So last week Atticus had a hard time going to sleep and then decided to wake up at 5 a.m. to boot. We tried unsuccessfully to get him back to sleep and I decided to give him a little juice and let him play with his puzzles and books quietly in his room. When he and I lived in the apartment in Huntsville we had to turn the knob around on his door as he liked to go out and explore while I was asleep. We did the same when we got back home since our house has 3 levels and he can be quite the rascal. Well, after I delivered the juice and got him settled in, I climbed back into bed and dozed back off next to a sleeping Justin. At some point in the future our bedroom door flew up and Atticus came running in holding a banana. Apparently I had forgotten to lock his door. He climbed up on the bed and said “Mama! want banana!” “Help, want banana! Need help, banana!” I was too stunned to do anything except peel the banana. Justin said “He has a banana, they’re downstairs!” I said “on the counter downstairs!”. I think he had a blast exploring while we were asleep. We found his juice cup by the computer where he attempted to start up his game. The barstools (which are now in the shed) were pushed together where he could climb onto the counter and the bunch of bananas were in the middle of the kitchen floor. We’re very lucky he didn’t get hurt or eat something that could have made him sick. However, we’re also proud of him for being so independent. We sure love our clever little boy.

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So this weekend we were visiting TN as Justin had to work most of the weekend. Atticus loved it because he got to play with his cousins and with the rain he got to play in the mud and puddles. He has a pair of rubber wading boots that he absolutely loves. I think he would wear them to bed if I let him. I told him that since he had on his boots that he could splash in the puddles. He wasn’t too sure at first (I think he was expecting a time out the minute he stepped in). He carefully walked to the middle of the puddle. Then all at once he lifted his feet and stomped as hard as he could. The more muddy water that splashed on him the more he stomped. He had so much fun splashing.

The next day we were out walking (in our boots of course) and he took off running straight into the freshly plowed garden. Keep in mind it had JUST rained 4 inches of rain and local valleys were flooding. The garden was very wet. He made about 4 steps and the mud lake consumed his feet. He was sinking so fast that I ran (in my sneakers no less) out to get him and I had mud part of the way up my legs. My feet were completely buried in the mud. If you look - you will see several little holes that go straight into the garden followed by big holes. Then the big holes make a u coming back out of the garden (carrying the little rascal that made the little holes).

Houdini Atticus — Atticus was having a very hard time going to sleep Saturday night. He ate a very good dinner and had his bath but just could not slow down enough to go to sleep. Mom and I decided to ride him around a little because if he’s tired that usually helps him go on to sleep. He had on his pjs, a long sleeved shirt and long pants. It was very dark outside and my parents live WAY out in the country. No street lights to be found anywhere. So, we just drove around the country roads for a while. I even got to see my first commercial chicken house. Anyway, we were unable to see him in his carseat but we could hear him fidgeting around. He kept pulling at his clothes and grunting but we just figured he was fighting sleep. At long last he fell asleep. As we pulled onto Mom’s carport the outside light shined into my car and his bare legs were shining in the light. I could not believe my eyes. His carseat was securely fastened, quite snug I might add. I said — “he took his pants off!” My Mom said, “surely he didn’t take them all the way off, maybe they’re just pushed way up.” I pulled a pants leg that was hanging out and out came the pants. No rips, no tears — fully intact. We still have no idea how he did it. Maybe he’s the young David Copperfield?

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Last weekend Justin needed to work on our taxes so Atticus and I made the trek to Manchester to visit my family. As an added bonus, Justin’s Mom and Dad were able to drive over from Columbia to spend the entire Saturday with us. This summer we’re planting a family garden in my parent’s HUGE garden. We are planning to travel up there every few weekends to help till the ground, plant, pull weeds and eventually harvest. We are so excited as Atticus LOVES tractors and playing in the dirt. Speaking of tractors, all he wanted to do last weekend was “ride tractor.” In under 2 hours he successfully hitched a ride on 4 different tractors. He rode with me to plow the garden and then with his Papa on 2 different tractors and sat on the last one with his cousin Resi (”Eeesi”). He spent the better part of the weekend outside running all over the farm. He had a blast visiting with everyone and just running. I think he liked that he could run and run and run and not get into trouble as the farm is huge and dangers of traffic are far away. Needless to say he had a ball. We get to go back on Easter weekend to celebrate his Tata’s birthday and work in the garden some more. Maybe hunt some Easter eggs too.

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March 16 Gymnastics from Justin Thurman on Vimeo.

