Pictures from James

Here, belatedly, are some pictures James sent us after his visit last month. They are some of the best pictures we have of Wren, the neighborhood and even of me.

14 teeth - 11 months

Wren now has 14 teeth and is 11 months old. Over the past few days he has been growing the upper incisors. If you have a look at a chart of normal tooth development you can see that Wren is growing his teeth very early. On the chart he already has upper teeth 1-4 and lower teeth 1, 2 and 4. In fact, he has all but one pair of teeth expected by 18 months!

He came with me to a school Parent meeting tonight and I fear it will be his last public appearance there for a while. He climbed on the table, pummeled a satsuma into a puddle of juice, ate food from the floor, shrieked loudly amid quiet reports, smiled and stood up on the table, begged for grapes and pointed at everyone. It was hard to concentrate.

We also went to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Audubon exhibit. It was the first time I had seen original copies of the Birds of America folio - they are HUGE. The format is called Double Elephant and is about 70cm high. I was amazed at the detail and line work in the etchings, also the drama in many of the pictures. Wren has come to like owls which we have in our house as Halloween decorations. Every morning he points to the plastic owls lurking in among the potted plants. He seemed similarly fascinated by the owl paintings and I was going to buy one for him if they had one in the gift shop. They did not.

I shall write more about Wren at 11 months tomorrow. I really need more sleep tonight. The 5.15am risings have been routine for the past few nights and I have been having trouble getting back to sleep quickly after the 3.30am nursing so it is a short night and I need to get as many hours as possible before midnight.

Buddha bashing

I know Wren is in Frost's room again. I hear a shout "no no noooo Wren" then the appeal: "Shannon, Shannon, HELP ME. A little guy just invaded my personality!!"

I know how he feels.

Wren seems to get into everything these days. If I put a cup away he creeps to the cupboard and tugs in frustration against the baby locks. When I put away a Halloween decoration he fetches it from the box. Out and in, out in an he loves to take out and sometimes put things away. When I go into the bathroom he follows and pulls all the toilet rolls out of the closet. When I flush he crawls over to the toilet and pulls up and flushes, again. He is compelled to copy and be everywhere we are.

He is very sweet.

Tomorrow is his 11 month birthday and I starting to see his one year old self emerging. I will write more later. Today he goes to the pediatrician for his flu shot. I hope his reaction is better than mine. I had my flu shot on Friday and was ill for 24 hours with fever, chills and aches. I am all better now.

Wren is bashing the brass buddha with true enthusiasm. I shall go and save one of them.