Month 16

Dear Corbin,

You are 16 months old today. This month, you started climbing. You climbed up onto the couch in the living room. You climbed up onto the couch in your bedroom. You climbed up into your climbing cube and went down the slide. Then you turned around and climbed back up the slide. You are almost running and almost catching a ball. You are so much fun to sit and play with, or just watch as you play.

You have also started feeding yourself with a spoon. We started handing you a loaded spoon and helping you actually get it into your mouth. But it didn't take long before you wanted to do it all yourself, so I gave you a bowl with some mac and cheese and you fed yourself the whole thing. Which is kind of amazing on two fronts: using a spoon successfully for a whole meal, and eating a whole serving of any thing at one time.

Dad gave you a real haircut this month. He studied up on some videos on YouTube, strapped you into your high chair and snipped away. You were pretty patient and sat about as still as you ever do. I was afraid you'd end up looking like one of the Three Stooges, but you didn't. You look just as cute as you always have, thank goodness.

You became a theater orphan this month. I took a stage management gig so I've been missing out on bedtimes for a couple of weeks now. Grandma and Grandpa Lam took advantage of the situation and got me to agree that you could go on a trip with them. (They were like wolves: they sensed the weakest one in the herd and went in for the kill.) So, you went over to the cottage with them for a couple of days. Next week, they're taking you to Madison for four days, and I'm sure by next month they'll have just moved you in with them. Hopefully, they'll let you live at the apartment with them, so I can babysit for you sometimes.

It's been interesting being back in the theatre life, but also incredibly hard. Before you were born, when rehearsals got boring or tiring, I would think to myself, "This will be worth it when we are actually doing performances." And it was, and I would be a little bit sad when the show closed. But now my thoughts go in a different direction, and I think to myself, "I could have been home with Corbin," and I have discovered that no amount of anticipation is making up for that disappointment. I think my best bet is to wait until you're in highschool, and then direct your highschool plays. Don't you think? What do you mean you want to play football?

Love,
Mom

Month 15

Dear Corbin,

You turned 15 months on Saturday. It has been a busy month. We started with a trip to Missouri to visit your Dad's family. Then we went to our first cookout of the season, at Jody and Mary's house. (You had fun pushing your "car" up and down their driveway and eating your first hot dog. Their dog Scrappy spent some time licking all over your face, until you figured out that if you held your had up, he would lick your hand instead.) We went to Dairy Queen one day after doing yard work. We celebrated Mother's Day by taking Grandma Lam out for breakfast. We went to a birthday party, and I even let you have some cake. Yesterday, we went to a softball and grilling party at Wyndom Park in NE. And the night before that, Mom and Dad actually went out at night together! Crazy!

For Mother's Day, Grandma and Grandpa Lam gave me a great present--portraits of you. They even framed one for us, and we hung it up that same day. We all marveled that the photographer got you to smile for her, but you did, and the pictures are great.

It's definitely turned into summer this month. We had some rainy days, but now it's hot and humid. The afternoon that we were doing yard work, Grandma Lam filled up a Tupperware storage bin with water for you to wade in. You waded for about 30 seconds before you sat right down in it, shorts, diaper and all. After you were done playing in the water, Grandma got you all cleaned up, but when she started using the same bin to wash off some lawn chairs, you climbed right back in it, this time with your shoes on, too! I guess that's what we get for putting you in swimming lessons so young.

You have four teeth now, two on the top and two on the bottom (all in front) and you've discovered that Cheerios are crunchy. You've started wanting to use a spoon to feed yourself, which you might imagine sometimes results in you eating and sometimes results in the dogs having a treat. It also sometimes results in a good immune system, since I also caught you eating dirt off of the trowel the other day, as if it were just a big spoon.

That's just part of the independence that you want to exercise. You like to do whatever it is we're doing, which is fun. You help me pick up your toys. You help me sweep up the kitchen floor. You want your own napkin to wipe your own mouth. But along with this goes your temper, and when we hold you back from doing something you let us hear your frustration. Being stubborn is nothing new in this family, though, and you were born in the year of the Ox, so you definitely come by it honestly. Luckily, you're still easy to distract, and at heart you're still very easy-going. Besides, when you're insisting that you'd rather read books than play with something else, it's pretty hard to disagree with that.

Love,

Mom

MO family

Last weekend, we spent 26 hours on the road to spend 2 hours at a wedding and reception. It rained the entire weekend. Please take a moment to imagine the horror.

