Latest Developments

The baby is really growing up, especially in the last month or so. Our latest development is that he now feeds himself with his hands, and today he even fed himself applesauce with his own spoon. I share my food with him, and usually he would stick his chin out, mouth open and tongue out slightly to take in whatever food I placed on it. But now, he takes the food from my fingers with his own little fingers and puts it in his mouth himself. He is a big fan of Cheerios, and Happy Baby Organic Puffs from Duane Reade. He likes most food I give him, especially rice and chicken. He is also expanding his vocabulary. He says "Dada" when he sees K. He says "Mama" and I do think he is referring to me. He says "Elmo". He says "Bye Bye" and waves his little hand. He repeats "No no no," when I reprimand him, but it sounds more like "Nah, nah, nah". And when he gets really upset at me taking something away from him that he shouldn't have, he throws a little tantrum, a crying scream with flailing arms and arched back. Oh boy! But that doesn't happen too often. He is really very silly and he gets my humor, we have some great laughs. He sometimes just laughs all on his own, just to laugh. And what a smile, it is contagious. His two top teeth are beginning to surface, I can see the faint white lines. He is experimenting with turning and he does walk, but he still needs some support after a few steps. We practice in the hallway outside our apartment, I am still just so terrified of him falling down on our tile floors. I do have a space in the living room sectioned off with his Alphabet Foam squares from One Step Ahead. His doctor assured me that he won't get enough momentum to hurt himself if he does fall on our tile floor, but it is still hard to just let him go for it, not to mention that there really isn't much clearance in the way of space anyway. Plus, he's a real daredevil and when I have him in the hallway, he actually tries to run. Yes, I'm gonna have a full head of grey hair with this one, LOL. The baby also loves to DANCE. When he hears music he likes, and he does have preferences, he goes up and down on his toes, bending his knees, and flaps his right hand up and down at the wrist. The baby's favorite music is BLUES - he loves Little Walter, and Robert Johnson, among others. We listen to the Blues Music Choice channel on cable. He is so much fun and so fascinating.