Just in case there was a doubt....

this is indeed... a little MAN. Thare are many reasons. He enjoys the fact that he is flatulent. Often. He enjoys destroying things including anything paper within the length of his arms (plus three feet, his reach is amazing). He likes to spit. Banging is a personal hobby. He also likes to spit in piles on the floor. He likes boobs more than any man I've ever met. Did I mention he likes to spit? He also likes to play in it. Tonight, he acquired a new skill. He can pee standing up. He enjoys it. A lot.

Tonight during his bathtime, he stood up and peed. While peeing he looked down and got the biggest smile on his face. Then he looked at me and laughed. Does this mean he'll be easy to potty train? We can only hope.

Oh yeah.. he's sporting his Angry New Yorker face in this picture. The child is a genius and has taken to making all kinds of faces for the camera.

the photographs

The attack of the stairs (I will NOT show you the havoc wreaked to my bum!):



The attack of the TV cabinet:

i've had some fights...

with the stairs, with the TV cabinet... and now the baby wants to play too!

So I was taking a dirty stiiiiinky diaper out to the trash. No big deal.. except that the stairs are marble, and being as were in the desert, coated with a fine layer of dust. So, wearing flip flops is a big no-no. I was stepping off of the landing onto a new flight of stairs when I lost my footing. The diaper rolled down the stairs (luckily not exploding) and I tried to follow. I grabbed the railing with my right hand and braced with my left, while my bum smacked hard into one then two then three separate stairs. After sitting there catching my breath, I stood up, walked the rest of the way down and tossed the diaper. I then took the elevator up, and proceded to the bathroom to throw up. The husband thought it was all the diaper.. (How he managed to NOT hear my tumble is beyond me.) Initially my right hand hurt worse.. after the shock wore off I had a sharp pain in my left arm, and the right one felt fine. I also couldn't sit on anything hard. So.. we sat up until 9am, (we sleep days since daddy is on night shift.. kept us from changing the baby's schedule) then went to the doctor. They scheduled an appointment for 2:00. So we took the baby home, put him back to bed. Then we stayed up until I left. I got to the doctors, they said I sprained my wrist. Thank goodness nothing is broken.

I walked home in the hottest part of the day.. yay. That was a fun experience.. 107 with a heat index of hell. Seriously. On base they used to have signs saying the heat index. they gave up. i've never seen one with an actual number... they all just say "heat index."

I got home and daddy and the baby were asleep. Good. The baby was fighting sleep the entire time, and Daddy needed it because he actually has to work. So to try to keep both the boys sleeping, I walked into the bedroom without turning on the light. As I walked around to my side of the bed, I walked into the tv cabinet. If that didn't wake the husband up, then the cursing and door slamming that immediately followed did.

I am now banned from the stairs, and all sharp objects. He doesn't want to spend any more time in medical. Oh, and yes. the baby likes the new additions. He likes to pull and tug on my splint tags, roll and sit on my arm (which he probably always did I just notice it now). His favorite thing to do, however, is poke at the new purple spot on my leg. The best was his fake sad face when I asked him to stop. Apparently its fun to watch mommy's face when he pushes the big purple button on her leg.

Okay.. so the internet connection is slow.. i have pictures of the battle wounds in flickr. Otherwise, I will add them later when the connection speeds up..

And the verdict is...

He. Hated. It. I guess I should have stuck to the chicken tikka rather than the tikka masala... I think he would have liked it better without the gravy. Or at the very least I should have ordered one of each type. It did have a bit more kick than the stuff served at the Tandoori Oven in Lincoln... Sooo the baby didn't get any! Next time Daddy can order McDonalds and I'll order my chicken korma.. which I prefer.. It is soooo yummy! Then I'll let Daddy try it a bit....

Blah.. I'm in a bad mood now because I thought he would like it and he didn't. So I'm pouting and he's complaining about his stomach burning from the spices.. Whatever.. It wasn't that spicy...

Torture?

No. Just making my husband try a new thing... Indian food. We'll see how he likes it. What a great wife am I? I thought I was making him eat some funky food on his birthday, but truly... His birthday isn't quite here yet!

I think he's appeasing me because he's in the midst of a guilt complex. You see, I traveled several thousand miles, spent over 24 hours in airplanes and airports with an infant to come here. What have we done? We have been to the base to eat, etc. Off base where have we been? The MegaMart, Dairy Queen, Starbucks and the Seef Mall. That's why he feels guilty. What he's not thinking about is the fact that we are up during the middle of the night, so not much is open and it is dark. He's afraid to take me to the Tree of Life, because wants me to be able to visit again. What you say? There is a local legend that if you come to this island and do not visit the Tree of Life, you are destined to return. So because he wants me to return, he doesn't want me to go to the Tree of Life, guaranteeing me a return visit.

Well, I am going to fix something for the baby (and possibly the husband?) to eat. I'm not sure Chicken Tikka Masala is an appropriate food for an 8 month old. Oh, I'll be back later to let you know what he thought of Indian food. I'm (really both of us are) afraid he's going to hate it.

