Can you believe that Roman is already 14 months old? Isn't that nuts? I just had to blog about some of the things we have been up to lately, and report that Roman has had his first significant injury... but more on that in a minute. (And my apologies, the majority of these pictures were taken with my phone, so they're not great.)
"Walking"
I put walking in quotes because he's not really doing it yet. He's more pushing things around (like the highchair or the kitchen chairs or the stroller or his push toy) and cruising with them, but he is getting close. Marc and I have taken him out a couple of times now with his push toy, and he can "walk" for a really long distance. He "walked" nearly mile at Discovery Lake, which I thought was pretty impressive at his age. But then on Friday, while Potts, Mary, Chris, and Sophia were visiting with us, Roman took 5-6 steps all on his own! So we have progress, but he's not exactly sure on his feet. And he has refused to take any steps on his own since. Apparently, the normal age range for walking is anywhere between 9-18 months, so we still have a few more months before we need to worry, and I think he'll do it soon. It's funny though, because everyone has pretty much said, "Once they're cruising, they'll start walking in no time." Well that's a load of nonsense. Roman has been cruising for, I would say, about three months or so, and he's still not walking. People are also telling me that I should be glad that he's not walking yet, but I say that that is nonsense, too. Mostly because he freaks out if he can't "walk" while we're out, which means he's either pushing the stroller (and he's not exactly the best navigator), or we have to hold his hands while he walks, and that is causing all sorts of back pain. He is also crawling around the house, and anyone who has seen my dogs knows that they shed, or rather Millie sheds, a lot. Regardless of the amount of vacuuming I do, Roman's clothes still get hair on them as he wanders around the house, and that's gross. So I will be beyond excited when he starts to walk on his own. Sure, I will be chasing him, but I am kind of doing that already, but hunched over.
"Reading"
Okay, so again he's not really "reading," but he is starting to be more interested in his books... beyond just chewing on them. I got him this book with a bunch of trucks in it (after he destroyed the one from Auntie Erica), and he loves it. He will go through the book and ask "that?" for every picture, and if I ask him to go get the "truck book," he knows exactly which book to grab. And I must say that it is getting quite fun to see him understanding language more and more. The other day he was playing with the little mallet of his xylophone, and I told him to go put it with the xylophone, and I didn't really expect him to know what I was saying, but he crawled right over and put it with his xylophone. Or if I tell him to grab a book, he'll go grab a book so we can read. And he will actually sit long enough to hear the story... although it does help if the story has trucks or dinosaurs in it. We used to just look at the pictures with him, but now he also wants to hear the story, and that has been fun.
Playing
Now this is something Rome really knows how to do! The weather has been unseasonably warm (for pretty much everyone in every region of America), and while I hate that I won't get a real winter this year, we are definitely taking advantage of the spring-like weather. We have been heading out to the park and out to the beach as much as possible lately. Roman absolutely loves to play in the sand and swing on the swings. Luckily, my friend Mel gets days off during the week, so we have had a couple of play-dates at the beach with her and Finn, and Romey and I have been picnicking in the park. It's quite the life this little dude has.
Bathing
The boy loves bath time. What else can I say?
Growing Hair
Marc says to me this evening, "Roman has Farrah Fawcett hair. Please get it cut this week." Okay, love. I will get Roman's hair cut as soon as I can get him in to see someone I trust. I don't want him to end up with one of those awful boy crew-cuts or bowl-cuts, so I am taking him to one of my stylists. Yes. I am that vain. Get over it.
WAP-ing
And what would a post from me be without a little WAP fun. This morning our friends Megan and Jason met up with us to go the WAP. They were visiting from the bay area because this weekend was Megan's 10 year UCSD Track and Field reunion. She stayed with us and interned at the WAP when she was finishing her D.V.M. at UC Davis, so we took Jason to her old stomping ground. Today was a great day to be there because it was just a little cool and a little overcast, so the animals were really out and about. Marc got to take Romey on the carousel for the first time, I rode the new tram for the first time, and Rome... well, let's look at the fun pictures first.
And Rome Chipped His First Tooth.
Yep. Super sad. Actually, really, really, super-duper, exceptionally sad. I am not even sure what happened exactly because I was walking ahead with Megan, but what I heard was Roman crying, and I thought that he was just being stinky because he was having a hard time pushing the stroller... then I see Jason pushing the stroller, and Marc holding a very sad Roman. He had been pushing the stroller, lost his balance, and, because he was on an incline, hit the concrete with his face. At first we though he just cut his lip, but when we were finally able to get him to open his mouth, we saw that he had chipped his front tooth. The poor little guy. I am going to call the pediatrician's office in the morning to get a referral to a pediatric dentist to see what they can do for him. I just know that that tooth must be super sensitive, and I am hoping they can at least seal the damage for now, and perhaps we can get it fixed when he gets a bit older and won't mind sitting for a little while in the chair, but we'll see what they say. What I do know is that Marc and I feel terrible about it. Rome was just so sad at the WAP today, and he kept poking at his front tooth with his tongue. He seems to be okay tonight, and he ate just fine at lunch and dinner, but I remember chipping my front tooth, and it wasn't nearly as bad, and it was sore and sensitive for at least a week. We'll see how he sleeps tonight.
