Topsail 2023

Good luck making it to the end of this one! It is always a challenge to narrow down the hundreds of photos we take, down to maybe...fifty? We had such a good time, and it was beautiful.

We love our beach sunsets, but we couldn't go out there every evening because strangely enough on this trip, high tide was REALLY high, like lapping the dunes, and it was mostly in the afternoon/evening. So on most days, we had very little beach left by about 3, and none left by dinnertime. Fortunately, this year we were in a house that had better views of the beach and a nicer deck, so when we were on it we felt like we were right there. The deck had gates that latched too, which was key to enjoying it with Thomas who likes to explore and to escape if he can. Not all decks have that, and it wasn't even something I was looking for when we were deciding where to stay. Maybe Grace was, because she helped me find ours. Anyway, very grateful for that.

Different duplex, same Grace with my morning coffee😎

He could wander when he had someone willing to wander with him.

The water was a little chillier than the adults would prefer -- it's taken North Carolina a little extra time to warm up this summer -- but you know it didn't faze the kids. They were in it every day for hours. I think Mom would have liked it if it had been hotter if only so that she could have gotten the boys into the shade more often. They liked being toasty in the sun. 

If I recall correctly, among other things, we were talking about a conversation we had last year this time, about how Scotty and Faith are the "fun bus," Grace said they're the "struggle bus," and I/we were the broken-down bus. (Tim might tell me to speak for myself on that!) This year I decided we're the trailer. We can hitch ourselves to the fun bus. Just a silly conversation. 

Grandy loved getting to spend time with Thomas.

I love Mom's smile and the sunset reflected in the window.

That's Mom with L-R David (Sophie's), Taj (Grace's), and Caleb (Sophie's). Mom and Dad took Sophie's kids to the beach this year because she and Michael didn't go. We were missing Anna and her family too.

We're accustomed to seeing our Marine friends flying over the beach, but one time they flew right over the houses!

My beach buddy

Grace and Israel. Israel is a month older than Thomas.

Dad and I

Beach hair don't care!

The obligatory family photos, on the deck instead of the beach this time.

The kids changed a lot in a year.

Israel, Thomas and Taj

I love this one of Grandy and Israel matching.

Damien (Sophie's oldest, he's 10 now), Joey and Scotty III

Scotty and Faith and their kids, L-R: Jaden (15), Roman (17), Aspen (17), and Scotty (13). 

Grace and Joey and their kids: Lotus (15), Elise (8 next month), Taj (5), and Israel (turned 1 in April)

We had just enough beach to walk on that evening.

Grace declared our last day the "most perfect last day" we've ever had. The weather and the tide cooperated, and even the music on my Pandora shuffle stations. We soaked it up. I even rode a couple waves on a boogeyboard. That night the babies did not cooperate for us, however. It took me over an hour to get Thomas to bed so I could say goodbye to everyone and hang out with Grace on the deck -- just in time for Israel's little head to pop up on the baby monitor.😜 As a relative on Facebook always says (as in comments on every post), "Babies... gotta love 'em!"

Thomas: 12 Months

Finally the last of the blue blanket pictures...

They told me back when I was expecting Delaney that the time would fly, and it did (and does); but the way the time flies when you have a baby in your forties -- that is something else entirely!🤣👵

He is such a cute little rascal -- very busy and curious, leaving a mess in his wake everywhere he goes. He loves his baths, and as soon as I say it's time for a bath and start to fill the tub, he starts making impatient noises -- "mmm--Mmmm!" -- and trying to get between me and the water (as I'm waiting for it to be the right temperature), like I'm in his way. 

I can't get him down for naps much anymore; he sleeps when he's inclined to sleep, usually in a moving vehicle. Sometimes I will come home from an errand and keep driving a little longer in the hopes that he will conk out. Then I lug him in his car seat into my room and he continues to sleep another hour, maybe two. That car seat sure is heavy with a big baby in it, but I can't beat the convenience of it. It's been a source of frustration to me that a nap schedule continues to elude us, and it makes my days hard to plan. I end up winging it which works I guess, but I'd like for him to be better rested, not just catching 20 minute naps on the fly. Bedtime, and nighttime in general, remain a guessing game. One thing we know for sure is he will end up in bed with us every night, almost always by 1 a.m. Oh well, he won't be little forever, as I'm reminded constantly by looking at his big siblings and remembering their baby days.

He loves his siblings and eats up whatever attention they give him. Just the other night, as Timmy handed him to me, Thomas cried as though his heart were breaking. He can be very dramatic. He wanted big brother, not mama!

He hasn't said any new words, just continues to use the words he said last month, mostly "uh-oh" and "da-da." It's not a wonder he likes "uh-oh" since we say it so many times in a day! I heard Timmy explain to his friend David that Thomas calls both me and Tim "da-da," and says something that sounds like "mum-mum" whenever he wants something someone is eating. When he looks at your food and says "mum-mum," you know you must share. He's really not an eater though, still. He'll taste it and then play with it mostly.

He's still mostly crawling and practicing walking whenever he's in the mood -- standing and taking as many as eight steps at a time. He's learned how to (safely) get off our bed, as I discovered this morning as I was saying to myself, 'I'd better go get him, it's time to take the boys to school.' Just then my bedroom door opened and he crawled out. I hadn't seen or heard anything on the monitor, but I might not have been paying attention. I've been teaching him to get off the bed feet first, and I assume that's what he did since he wasn't crying! He can also go down stairs feet first too, but we try not to let him do that without supervision. You know our Thomas has to learn some survival skills.😉

I'm going to wrap up this 12-month milestone post now, and then I think I'll make a separate first birthday post with those pictures and other things bouncing around my head that I'd like to share.

Thomas: 11 months

I have to say, I think my luck has finally run out with getting good pictures of him on this blue blanket. I'm really surprised it held out as long as it did, considering he's been mobile for some time! I will just need one more now.

He's got a couple more teeth just starting to pop through on either side of those top front ones. I love his toothy little grin.

He took his first step on April 1. He can stand on his own for a few seconds at a time, and takes one to three steps toward one of us whenever he happens to be in the mood. Crawling and cruising are still his favorite ways to get around, but I have a feeling not for much longer.

He's getting to be a talker too. He says "mama," "dada," "go," and "woo-woo" (for a dog barking). In fact, anytime we say, "Where's Willsy?" he starts going, "Woo-woo." It is sooooooo cute. One day we took them for a walk, and as we passed our neighbor's house, his dogs were barking at Willow, and she was barking back. Thomas barked in his little baby voice all the way down the street. On the same walk, after Delaney told Willow to go, Thomas said, "Go-go-go" for a while. I can't take it. He's gotten a lot more interested in talking, I can tell, even when he's not saying a word. He's watching us talk to him, and I can almost see the wheels turning. He's thinking of things to say even when he's not saying them.

Look at the difference three months made for his hair. Below, in January, he had just one curl.

Now he's got a whole mess of them! And I'm in love.

What else to report...? He's just been a busy guy, going around looking for messes to make every waking minute. He loves baths, walks in the stroller, being read to, climbing the stairs, getting into the dog's food and water bowls, and treating us like human jungle gyms. He wakes up from almost all his naps cranky, and his naps are still not at predictable times. He still nurses mostly, but is starting to eat a little bit of solids for me here and there.

The hair!

We are just so smitten with this boy.

Thomas: 10 months

I've been letting the time get away from me, and before I know it it will be time for his 11-month update! I've got to hang in there with these until he turns a year. 

Thomas is one busy boy these days. He's still crawling at top speed, but cruising more, I've noticed, and spending more time on his feet in general. He's getting into everything, and making big messes. There's nothing he likes more than getting into potted plants, so I've put them all up, but he manages to grab them while being held sometimes because he has little go-go gadget arms and a lot of determination. He's kind of destructive too, as you can see from this picture of our bedroom carpet. This bare patch is where he's been working on unraveling it. The rest of the carpet still has a lot of life left, so this is going to be the way it is for awhile. He's really lucky he's cute.

He's phased out his morning nap for the most part, which is a shame because he could still really use it. He's kind of a mess for the next couple hours. He gets cranky and rubs his eyes a lot, and finally I lay him down at 10 a.m.-- too late to for a morning nap, way too early for an afternoon one. No two days seem to be the same, so I'm hoping I can get him settled back into a good routine soon.

He's at the stage where he goes back and forth between being whiny and clingy, and crawling around looking for trouble. Any time he thinks no one is looking, he takes off for the stairs that go up to the FROG. I've got everyone remembering to keep it closed for the most part. He loves being read to, he loves having someone sit on the floor and play with him (especially if it's one of his siblings -- he's crazy about them), and loves walks and baths. He hates having his diaper and/or clothes changed, and it's like wrestling and alligator. 

He will try a bite of solid food here and there, but only sometimes ingest it. He loved my white chicken chili broth. Too bad it's getting too warm for me to want to make that anymore. But not too bad that it's getting warm -- I love spring!

He reminds me of a Muppet sometimes, the way he smiles so big. We all love him so much.