Thomas updates

Here is what the little guy is up to these days:
- Crawling, for real now, though not particularly quickly yet -- but getting faster every day.
- Making the saddest, loneliest face and breaking into tears whenever Dad or Mom heads towards a door. If we actually go through the door, he crawls towards it, crying. This was especially sweet & sad when he was first crawling because he was so slow. Poor guy! And poor Dad -- home during the day and has to decide to let Thomas cry any time he wants to use the restroom.
- Getting from all fours to sitting. Which helps with . . .
- Pulling up, on chairs, suitcases, or whatever else we can find to keep his play area interesting.
- Laughing. Of note this week, Dad doing push-ups and seeing himself on top of mom in the mirror (i.e., on my shoulders) are both hysterical.
- Eating pretty much anything we give him. He has been quite an adventurous eater! But more on this later.
- Grinding his three teeth together (two lower, one upper). This gives me the willies.
- Babbling away, especially when other things are quiet. Early morning and during prayers and sermons at church are some favorite times.
- Smiling at strangers. He makes a lot of friends everywhere we go.

And, on health matters: Thomas was completely healthy for the first two weeks. Then, beginning in Chennai, he developed first an upper respiratory infection and then a little bout of travelers' diarrhea. The URI was most likely RSV: cold symptoms which worsened after a few days into bronchiolitis with development of a low-grade fever, and it's the season for it here. And the TD was worrisome, but never got too bad, and lasted for only a few days rather than the average 18-30 days it generally lasts in infants (!) thanks to a timely dose of azithromycin syrup. We did whip up a batch of oral rehydration solution and gave him a few sips, but it thankfully turned out to be basically unnecessary.