kids like bath time and I'm reading too much into this - but hey, at least I'm looking on the bright side, right?

8.  Man farts.  I can't say that T. Bear has cute little toots.  He doesn't.  He has full grown man farts.  So much so that in his first week home I actually yelled at TJ for farting in front of my mother and he swore up and down that it was Teddy.  I didn't believe him until it happened to me and I couldn't stop laughing.  It's insanely embarrassing. 

7. He's talkative.  He's coo-ed from the day we brought him home and it cracks me up.  When you give him a pacifier after he's been crying he still coos with it in his mouth with his angry face.  I like to imagine he's telling me off.  My poor mom learned this hard way on our visit over Easter.  She insisted on sleeping in the office next to his crib and I tried to warn her that he'll talk all night...she "woke up" the next morning a half zombie and said she didn't believe me.  She slept in her room the next night.

6.  If he's awake and you're holding him, he wants to look out.  He will not snuggle next to you unless he's asleep.  It's really funny but he's just like his dad...afraid he's going to miss the action.  See exhibits A - C.  Almost all pictures of someone holding him look like this.




5.  He loves to stretch.  After he's done eating and right when you unswaddle him - his eyes close, he arches his back, hands go straight above his head, and he locks his legs for a few seconds.  It's really dang cute and he's done this since day one.

TJ got a video of it a few days ago.  It's normally much more exaggerated than this, but its nearly impossible to catch it on video because we're either laughing or half asleep. Enjoy.


4.  Our Little Snort Snort.  We have several nicknames for him.  So many in fact, I'm pretty sure he's never going to actually learn his name.  From day one he has snorted when he's really mad.  Don't judge us for videoing him crying to document this snorting.  We're 3.5 months in and he still snorts when he cries and we wanted it on tape.  Here's another video.


3.  The Arm Drape.  Whenever he's annoyed/bored/sleepy his arm goes right over his eyes.  He's done this from the beginning as well.




2.  He gets annoyed.  Sometimes he sleeps wonderfully and sometimes he never gets into that good deep sleep.  When  he wakes up too quickly he huffs really loudly, kicks his feet straight into the air, and then does this series of strange noises best described as, "Kischtch. Ceght.  Kischtch.".  We don't have this on video because you can't predict when it happens, and when it does it sends shivers down your spine.  It means forget whatever you are doing because a soul splitting scream is right around the corner.   In our sleep deprived delirium TJ and I have started making this sound at each other when we are annoyed.

1.  Funny faces.  I joke all the time that he's going to be the only two year old with worry lines.  I swear sometimes he just looks at me disapprovingly, but he makes lots of funny faces that I could seriously stare at all day when he gets on a roll.  My favorite by far is his smile.  It truly melts my heart.  It instantly makes me forgive the sleepless nights when I promise you he's taunting me, the loneliness of being without adult contact all day, the lack of freedom, and pajamas that I haven't had a chance to change out of when he looks up into my eyes and gives me the biggest lopsided grin he can manage.  Okay Teddy.  I give up.  Motherhood is the hardest thing I've ever gone through, but that little grin is worth it.


Some of my favorite faces:

Worried Face


Learning to Smile (TJ smiles sideways too)


Kissy Face (he outgrew this one but it was awesome)

  Full Smile
 Yawn


Humoring Me




3 comments:

  1. test comment without signup

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  2. Hey Teddy,

    I'm going to be at Flora's party in a little over a week. Can we schedule a time to hang out? I'd love to hold you and visit for a bit. Just let me know what your schedule looks like.

    - Carlye Bindel (a.k.a. George's sister)

    P.S. I don't mind if you toot while I'm holding you.

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