Hot:

synonyms: ardent, baking, blazing, blistering, boiling, broiling, burning, calescent, close, decalescent, febrile, fevered, feverish, feverous, fiery, flaming, heated, humid, igneous, incandescent, on fire, ovenlike, parching, piping, recalescent, red, roasting, scalding, scorching, searing, sizzling, smoking, steaming, stuffy, sultry, summery, sweltering, sweltry, thermogenic, torrid, tropic, tropical, very warm, warm, white. antonyms: cool, mild. (my favorites are in bold :) )

Other synonyms I've recently discovered: Manama, Bahrain, Middle-East. One of the baby's favorite songs by Tom Chapin is called "Cameling." The lyrics say: "The days are hot, the nights are not." Apparently he has never ACTUALLY been to a desert... At least not the one I'm in. Yesterday and again today we get to venture out into the world during the daytime in order to get our visas extended. Until yesterday, we hadn't really seen much of the daytime here because we've stayed on our normal Central Time Zone schedule. That means we get up at 3 in the afternoon local time. Because we get up around 3, we don't leave the house until 4:30 or 5ish on our little trips. Because the sun sets around 6 or 6:30 we are leaving at dusk. I like that. Hopefully all of the paperwork will be in order today. Then I won't have to wake the baby up in the middle of his "night" again in order to tramp around during the hot part of the day (and I suspect we still haven't seen that yet).

Oh, and while the nights aren't as hot as the daytime.. The lowest low has been 88F, or around 31C. And for those of you who want to say "But it's a dry heat..." Think twice.. This island is 273 square miles. Let's put that into perspective... Rhode Island, the SMALLEST state in the US is 1,044 square miles. A landmass this small in this amount of heat is most certainly not lucky enough to get the "dry heat" you'd expect. The air is humid. The other night it was 88 and it wasn't humid. My husband nearly froze to death and I wanted to stay outside and "play" because it was beautiful.

Don't get me wrong. We're having a great time here. Daddy and the baby are getting along spledndidly (read below). I am loving being here so far. I just didn't quite comprehend the definition of hot until I got here. A friend when trying to explain it to me said "realize that it is HOT in the summer...I mean 135 degrees hot! Think of opening the oven door...then stepping in!" She was wrong. It is cooler in the oven.

*hot. (n.d.). Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1). Retrieved July 09, 2007, from Thesaurus.com website: http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/hot

Bonding...

...is an amazing thing to watch. The money we've spent on this trip, while it hasn't been much, was all worth it. If we'd spent three times the money it would be worth it. I have some photographic evidence of the father/son bonding that has gone on. Daddy has taken on the responsibility of bathing the baby when he isn't working his shift. That has proven to be great fun for all three of us. I love watching them play. Daddy loves watching the baby splash and giggle. The best fun so far has been the rousing game of "toss whatever I have over the edge so you can bring it back and we can start again." Here they are playing the "toss" game with a washcloth. Even more interesting is the "toss" game when played with a cup. The cup is usually full of water, so when it is "tossed" the contents fly around the room (usually in my direction). No matter how messy, this game has been a lot of fun for both of them.

A few people have asked me how "Dad and Baby" are getting along together. After all, Daddy is a virtual stranger. Daddy was around for a little over a month during the holidays during his transfer, and then for a few days in May. The first was too long ago for the baby to remember, and the latter a bit too short. I have no doubt in my mind that the baby will miss Daddy when we leave here. It is a good thing and a bad thing all at the same time. Why is there no doubt in my mind? The baby did something he has never done before. He left my breast for someone else. Now he has de-latched to LOOK at someone or something, to smile at someone, etc. He has always remained in my arms, waiting for the right moment to turn back around and demand more milk... Until yesterday. Yesterday I was nursing the baby. He de-latched, crawled aross the couch and into Daddy's lap. He didn't just stay there for a second and move on for better things. He snuggled. He curled up, laid his head on Daddy's chest MULTIPLE times, noozled his neck and hugged him. The whole bit lasted several minutes. The longest he's ever snuggled with anyone besides me when he hasn't been sick. It was great. My only regret about that moment is that there is no photographic evidence. (The camera probably would have ruined the moment, so I don't completely regret leaving the camera alone.)

Now my only fear is that this child is going to freak out when we go to the airport to leave. He is going to reach his little arms out for his "da-da" and call him by name with some pathetic tone in his voice and cry. Then I will join him.

New Developments....

The baby has learned what the word NO means. He doesn't like it. Not. One. Bit. He has also learned that perhaps he should cry when someone tells him "No." Why? I don't know. Perhaps because after I give him my firm "NO" you cannot (insert one of the following: stick your finger in that electrical plug, take the tray off your booster seat spreading cheerios throughout the room, play with the toilet scrubber, etc.), after he sticks out his lip and starts to do his "fake" cry... I begin to laugh. I can't help it. It's funny. I know there is nothing wrong with him. I'm not even certain I've hurt his feelings. I just know that he looks at me, flashes his blue eyes as if to say "Mommy, why would you demand such a terrible thing?" throws his head back for extra drama and the wails begin. I'm waiting for the day I tell him NO and he just lays down and throws a tantrum. I know that while I laugh now, eventually this will not be so cute and funny. So, please Lord... Help me to stop smiling and laughing when my son decides to show off his theatrical side. In other news he's growing two new teeth. He has two teeth cutting through next to his two front teeth. So Daddy is getting to experience the full blown fun that is teething baby. Well, technically not. He has to go to work.. So I'm stuck in the apartment with the screaming baby all night, but eventually Daddy will have a day off. Just in time for the major pain of teething to be over I'm sure. :) Now I must go take care of the ringing in my right ear. Really it is a baby screaming. He is throwing another one of his tantrums. You see, he's not allowed to play with the computer mouse. So, he's standing up, arms resting on my arm, laying his head to one side and crying.. Every once throwing his head back for dramatic effect, or stopping to catch his breath. Perhaps it is naptime.