All about Vinny

I realized that I haven't written much about Vinny lately. This is not because he hasn't done anything interesting; it has more to do with my lack of spare time. Anyhow, the purpose of this entry is to remedy that oversight.

Vinny is growing bigger and taller every day. I was away from him for a week when I was at the supercomputing conference, and when I came home I hardly recognized him because he had changed so much in just that short time! He isn't walking yet, but I think it is just a matter of time. He can go from sitting to standing without holding on to anything, and he can stand unassisted for a while, but he's kind of like Wyle E. Coyote in that once he realizes that he's standing, he falls.

He hates to wear socks or shoes or anything on his feet. Footed sleepers work only because he can't pull the feet off. So we have invested in several of those for the "cold" "winter" nights. (The nights aren't that cold, but it can get chilly if you're an active sleeper like he is, and don't have any blankets over your body.)

He has the sweetest, most generous heart I've ever seen in a thirteen-month-old. He recently realized that when he bites me, it hurts me. Ever since then, he has stuck my finger in his mouth, but he has only nibbled on it, rather than clamping down really hard like he used to. Also, he's been very generous with his food and drink for several months now. He'll feed himself a cheerio then offer one to me. He drinks some milk from his sippy cup and then offers it to me. And he is so overjoyed when you accept his generosity. A smile grows across his face and he claps his hands.

The exception to this generosity is when there's an apple involved. He has a lot of teeth (13!) so I let him eat some pieces of raw apple (peel removed) one day almost a month ago when I was making baked apples. He really enjoyed it, and ate every single piece I offered him. Then, last weekend, I was eating an apple while he was sitting on my lap, and he was really interested in it. So at first I pulled off some chunks and fed them to him, but that was not enough for him. I let him bite some apple off the core for himself, and he loved that. I ate the entire outside of the apple, but he ate most of the (edible) interior.

Today, I got an apple from the bowl of fruit and he looked at me with excitement. He was very impatient as I washed it off, and he immediately wanted to bite into it himself. But I told him that I had to eat the peel layer, but he could eat from the interior. We sat down together and he immediately grabbed my wrist with both his little hands, the wrist of the hand that was holding the apple. He tried to pull it towards himself, and I had to move my head forward to sneak in a bite before he brought the apple to his own mouth. I turned it around to a part where he could eat, and let him take a bite. Periodically, when his mouth was sufficiently full, he would loosen his grip on my wrist and deign to allow me a bite of the apple. But when he wanted more, he pulled it right back. So he may be generous with his milk, his cereal, and his crackers, but not with apples!

Not only is he a generous baby (with the exception of apples) but he is incredibly happy, too. The only time he is cranky is when he gets really tired or if he is in pain. He is going through some separation anxiety and will cry when either of his parents leave the room, even if the other one is still there, but he gets over it quickly. But otherwise, he is almost always as happy as can be. I took him shopping at Kmart today, and there were so many interesting things to see, and so many people to watch, that he couldn't have been happier!

He brings a lot of joy to everyone's lives, and mine is no exception. I was kind of nervous about the idea of having a baby, but I'm so glad that we did!