Up, Beep, Uh Oh

Linus has picked up saying uh oh and he says it all of the time. Any time he drops something, the blocks tip over, or he spills water, I hear his little voice say, "Uh oh." He doesn't emphasize either syllable. He says "up" to mean up or down. If he is on a chair and wants help getting down, he says up. If he wants lifted up onto something, he says up. I find it quite charming. Beep continues to be one of the main words in his lexicon.

Here is a picture of Linus playing the piano at the museum. They are closing the Discovery Zone for two weeks and I'm excited to see what new things they'll have for us to play with. Matthew joked that maybe they are just giving the staff two weeks of vacation.

Cup Transition

The other night during dinner, Linus wanted my glass. I decided to give it to him to see how he would do and he did a good job of drinking without spilling it down the front of him. We told him, "Yay!" After every drink he would put the glass down and clap. He associates clapping with "yay." At lunch yesterday I gave him the silver cup we got engraved for him. He did a great job with it. Today, however, he put his food in it and stirred it around. Which isn't a bad job necessarily, but I had intended for him to drink from it.

This morning we met Cheryl at the coffee shop and went and joined her play group at Congress park. Cheryl has Lena, who is a few weeks older than Linus, and Gabriel, who is four. We met some other kids, like Daniel and Matthew. So many kids' and moms' names to remember! Linus has a way of meeting kids every where we go.

At the coffee shop, Linus and Lena played cute little chase and peekaboo games. At the park, they mostly each did their own thing. A boy had stowed his ball under the play equipment and Linus crawled under there to get it. The boy ran over and said in a very snotty way, "No! That's mine." I explained that Linus is little and just wanted to see the ball. The boy yelled again and I said, "Come here Linus. We'll go find someone who is willing to share." Linus was fine with it and ran off to play. On the walk home, Lena sang in a very cute little voice.

I'm starting to hear more about area preschools and some of what I hear is worrisome. In addition to being expensive, one of them asks strange questions on their application, such as whether the child was breast fed and how was he delivered at birth. And that is relevent how, exactly? I didn't think I had to worry about this yet, but apparently all the good preschools have waiting lists.

Corn, Again

We had corn on the cob again and Linus insisted on eating it with his fork. It kept falling off and he was becoming frustrated, so I jabbed the fork into the end of the cob, like a corn skewer. Then dinner went on quite peacefully, except that Linus only ate corn and nothing else.

We played at a new park today with Linus' new friend that he met at the library. Her name is Chase and she is only a couple of weeks older than Linus. Her parents just moved back to the States after being in China and Switzerland for work. I've been trying to help answer Langley's questions about where to go for different things. The babies play nicely together and it was fun to visit a new park. Langley calls it Turtle Park because there is a cement turtle in the play ground. Nearby is a coffee shop and bakery with the most gorgeous looking baked goods.

Berry Picking

Today Annalouiza and I took the babies to Berry Patch Farm in Brighton, which is about 25 minutes north of Denver. We had such a fun time and Linus was talking up a storm the rest of the day. I always interpret that as a sign that something made a big impression on him. When we first entered the grounds, Linus became very excited to see hens and roosters walking around. (I admit, I was also excited. I love chickens.) There were also turkeys in a pen and cute little banty chickens walking around. And numerous barn cats. Needless to say, Linus was in heaven. First we picked raspberries, which is depicted here. Annalouiza was instructing Linus and Lucero on picking red, not green, berries. The two kids couldn't shove the berries into their mouths fast enough. I only ended up with one basketful to bring home. Then we rode out on the wagon to the strawberry patch. Linus thought the tractor and wagon were very cool. The kids were pretty filled up with raspberries, so we were each able to bring home two baskets of strawberries. I had fun cutting my own flowers while Annalouiza watched the kids. Then we took turns watching the kids play while the other shopped in the farm market in the barn. Linus played on the wagon while it was between trips and Lucero played on a bale of straw.

It was the kind of experience that left me with a glow that persists even now, right before bed. For dinner I cooked up the patty pan squash and used an onion that we got at the farm and it felt so good knowing exactly where they came from. I've forgotten what that is like, since I haven't grown my own food since 2002. Linus "helped" me make dinner and when I was cutting up the onion, he grabbed some to eat. I watched to see his response and he proceeded to finish the slice he'd taken. It made me think of my mother, who likes to munch on raw onions.

Spectacular Sliding

Here is a picture of Linus on the big slide. Sliding is his favorite thing to do at the play ground.

Over the weekend we went to the main branch of the library downtown. The children's department is incredible. It has tons of books and is set up with lots of stuffed animals, a table-sized checkers game, big pillows, and whimsical paint colors on the walls. Linus got four books that we've had to read over, and over, and over again. We read so many books together each day and some get read probably 8 times. One book we got that I really like to read out loud is Baby Danced the Polka. Johanna (in Wisconsin) has this book. Linus likes it, but I think I enjoy it more. Matthew and I played with Linus a lot and the two went to the museum while I sewed yesterday afternoon. It was a pretty mellow holiday weekend for us.

Museum Fun

Here is Linus playing a djembe drum at the Museum of Nature and Science. The Museum has a Discovery Zone with hands on activities for kids. Volunteers and staff help kids explore and at 11 they hold a story time or activity. On this occasion the talk was about African music, specifically from the Ivory Coast. The kids got to hear some music and then play instruments. One kid broke a shakere and the facilitator handled it so well.

