And Now, Thadeus

Also known at Thad or Tadej (taDEY) or Tadejchek. Tadej is the Slovene equivalent of his name and it seems to suit him so that's what he gets called most often. The children at church call him Teddy. When I'm exasperated with him it's "Thadeus Kane!"

Thadeus is like a ray of sunshine on a rainy day. Maybe I see him that way because so much went on while I was pregnant with him. Just a few days after discovering I was pregnant there was the tsunami. That spring Timothy and I went through a...a time of growing in our marriage. There was the Ivana factor and other things that made the first 8 months of 2005 pretty rough and difficult times for me. Tadej was my reward for those 8 months and maybe that's why he's so precious to me. I'll admit, I spoil that kid more than I do Clay.

He has the most humongous grin when he wakes up in the mornings. His little nose wrinkles in the middle and it's absolutely precious. I think he's really trying to talk. He's trying more and more to repeat the sounds we make. Like Clay, he's in no hurry to walk on his own. I got him to stand up by himself yesterday, but as soon as he realized he wasn't being supported it was down to his knees he went.

Last week he developed a slight temperature, probably from teething. He slept most of Wednesday through Friday and didn't eat very much. By Saturday we could tell he'd lost quite a bit of weight. We went to the coast for the weekend and drove down to Pula, Croatia on Saturday. We visited the arena and I totally forgot about Tadej and sunshine. He's allergic! He broke out in a reddish rash all over which also seemed to aggravate the fever all the more. After Pula we drove to Porec and visited Plava Laguna. I took the boys in the (cold) water one at a time. Clay loved it and splashed and we had a good ol' time. Tadej clung to me and grunted. Once I got him in and his body temperature started adjusting his fever, which got pretty high in the evening, started going way down. We got him out after a few minutes and got him dressed and wrapped in a towel. We ate dinner there and then headed back to Slovenia. His fever never came back after our swim.
Kane means warrior (Celtic or Gaelic, I can't remember) and the little guy lives up to that title. He has got such a strong will! The next book on my stack of things to read is Dobson's Strong Willed Child.

Since he didn't eat much last week his stomach has shrunk and he didn't want to eat the first part of this week. I was force feeding him by sitting him on my lap, putting my left forearm around his front to hold his arms still and bracing his head between my left shoulder and my own head. Then with my right I was shoving spoonfuls of food into his mouth. Finally, last night he ate a full meal and I noticed he's looking a little chubby again. He was never in any danger, but he's always been such a chunk.

He's also been too spoiled. He's had to sit and cry out his fits the past few days and nothing has made him happy. Tuesday it was non-stop screaming for one reason or another. Yesterday was much better and hopefully today he'll be back to his content little self.
Ivana is in Rijeka, Croatia for the day. Timothy will be gone all day since he has worship practice tonight at Steve's. I think I'll call my friend in Kranjska Gora and see if the boys and I can go up and visit with her. Both of her sons are at boarding school now and her husband has been working a new job where he has to travel so she's kind of lonely.

Clay

I wanted to take time to write a little something about each of the "kids". I don't feel like I have the time to do Clay justice, but...let me just take a deep breath...no pressure. The football game Timothy's watching is a long one. I'm sure I'll get to see some of it.

Clay is becoming a comedian, helper and all around super-star. We've started a name calling game. He'll tell me I'm "funny crazy" and I call him the same. Suddenly, the "No" Phase is done! He woke up one morning and said, "Ummmm, okay." He also says, "sure" (tur) which I really like.

Often times I'll ask him what he wants to drink with a meal. The standard answer is, "Ummmm, coca-cola."
"How about milk?"
"Ummmm, okay."

At random moments I’ll hear him say, “Ummmm, (click of the tongue to the roof of the mouth sound) let’s see.”

Clay helps pick up around the house, including trash, toys, dirty clothes and his plate from the table. He tries to help dust, but has no concept of what dust is so that one is a work in progress.

Last week we were working out in the yard one day and he got the idea to carry the watering jugs over to the garden. One of them was completely full and impossible for him, but the other had only a little water in and he carried it, but with difficulty. When he got it to where he wanted it I could hear him say, "I'm kinda strong" like an old farmer would say it.

He makes a great attempt to show his muscles, but we've observed he's just one long muscle. Timothy has given him the new name, Unimuscle.

I call him Son of Encouragement. He's always ready with a nice comment for whomever. "Good job, Daddy" or simply, "Yay!" One day we were playing ball and I kicked it into a corner I couldn't get into. I explained he'd have to go get it because Mamma is too big and that corner was too small. He got confused and kept saying, "Mamma's too small." Yes, that's right.

His f's come out as p's and the 'sh' comes out as over enunciated s's. He says the word fish a lot lately... It could be worse. My friend's little boy makes his t's f's and says the word truck a lot, but without the r.

He counts to twelve on good days and enjoys "songs like at church." He sincerely wishes we'd sing the Larry Boy theme song at church, but I don't think that's going to happen. He's totally possessive with his toys and is sure Thadeus is just out to take them from him.

He loves his brother though. When their nap times happen to fall at the same time Clay is more than happy to sleep. When Thadeus isn't in the room he could care less. They have their affectionate moments, but we have to encourage that more and more. Clay is very affectionate though. The other day he puckered up and got close to me. When I leaned in to kiss him back he said, "No, no, no, no." Then he lowered my face and kissed me on the nose. He laughed at himself and declared, "Ats funny crazy!"