Who is Tristan?

What follows is basically a log of my perceptions of Tristan that I have been storing in my brain for a while. It is rather indulgent and intended to be a family record, so please skip if you would rather not read a parent blathering on about how great their kid is...

One of the greatest joys in my life has been getting to know my two boys as they have started to demonstrate their personalities and interests. As Tristan approaches eight months in age I have often intended to sit down and write this post, and just never seem to get to it. So I have finally gotten myself into the chair to try and capture what I have learned about this young human being who has entered our lives.

To begin with, apparent almost from his very first month, Tristan has been a very good natured and even tempered young man. We have learned to respond quickly to his cries because he rarely fusses without a very specific reason (of late this is often a certain almost four year old sitting on his head!). He seems surprisingly even keel and we definitely are grateful that his easy going nature makes life a little less hectic than it could be otherwise (and we feel for those who do not have this luxury!).

Tristan is a very happy little guy, he loves to laugh and smile and while break out in a fit of laughter anytime his brother makes silly faces or dances in front of him. He loves people and is surprisingly accepting of strangers, seeming content to be in most peoples arms (unless he hasn't had his quota of mommy for the day!). His gregarious nature is fun to watch, for example he discovered that he could look through the crack between the seats on the airplane coming back from Portland, so he eagerly "flirted" with a young woman sitting behind him for part of the flight.

This young man is determined. This seems to be a consistent theme in the Tennyson household, likely due to the Mother's genetic contribution. He started crawling somewhere toward the end of his six month, pulling himself by his arms since he couldn't figure out how to get his knees up (he still pretty much does a "military crawl"). When he encounters and obstacle he cannot easily overcome, he growls deep in his tummy and keeps pushing with his chubby legs until it is vanquished. He is not easily distracted from his goal, which bodes for some interesting parenting challenges in the future! :)

Tristan has surprising hand and foot dexterity, something I definitely attribute to his father's genetic contribution. He has continuously surprised us by doing things with this arms and legs that we didn't believe could be done at his age. For example, he started passing items between his hands when he was very young, weeks before we expected based on the timelines we had read.

Tristan loves daddy's brand of "tactile stimulation," or basically baby oriented horse play. He screams with delight when I "toss" him around the bed, roll gently on top of him, or put him in various MMA moves (mixed martial arts for those who are not avid fans). He definitely is a very "physical" young man. He loves to play with his brother and is mesmerized by all of the cool movements that he cannot yet reproduce. Even now at just shy of eight months he is clearly a huge fan of his big brother!

The Tristan "roar" has become quite famous in our household. When he gets excited he will often throw back his head and let out a "raaaarrrr." Often the various family members will roar back, eliciting more of the same.

Tristan loves food and has begun to forgo mommies milk in order to stuff down some more rice cereal, yogurt, mango, slightly chewed turkey bacon (his favorite), or anything else that is put in front of him. He has been so food focused that keeping him hydrated has been a bit of a challenge as of late. He has been growing like a little weed and is wearing clothes three months ahead of his age. Kieran was always very slender so it is quite interesting to have such a lusty young lad in the family! :)

Well, I think that paints at least a bit of a picture of the impressions I have formed over the course of Tristan's short stint with the Tennyson's thus far. I am sure he has many surprises in store for us as we move ahead, an adventure we eagerly await.