Tenzin Found His Berries!!!

Yes, yes, we all know that the Thornburg family was blessed with a healthy baby boy, but Tenzin apparently didn't know (until now) that he is, in fact, a boy built with boy parts. Much to his dad's dismay, Tenzin has a new game called "Squeeze the Berries." Be it a bath, a diaper change, or just plain goofy naked-time, Tenzin feels the need to grab his grocery bag and squeeze as hard as possible (thank goodness the store doesn't carry eggs yet!).




We wanted him to develop and harness his motor skills as soon as possible, but had no idea that his first adventurous step would start like this. It's a lot -often too much- for a dad to see. I can't count the number of times I've flinched mid-dirty diaper wondering what, exactly, is going through that smiling head of his. Grin and squeeze, grin and squeeze. Sheesh.

Anyways, we now apply a "berry blanket" underneath his arms, stretching from armpit to armpit, blocking all roads leading south. So far, it appears as though the blanket is a success and his (future) manhood is temporarily protected. Hopefully this will break the habit forthwith.

That being said, our little man is growing sooooo fast. Rachel and I are astounded (almost daily) at how quickly he's learning/developing/moving.



First and foremost, there is life behind Tenzin! Not in a conventional or metaphorical sense, but in the sense that Tenzin now knows that he can turn and see something new. Life doesn't stop outside of his line of vision. Typically, we'll lay him on his back and in no time, he'll bend and twist to look at what's going on behind him. It's only a matter of weeks before he starts flipping all the way over.

Speaking of which, Jared (my best man from the wedding) was in town a little while ago and almost got Tenzin to flip from his back to his stomach. So long as Jared was behind him, Tenzin would support his leg against Jared's body and push with all of his might. About one more inch and he would have had it. It's only a matter of time before he's steam-rolling all over the house.

I know it's really not that big of a deal, but since it's our child, I consider it to be the most amazing feat ever achieved (screw you, moon landing!). It started with regular scheduling of tummy-time on his surfboard (Thanks Jared and Tamara!), and graduated to a daily push-up regimen ala the Navy Seals. We start curls and squats next week.



So now that he's moving, I'm prepping him for the next obvious step: saying "Daddy." Let me preface this by saying that I once watched an episode of SCRUBS where Dr. Cox stayed home with his newborn son. For about an hour and a half Dr. Cox did nothing but say, "Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy...." I decided it was wise to implement this technique in our home. Unbeknownst to his mother, Tenzin and I spend copious amounts of time practicing the Dr. Cox. Let's hope some of it sticks. And I'm not even dead-set on "Daddy." I'll settle for a Papa, Pops, or even P-Daddy (the latter of which being my favorite).

There are a ton of other things going on and I know I've been slacking with the posts, but unfortunately, we'll have to keep this one short. Between work and a massive diaper rash (thank you, bananas!), I've had 6 hours of sleep in the last two days. And Rachel, God bless her soul, has stopped keeping track, but has undoubtedly tracked far less hours than I. So it's time for a strong drink and a long nap for us both.

I'll update the Kodak Gallery as soon as I can. We have some great pictures of Tenzin, Lily and Raymond (ADORABLE children of Rico and Theresa). We stopped by their house today to wish Teresa a happy 29th birthday and snapped some terrific pics. In the meantime, check out this video of Tenzin and I having Daddy-time while Mom was away: