Pom, A Run-Down

Photo credit to my brilliant sister-in-law Brianna. Camera wizard extraordinaire.

Spent the afternoon locked in a cool room with a window a/c unit purring gently in the background. (Thank you, thank you to my charming aunt who came and helped install it!) We curled up on the boys room on the rug indulgently ignoring the laundry and instead, we read stories, Pom climbed on and off his brothers beds and I Pinterested my little soul to bits. I cleaned house mentally, got three quarters of the way through my current novel and then made a long list of things to take the to dump and things to send to Goodwill. Its almost dinnertime now and I am feeling considerably better than before.

And thus, am thinking about a cheery topic...the encapsulation of Pom as small, interesting person of his own. Here he is, in all his 13 month glory....get to know him.

Pom Loves:

1. Iced coffee. I made the wee mistake of letting him sip a decaf version once on a hot day and now he lunges madly for the cup every time I have one...am in perma-defense mode with cold drink in hand.
2. Watermelon. Pom can go blow for blow with A in contests over his favorite fruit. Its a summertime special.
3. Animals. Dogs and birds are both big hits. He gets nervous and can even be shaky and paranoid around them but he won't be kept away from them either so its a magnetically, nervous pull. He giggles and dives for them, imitating barks or chirps but then does a freaked out/giggly retreat and then repeats the cycle over and over.
4. Water play. He runs for the ocean, isn't afraid of waterfalls, cannot be kept out of a bath and freaks out about being walked past puddles instead of being allowed in post-haste. Love my small mer-man.
5. Singing. He sings along with any voice he hears on the radio, any goofy song his daddy makes up or any tune at church that strikes his fancy. Love it when we are passing street musicians and he starts "singing" along. 
6. "Nakedy Time." Every night before bed when all the other kids are in bed we've developed a little ritual together. We take off his dirty clothes, wash up any muddy smudges and add lotion where needed and then let him have a little roll about on our bed in his birthday suit before dressing him up for the night and tucking him in the cradle. Its his favorite. He chortles and pounces on the pillows, coos and giggles plays peek-a-boo with us and then eventually winds down to snuggling and long sleepy blinking and then we know its bedtime. So sweet. Love it. 
7. Seltzer Water. Ru used to spit it out and his brothers have all had a shudder-and-drool kind of response to bubbly water fizz but not Pom. He guzzles the stuff and begs for more and jockeys to be included anytime some is being drunk near him. He's a baby of culture. 
8. Silkies. The very fastest and most sure fire way to soothe him when he's cranky, help him cope with teething pain (hello molars!) or get him to sleep is to give him one of my slinkiest slips made of a satiny material. He sucks on them, wadding up the material and shoving it in his mouth....and is vastly pleased. 
9. Eating Dirt. I never saw a child more enamoured of eating dirt...and I don't mean just tasting it or sucking on his fingers despite their dirty state, he actually scoops handfuls of dirt or sand into his mouth on purpose and if not caught in time will just swish and swallow very happily. Ugh. 
10. Board Books. He loves to hear a story, maybe its just the rythmic cadence of the sound or maybe he's really comprehending the plot, who knows....he just likes it. He likes to bring books to me and he likes to turn the pages and he loves the lap-time that literary excuses bring.

Pom Distains:

1. Sitting Down In The Highchair. He really is ridiculously insistent about this one. I continue to expect we'll train him out of his persistent desire to stand or climb out on the tray and put his grubby little feet right onto the table. I have taken to spending the meal holding onto one foot and keeping him pulled down in his seat. Please, say he'll give up soon!
2. Being Hot. Don't we all? Pom will be extremely irritable whenever the temperature gets to the sweating zone. He wants to nurse, he doesn't want to, he wants to be held, he'd like to be left alone, he wants to be down and crawl around, he is angry that he has been left alone on the floor to fend for himself...etc.etc.etc. Its a no win. Its just too hot.
3. A, Horning In. He's very attached to me and is quite possessive. We try not to accommodate this one too much but he'd really prefer it if A never kissed me or hugged me or snuggled up with me. I belong to him in his mind and he will fiercely wedge himself in between us if so moved and push and push to get me all cleared off to himself. Silly little dictator.
4. Horses and Cows. He likes dogs although even they make him nervous. Horses and cows were too much. They make him skip the giggling part and go straight to the blind panic climbing up my arms and then my face. Too big, I think.
5. Being Buckled In His Car Seat. He usually sits and drives along pretty happily once we're on the road but he thrashed and wedges himself straight, refusing to bend at the waist when I try to buckle him in. Much screaming ensues. 
6. Being Told, "No" His eyes fill with big crocodile tears and then his face crumples and often he yells back at me "Nah Nah Nah!" and his latest trick is trying to throw punches at me to show how upset he feels at being scolded.
7. Coming Down The Stairs, In Arms. This isn't a major deal anymore but I still notice it from time to time. He startles when being carried down the stairs. I think he feels gravity and has become aware of falling and realizes that the downward momentum feels dangerous and it makes him nervous.
8. Most Vegetables. He eats fruits with impunity, has finally come around on meats and will happily eat a fresh bean or pea from the garden while I do yard work but most things I serve at meals (cooked broccoli, carrot sticks, sauteed greens....etc.) become at best a teething toy and at worst are just rejected outright. 
9. Rain. He loves water and craves swimming and bathing, adores drinking water from a cup and has learned to sign "water" avidly now but water coming down from the sky? Too much. He just gets angry and cries if we ever have to dart through a downpour on our way into a store,
10. Being Left-Out. He's a classic youngest child, always jockying to be included and watching with a shrewd eye to stay up to the minute on the latest happenings. He wails pitifully when the big boys get candy treats and he is forgotten or there are bikes for bigger boys to peddle and he is left out. He's got a real yen to be part of the pack.