Blog Archives - January 2008

January has come and is now going and as usual I've been lazy about posting. Michael is getting so big we can't believe that a year ago he was just starting to sit up, stand while holding things, and roll over. He has come so far in just a year. Now he's running, talking, and learning to jump. He can't get both feet off the ground to jump, but he lifts one foot very high. He's half way to a full jump! And a few weeks ago he learned how to make the smack sound when giving a kiss and he is very proud of himself. So proud that he's been kissing everything in sight, from us to Moxie to his toys to his food to furniture to photos to ... just about everything.

We've also seen his vocabulary start to increase. He still doesn't say things perfectly clear, but he does have a lot of new words. In addition to dog, duck, dad, toes and lights he now says cheese, Gee & Oh (as in the letters G and O - I have a t-shirt with the Google logo on it that he loves), Oh Wow, All Right, George (as in Curious George - which he loves - it comes out as GeeGee), and a few other things, including his favorite phrase (which we have no idea of its meaning) - Doot Dah. His comprehension is skyrocketing, too. We can ask him to do stuff and he does! He can find his ears, hair, nose, mouth, eyes, toes, and belly button. And he'll tell you what a monkey says (MmmMmm), a frog says (BrrBrr for ribbit-ribbit), and a cow says (Oooo). And he can identify dogs, ducks, lions, tigers, snakes, monkeys, frogs, and a few other animals. He has a few "Find the..." and "Words" type books and he can pick out quite a few different things.

Also, he seems to be getting an imagination now. Instead of just throwing toys around the last few days have seen him actually start playing with them imaginatively. He is starting to put his blocks together, drives his cars and trucks around objects, puts the toy people into his vehicles, and more. Today I took him to the grocery store and he had fun pretending his toy alligator and iguana were crawling around and fighting each other. He also is getting interested in stuff happening on TV. He loves watching Curious George and Clifford on PBS. He'll turn the TV on and click the channels looking for GeeGee (George) or Doah (Dog). He also likes a few commercials. Some he just watches (the Kia commercial with the guy dancing to Maniac) and others he dances to (like a Honda commercial). And whenever the AT&T Monkey Commercial comes on he stops, points to the TV and goes "MmmMmm" for monkey!

Eating has also been getting interesting. He's been eating a ton lately, probably for yet another growth spurt. (He's almost 33 inches tall now!) Whatever we have for dinner he has, too. He likes tons of typically 'adult' food, like sour kraut, sausage, pirogies, etc. And of course he still loves his broccoli, cheese, peas, baked beans, potatoes, etc. And he's been getting very good at eating with a fork. He is still a lot more efficient with his hands, but he's getting good at getting food (even peas) onto his fork and then into his mouth.

He also likes helping out around the house. He helps me unload the dishwasher, loves helping Mommy vacuum, and loves using the broom or swiffer to clean the floor, walls, and Moxie. He is turning into such a little person. I can't wait to see what the next year brings...