A cooler shade of September

In line with the crazy year of weather we’ve had so far, the beginning of September is feeling like what September is supposed to feel like. Usually, Central Texas is still sweltering in triple-digit heat right about now. But this morning, we woke up and the morning held a noticeably cooler temperature. After months and months of hot, day and night, a break in the heat feels wonderful.

I noticed yesterday that the sun is now crossing the sky at a height that signals it’s almost Fall. It’s a little lower, a little less direct, a little more orange. It has always amazed me how the way the light changes during the day can almost immediately give away the time of the year.

I’ve noticed in the past few years that our emotions do the same thing. Well, maybe not as perceptibly as the sun, but several months of the years, May and August come to mine, everyone seems to vibrate just a little differently. It must be the habit of ending and starting school that is still so engrained in all of us. August, especially, is such a time of change. I’m kind of glad September is here so things can level out a little. Summer is such a rich time (and don’t get me wrong, this is why I love summer), but sometimes it’s nice for things to get back to “normal.” 

Normal for us around here is always changing a little bit here, a little bit there. A second tooth is joining Julian’s snagle tooth, and another one on the top seems to be poking through. He’s been pretty fussy about it. He’s lapping up the baby oatmeal with mix with soft fruits, such as bananas, nectarines or avocados. And the bread. Julian loves to pick up little pieces of bread we set out for him. Just like feeding geese. That keeps Julian occupied for hours (in baby time).

We moved his crib down to the lowest level so he couldn’t reach the posters on the wall (He already pulled one off and ate its corner. ‘Sounds like my cat’ a coworker remarked last night. Meow.). He pulled all the books off the bottom shelf of the bookcase yesterday (with Ian’s help—who then showed Julian how to put them all back :)). And I found the best tickle spot ever: his thighs right above his knees.
Separation anxiety has surfaced a little. Even though I’m not the stay-at-home caregiver, he still sometimes gets upset when I leave the room. I’m sure he does this with Ian, too. It must be the nursing, which he still loves so dearly. Mommy still loves it, too, so we’ll keep up with it for awhile longer.

We’ve been going back and forth on the thumbsucking. Sucking his thumb has been the best blessing for him to comfort himself to go to sleep, but he likes it so much that he’s started doing it quite a bit even when he’s not about ready to fall asleep. Don’t blame him, really. It’s a pretty gratifying thing, I’m sure, but I figure if we let him get into the habit now we’ll just have to break him of it later. But hell, I chewed my nails into high school and a friend of mine sucked her thumb into junior high and we’re fairly successful, well-rounded people. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. It’s pretty cute, actually.