Okay, that's enough about that. The best place we stopped, each way, was a Mexican restaurant in Bloomfield, IA. The food was really good, reasonably priced, and the place was huge and not very busy. Corbin spent our time there walking around, smiling at the two other tables in the joint, and playing with his favorite toy car underneath the high chair. This was all fine with me.

The best part about the trip was spending time with the Grandparents Thorne and the Spencers. Charlotte is going on two and is talking now. We got some pix:

Month 14

Dear Corbin,

You turned 14 months today! You have at least one tooth coming in on top, and it looks so strange that we actually had to ask a couple of people if they thought we should take you to a dentist. It turns out that top teeth simply look that crazy.

This has been the month of Mom drops you. One week, you leaned out of my arms while I was putting you into your car seat (which was already in the car) and you knocked your mouth into the car seat, scraped up your chin and bit the end of your tongue. Then the next week I was carrying you while you were in your car seat, and I twisted my ankle. I tried to catch my balance, but ended up just staggering around into the patio table, then setting your car seat down hard on the ground and kind of falling down next to you. I also spent your college savings putting a new bumper on the van after backing it into a parked car, so if you've been wondering where your phobia of car stuff comes from, look no further.

You and Grandma Lam and I went over the UP for my birthday weekend, the end of March. You had a fun time playing with Aunt Alice and Cousin Diana (who does a hilarious bear imitation, by the way), but for some reason you were very shy around Aunt Cele. Grandma Lam thinks it's because she and Cele look too alike for your comfort. In any case, we had a fun time going to the little zoo and playing around Aunt Cele's big yard. The next weekend, we hunted for Easter eggs at the apartment. You went to the MN Zoo again and petted some animals there. You had your last swimming lesson until this fall. You gained three new pairs of shoes, and some summer pjs. You're a busy kid!

The weather has been really nice, so you've been doing a lot of playing outside, in the yard and up at the park. We got a little climber for you, and we put together a sandbox on the front porch for when it does rain. You also like pushing your "car" around, and you're much better at steering it now, except on the grass. There's a little boy down the block, Seth, who came over to play for a little while last Saturday. Whenever you're around other children, your normally cautious approach slows down even more. It makes me think that we should find you a play group pretty soon, so you start getting used to people who move faster than your parents and grandparents.

You also like playing with the dogs outside. You and Arrow play fetch sometimes, which means you walk around with a tennis ball for a minute and then "throw" it. Arrow will run over and pick up the ball, run around in a circle with it and then drop it by you. I watched you do this for almost 20 minutes one afternoon, and it was pretty darn cute.

The biggest thing that happened this month was that you started using signs to talk to us. The breakthrough was when you learned "more." Once you learned the basic concept of signs, you picked up a couple more very quickly: please, drink, and all done. You do modify them, however, which is alternately simply fine and completely hilarious. For more, you tap your fists together, instead of your fingertips. For drink, you tap your fist against your mouth or cheek, instead of opening your hand into a C. For all done, you turn your hands palm up instead of palm down. But by far the best one is please, which I taught you in the bathtub when you wanted me to wind up your wind-up frog. I said, "Mama, do the frog please," and tried to get you to pat your chest. Instead, I accidentally taught you to pat your belly. So now when you're eating dinner and I remind you to say, "More please," it looks like you're saying, "More...in my belly!" and it makes me crack up every time.

More...in my belly!

Love,
Mom

With your Easter bunny from Grandma and Grandpa Thorne:



You still won't let Arrow eat in peace:


Hey, Mr Teeth.

Month 13

Dear Corbin,

You turned thirteen months old yesterday. To celebrate, Dad cut your hair in the bath again, and you cried and cried about it. Pretty soon, we’ll have to take you to get a real hair cut. Soon. Pretty soon. Any day now.

Your uncle Alex and soon-to-be-aunt Lena came for a visit at the beginning of the month. The last time they saw you, you did nothing but cry, so this visit was much better. It was very nice to see them. We’ll see them again in California in October for their wedding, and we might even get to do some sight-seeing along the way.

The snow all melted this month, and the weather has been sunny and mild. That’s good, because you love being outside. You want to go on walks as often as you can, even if you only walk ten feet before stopping to explore something on the ground. You have brought home a couple of rocks, from your walks with Grandma and Grandpa, so we started a treasure box for you on the front porch. Hopefully that will keep the whole outdoors from coming to live in our house. This past weekend, I was doing some yard work while you were having some outside time. You were mainly playing with the dogs, “throwing” the tennis ball for them and playing with sticks together. I won’t be surprised if by the end of the summer, all you want to do is play in the yard with the dogs. Maybe we can get you your very own kid sized pooper scooper.