Password is teamatticus

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The little guy has had a cough for a few days and we’ve been doing more breathing treatments to try and cut off any infection. Yesterday he woke up with a low grade fever and his right ear was running. He had his tubes replaced last July so luckily we were able to know that he needed an antibiotic. So, unfortunately we didn’t get to go to our first day of gymnastics. Don’t think he would’ve enjoyed it much anyway, he had double ear infections and sinus infection. Starting to feel a little better today.

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I am very pleased to announce that Atticus will be starting gymnastics tomorrow afternoon at 2:30. It’s a Mommy and Me class that is relatively small and will let him play on the bars, the tumbling mat, the balance beam, and of course the in ground trampoline. We’re very excited about it and it will hopefully provide him a good outlet for climbing!!

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A couple of bath stories from recently that are hilarious. Right before our trip to TX, Atticus was taking a bath while I was packing a few things right outside his bathroom. I was about 3 feet away from him and had to lean around the corner for a couple of seconds to grab a pile of clothes then I would lean back around into the bathroom. In other words, my back was turned for about 5 seconds. I had left the bin of bath toys near the tub not thinking about how tempting they would be. When I turned my back for a second, I looked back around and saw someone standing up in the tub, reaching out trying to get more toys. Without thinking, I shot him that Mommy look, the “you better get your hiney back into that tub, NOW!”. I didn’t say a word. He saw my face, said “uh-oh” and immediately sat down. I was so excited at his reaction that I didn’t even scold him for standing up in the tub!!! For him to see my face and read my reaction without a verbal response was so huge!! I wasn’t sure whether or yell at him or hug hum. I tried to meet myself in the middle by hugging him while telling him “no standing in the tub!.”

More antics: Yesterday afternoon Atticus was taking a bath and it had been raining all day. It was supposed to be stormy here but the weather hadn’t gotten too bad all day. Right after I had gotten him washed, clean, etc. a loud clap of thunder crashed outside. I grabbed him and said “bath time is all finished!” I was worried about the lightening. It was after I had pulled him out of the tub that I realized I had no towel for him. He started shouting to me “dry, dry, dry!” It took a minute to find a towel, I was laughing so hard. Yea Atticus for being a little bossy!!! It’s amazing the things you celebrate when you travel this path.

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So Tuesday night Atticus was being a little bit of a rascal and didn’t want to go to sleep. He had moved his matress yet again. Justin looked up and saw the light was on. So he started the walk up our hardwood stairs (about 8-10 stairs). He got to the top stair and the light went off. He opened the door and Atticus was laying in his bed like an angel. Justin wasn’t sure what to say. Hearing Daddy come up the stairs and knowing having his light on was a no-no and turning it off and trying to look innocent is such a typical behavior!! I know it may seem silly to some, but these are first time behaviors for Atticus. When we see a typical behavior out of him whether it is this or telling us “no!” for the first time, we get so excited!!!

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So hopefully you saw the pictures of our trip to Texas last weekend. We had a wonderful time! We went out there to see Atticus’ specialist and he got a great report. He could not believe just how much progress he had made since we last saw him in August! Since Justin was able to go with me this time, we flew out on Thursday, got into our condo that night and Friday morning had time to walk the beach and get lots of shells. Friday afternoon we saw the doctor, after that we walked out onto the jetty, a huge concrete sidewalk if you will that stretches out into the bay. It is a guide for ships going through the pass. Anyway, we were able to see a pelican catch a fish and eat it as well as lots of cranes and seagulls. We even spotted several dolphins leaping beside boats and ships going through the pass.

Friday we also found a park that was located right on the bay so Atticus could play while we watched the ships pass by.

Saturday morning the weather was a little dreary so we decided to venture into Corpus Christi for the Texas State Aquarium. Atticus had a ball!! He ran into the aquarium shouting fish, fish, fish! He said so many words while we were on the trip, his language was incredible and he’s been talking non-stop since we’ve gotten back. He got to see lots of underwater fish, some sharks, jellyfish, snakes, sea turtles, and even some river otters. The highlight for him though had to the dolphin show where they flipped around, danced around, etc. That afternoon it had rained and we went back to the beach and found more shells.

Sunday we just relaxed on the island. I got up early and picked up more shells (we had a duffel bag full to bring back!). After that we went to a different park, to a fish market, back to the park on the gulf, and even took a walk out on the pier. There was a group of surfers out on the water trying to catch a good wave.

Overall it was an incredible trip. It was really relaxing and we had an amazing time. We met so many wonderful people who are “Winter Texans.” They live elsewhere 10 months of the year and travel to Texas for Jan-Feb or Jan-March or even Jan-April. We met folks from South Dakota, North Dakota, Canada, Nebraska, Maine, Minnesota, Wyoming, etc. And, they all doted on little Atticus to get in some “Grandma” time. Of course he just loved the attention.

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More new photos were added on Saturday evening.

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