The Little Man

It occurs to me that with the crappy start to the New Year, and the long absence before that, I haven't devoted much time to the doings of the Little Man. This shall now be remedied!

For starters, the surgery went swimmingly. The worst part was trying to keep the Little Man occupied and quiet for two hours while waiting for them to come get him (we turned the faucet on and off in the bathroom for a full half-hour!). He was gone from my arms for exactly 20 minutes, including anesthesia, surgery and recovery. Unfortunately for us, one of the side effect options from the anesthesia was hyperactivity and Ding Ding Ding! That was our winner. He was a whirling dervish the rest of the day, but his eye has looked fabulous ever since, and he is cuter than ever, if I do say so myself.

This week alone he has learned to slither down stairs all by himself AND to drink from a straw. He says "kkkk" in a guttural German way for "kitty" and "ca" for "cat", always with an inflection that reminds me of Ken stuttering toward the end of A Fish Called Wanda. "Mama" and "Dada" also pop up repeated over and over, though never upon request. That Little Man knows how to do way too many things for my comfort, including shoot his father and I a dashing little grin over his shoulder as he continues on with whatever no-no activity he is engaged in. He's not yet walking, but stands alone if he's not thinking about it, so it likely won't be long. And Mr. Me and I will be SO TIRED once that happens.

Another recent, major Little Man milestone - he located his "little friend". In the bath, where little boys are wont to find it, with no diaper and all. It was amazing, watching the development of this burgeoning relationship. He was very still in his bath that day, with his hands mostly beneath the water, saying "howdy" to his newfound buddy. When he did start to play, every time he sat down from crawling or standing up, he'd reach down to make sure his friend was still there. Cracked me up way more than his dad, though.

The most amazing thing, however, is the super-powers he appears to be developing. He's almost 3 feet tall, and has stretch-Armstrong arms that can reach clear to the middle of my kitchen table to grab items of interest. He moves like Flash, especially toward forbidden areas like an open toilet bowl. And he has for several weeks now been perfecting an ear-shattering screech that will any day, I'm sure, shatter glass (or deafen dogs, I'm not sure which).

If he starts to develop x-ray vision or to fly, I'm buying some Kryptonite or there will be no disciplining this child at all.