Grandma Lam and I went to a big consignment sale of kid’s stuff last week. We found you a summer wardrobe and some outdoor or front porch toys. Based on your love of stomping in puddles, though, what you really need are some rain boots. Your winter boots were waterproof when you were walking in the snow, but they were defeated by the puddle stomping. Hopefully we can find you something before we get any rain.

You have also started figuring out how to climb things. Mainly stairs, of course, but you also try to climb in and out of the tub, and you’ve actually become pretty good at climbing down from the couch. Sometimes when we’re going upstairs for your bath, you make us hold your hands so you can “walk” up the stairs, instead of crawl, and that always makes me laugh.

Other than that, it’s been a pretty quiet month for us. By quiet, though, I really mean uneventful, because you do

have your yelling moments. The other night you were walking laps around the house yelling, just because you thought it was fun. You make a lot of noise, and use a lot of syllables, but you haven’t started talking yet. You haven’t even been interested in using any signs, even ones that you made up yourself. You just do a lot of hooting and pointing, which is only to be expected. One of the books I was reading said that kids your age have more behavior in common with chimpanzees than with adult humans, so I’m not surprised when our interactions go something like this:

You: Hoot! Hoot! [point]

Me: That’s a banana. Ba-na-na.

Love,

Mom

Month 12

Dear Corbin,

Happy birthday, sweet boy! It has been a very good year, your first year. We have had so much fun watching you grow and change and learn. You are walking now, which you enjoy very much. You totter along with your arms held out to the sides, like a little zombie. Sometimes you get going pretty quick, but mostly you walk slowly with lots of stops to look at things or pick things ups. You like to carry things around the house, which is cute for us but a little crazy-making for the dogs. Yesterday, I put one of your toys in a grocery bag that I had just emptied, and later on Arrow came and barked at me because you had put it in his crate. That was after the morning, when you let Rex out of his crate and then crawled into it and started eating his breakfast. I had to fish about four pieces of dog food out of your mouth while you chomped on my finger with your little teeth. Yuck.

You had your 12 month check up today, and got three shots and a finger poke. You weren't happy about any of that, but you didn't make too much of a fuss. You weigh almost 20 pounds and are 29" long and are perfectly healthy. Good job!

You went on your first plane rides this month, down to St Louis for Chinese New Year with Grandpa Lam's family. My cousins were all happy to meet you, and you did quite well in your red envelopes. I saved it all for you. I have it right here. Just ignore that Target receipt. The traveling unsettled your sleeping a little bit, but not your mood. In fact, you were so well behaved that my cousin Michelle called you a, "bait baby." She says babies like you bait people into having children, fooling them into thinking that their baby will also be cute and happy and fun, just like you are.

You still only have two teeth, both on the bottom. I keep looking to see if you're getting any on the top, but no sign right now. Hopefully by the time you get more teeth, you'll be good enough at sippy cups that we can put the bottles away. I got you a new cup with a straw, and you've gotten good at sucking milk up in the straw. The problem is that you'll suck up a mouthful of milk, then open your mouth to let go of the straw and end up with a lap-full of milk. It's messy, but most of your meals are messy anyway.

You are still enjoying swimming classes, and still enjoying any chance you get to be outside. I am looking forward to this summer when we can walk up to the park or go to the arboretum or the zoo or the dog park. It is always fun to watch you exploring, to watch you discovering, to watch you learning. You are still our little observer. This is where I would post several pictures of you gingerly poking at your birthday cupcake, but the camera ate the picture files. That's the price you pay for growing up in the digital age, I guess. So here are some pictures of you walking, instead.

We love you,
Mom

Happy New Year!

February, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Year of the Tiger! This is Adam’s birth year, which will tell you how old he will be on his birthday, if you do the math. According to some, this year of the White or Metal Tiger will be filled with drama and intense activity. The White Tiger is also associated with being jinxed, and we are all supposed to watch out for health problems. On the other hand, the metal element may bring prosperity to industries like banking, engineering and technology. Overall, there is much to be cautious about this year, with rewards for those who are able to resist losing their temper. Especially lucky this year is anyone born in the year of the Pig, Horse, or Dog. Everyone else should cozy up to those people!

