Head Banger

Clay's developed the habit of banging his head against things. And I'm not talking about the random (and regular) pratfalls -- I'm talking about him purposefully knocking his head against something. Sometimes it's something soft (the carpet), but more often it's something hard (the wall, the tile floor, etc).

Yesterday, he was pushing a stool around and around the kitchen. Eventually, it tipped over and fell. It didn't fall on him, but he wasn't able to get it back upright and got frustrated, quickly. By the time I got around the island to him, he was howling and bopping his head over and over against a leg of the stool. I just put my hand on the stool where he was hitting it and let him go a couple of more times into my hand, and then picked him up to comfort him.

According to this article, it's a pretty common phenomenon for children who are frustrated and not yet able to communicate to bang their heads. Being common, however, doesn't make it any less unsettling. As the article suggests, we've been trying to not make a big deal out of it so as to prevent encouraging it further. I'm just hoping/expecting that the behavior will diminish as he becomes more capable of communication.

Clearly, he has inherited his father's patience . . .

A Week at the Beach

Beach Photos are finally up

The weather was pretty lousy for sunning, but we managed to get out most days for a little bit. In addition, Matt and I got a lot of fishing in, catching quite a few puffer fish (very tasty!), mullet, a blue, a couple of sharks and a skate.

Hokie Hokie Hokie High! Tech Tech VPI!

Although both Scott and Lisa went to W&M, Scott's parents were Hokies, Scott lived in Blacksburg while his dad was getting his PhD in the early 80's, half of our small group are Hokies and lots of kids who Scott coached since they were very young are at Tech now. One of Scott's star swimmers, Fred, was very close to being hurt, and we're so thankful for God's protection over him on Monday.

This week's tragedy would have hit hard if it occurred on the West Coast, but having it happen in our backyard made it all the more painful. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the mourning, the wounded, and everyone who is trying to find their way to cope with the mess.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make his face to shine upon you.

Where the Wild Things Are

Every day, I become increasingly aware of what we have on our hands. This boy is "high energy".

See all the photos I uploaded this evening here.

More photos from last week's beach trip yet to come, and I really need to get a move on the backlog of videos as well.