The last year has obviously been one of great change in the Thorne household. Our son, Corbin, was born last year on February 22^nd, so he is almost a year old. It is hard to believe that we have watching him grow for a whole year now. From rolling, to crawling, to now his first steps. From just milk, to mushy cereal, to now two teeth and finger foods. And from a sleepy baby, to a watchful baby, to now a little boy who gets excited about our animals and being at swimming classes. We are so blessed and lucky!

Not only has it been a pleasure for us to have Corbin around, but it’s been a true joy for my parents. They spent the summer with us, living in their camper in our garage, and doing daycare for Corbin after I went back to work. In August, we all agreed that we wanted them to keep doing daycare, so they moved into an apartment a block away. They make life so much easier, in so many ways. We are grateful for their help, and they love being able to spend so much time with Corbin.

Thankfully, everything else in our life has been stable. Adam and I are still enjoying our jobs, and even getting a little hobby time in. My goal this year is to see more theatre, but I don’t plan on returning to stage managing for a while yet. Last year we went to three weddings, two of which were in Michigan. So far, Corbin has been a very good traveler. We even flew to St Louis for Chinese New Year dinner, and he did so well that strangers gave us compliments!

In a few weeks, Alex and Lena will come to visit, and we are looking forward to seeing them. This summer, we’ll have some more house and yard projects to keep us busy. And this fall we will go to Alex and Lena’s wedding in October. We are hoping to take enough time off to drive to California and then visit one or two national parks on the way home. It is good to look back over the past year and see how much has changed. And it is very good to look forward over the next year and be excited about the times to come. We hope that your last year has been happy, and that your next year is full of health and strength and blessings.

Love,

Adam, Mel and Corbin

On the road in St Louis. We love Monkey.


Playing around at Union Station


At CNY dinner with my cousin Michelle, me, and my cousin David.

Month 11

Dear Corbin,

You are eleven months old today. It is frankly shocking to think that you are almost a year old. Eleven months! I’ve been a mom for eleven months! That’s crazy talk! I was reflecting today that I now feel normal and comfortable in my body again, and not as if I am still getting used to not being pregnant. You, of course, keep changing every day.

You have two teeth now, both of them on the bottom. I did buy you a toothbrush, but you’re not crazy about actually letting us use it. Tonight at dinner you were enjoying using your teeth to bite crackers and cereal. I think you’re having fun making crunching noises now that you can. You’re much more interested in finger foods now. If there isn’t some kind of finger food on your tray, you’ll grab the spoon out of our hands. You seem to like pasta, and chicken, and breakfast sausage. You still love toast, but now you want bigger pieces if not the whole slice at a time. You still love applesauce and banana-‘cado, but you truly and deeply love cheese. You will drop other food to eat cheese instead. It makes me so proud that you’re living up to your Wisconsin heritage.

This month, I spent time away from you for the first time. I had to travel for work, and while I enjoyed being able to go out to a bar like an adult, I was happy to come home. The worst part was that I was in California, and so when my biological clock woke me up at 6:00am, like normal, it was actually 4:00am where I was. So I was forced to console myself with lots of coffee during the day and beer and whiskey at night. It was tough, but I survived. You also had your first babysitter while I was gone, which you slept through entirely. Keep that up and your nickname will be Easy Money.

You took a couple more steps this month, but you’re not really walking at all, yet. I am a little bit surprised because you love walking around holding on to your push toy and our hands. I thought you might be walking on your own by now, but you’re still working up to it. You might as well wait a bit longer. We’re supposed to get a big ice storm this weekend, so there will be no going for walks anyway.

The only other thing going on this month was that everybody got sick. You had a very runny nose and a cough. Your dad had a sore throat and a stuffed up nose. I’m getting a sore throat right now. Your Grandma Lam has a very sore throat and the sniffles. Ironically, for being so sick a couple of months ago, Grandpa Lam is now the healthiest one here. When you’re sick, you want to be held all the time. You just lay your head down on our shoulder and snuggle. I don’t like it when you’re sick, but getting to hold you like that makes getting a shoulder full of snot totally worth it.

Love,

Mom

Christmas With the Grandparents

Well, we're back. We popped down to Madison for Christmas to let the Lam grandparents connect with some of their people, and to meet up real quick with the Thorne grandparents as Madison is a pretty good halfway point between Minneapolis and Indianapolis.

It was very nice to see the elder Thornes again, and quality time was had all around. We managed to get some good pictures, so here they are...