Linus' favorite activity is to play in the tub filled with a dish soap bubble concentration. There are a bunch of bubble wands in there. We can easily be at that tub for half an hour with me making bubbles and encouraging kids, while Linus watches and swishes wands around in the soap. I think it is fun to get to make a bubble mess on carpet! He also likes to play the piano. It has a window so one can see what happens inside when keys are pressed. After he played it for the first time, he was much more interested in his little 4-key toy piano.

Up

Linus' first real verbal command is "up." For example, he accidentally knocked his cup off the table and he pointed to it on the floor and said, "Up." Hooray! He still points at things he wants and grunts or whines, which is effective, yet annoying, communication.

Linus said a great full sentence the other day. I handed him his toy cow and he said, "The cow says moo." I can't even begin to guess how many times I've said that sentence to him in his short life, so it wasn't all that surprising except that it was a full sentence.

I've been under the weather all week and the three of us are just getting by, which is why I haven't posted. But little Linus is doing great.

Social Graces

We are trying to raise Linus to be a courteous lad, among other traits like being open-minded and into social justice, environmentalism, the arts, etc. I've always been impressed with how polite my nephew Brandon has been from an early age. I have him in mind as I consistently tell Linus please and thank you so that he picks it up from the beginning. It has already started to pay off. The other day as I handed him blocks he said, "Kew," after each one. He was saying, "Thank you."

Linus loves to meet people. At the two birthday parties last Saturday he was quick to meet new kids. Here are pictures of him meeting girls. The one is of him going up to meet a girl at Bennett's party at the sand and water park in the Stapleton neighborhood. Bennett turned two. The other photo is of him playing with the bubble machine with a girl at Charlotte's first birthday party in the evening. (He has made so many new friends here in Denver! Two parties in one day! I've never been to two birthday parties in one day!) The other pictures are of Bennett exhibiting birthday joy to his mom Genna (she is in orange) and the picture of the birthday girl in the high chair is Charlotte. Her parents are shown singing to her. Bennett and Charlotte both live on our block.

Linus kissed his first baby! I was holding a six-month old from the neighborhood and I asked Linus if he could give her a kiss. He leaned right over and kissed the top of her head. Everyone responded positively, so he kept giving her kisses. I joked that if we had another baby, Linus would love it to death.

Park

The playground has reopened at the park near our house. It has been closed due to construction work the entire time we have lived here. Linus and I went and played there this morning. He liked watching some bigger kids play. Once they left, he went and climbed around the play structure. He is getting more confident walking across the bridge that dips down and sways a bit. He still holds onto my hand while he does it, though. When we go down the big curvy slide together he laughs.

I told Linus, "I love you," the other night and he repeated it back. Yesterday when we returned home from the museum I said, "Home again, home again; jiggedy jig," and he said, "Jiggedy jig." I love to hear him say things.

Either he is teething or coming down with something because he went down for a nap an hour and a half earlier than usual.

(The one picture is of Linus holding onto me at the park. I held the camera down by our hands and hoped for the best as I clicked it.)

Beep

Here is Linus eating his first corn on the cob at Martha's and Bill's. We had some at home on Monday night that was soooo incredibly sweet and fresh. It was Olathe, a variety grown in Olathe, Colorado. The newspaper proclaimed it the best sweet corn and they were right. We had the butter dish on the table and Linus wanted some. I cut off a small pat and put it on his plate, intending to instruct him in buttering his corn. I didn't move fast enough and he promptly ate the pat of butter. Matthew guessed that Linus thought it was cheese. He wanted more, but I didn't give him any more and told him he'd had enough fat.

One of the snacks at Bennett's birthday party were little boxes of raisins. Linus thought this was the coolest thing ever. It became a love-hate relationship when he brought a box of them home. They would get stuck in the box and he would lose his patience, fling the box around, and holler. In the process, raisins went flying. I finally threw the box away and only give him raisins in little bags or bowls.

Last night Linus said hi to a man when he was out for a walk with Matthew and he told me "night night" when I said it to him at bed time. The word he says most frequently is beep. Any time he hears the microwave, a car, or construction equipment backing up and there is beeping involved, he says beep and grins.

Sponge

Linus is going through another phase in which he is fascinated by everything and I can tell he is soaking up loads of information. Since he received the Market Day book from BryAnn last week, I picked up on his interest in books that have more complex pictures on each page instead of a picture of a single object. He studies each page in that book with so much focus. And by the way, his way of saying cockadoodledoo is "cockadoo." I wish you could hear him say it. Yesterday at the library I got him a book with Jack and Jill as the story line and pictures taken of little felt dolls acting it out. Linus is especially interested in the part about Jack breaking his crown. At that part Linus puts his hand to his head. When we went for our walk this morning, he wanted to bring it along. I wasn't too keen on his taking a library book outside, but he wouldn't let go of it. So off we went for our walk and about 2 houses up, he plopped down in the middle of the sidewalk and wanted me to read it to him. One of the neighbors was mowing his lawn and he laughed when he saw us.

Before Matthew left for work this morning I made a run to a community-wide yard sale at the nearby elementary school. I got some books and a toy shopping cart for Linus. He was so excited about the books. He pulled them from the cart and couldn't decide which to look at first. What a joyful moment that was for all of us. One of the books he'll have to grow into, but I had to get it. It was one I recognized from my childhood. It is called Be Nice to Spiders by Margaret Bloy Graham, copyright 1967. It is a Weekly Reader Book Club edition, from back when they sold hardcover books. It is a wonderful book to add to our collection.

Here is Linus playing in the play house I made for him out of a dishwasher box. We've been having so much fun with this thing. We play a variety of peekaboo games, including one involving his stuffed snowy owl. In one side of the box I cut a door and in each of the other sides I cut windows of different styles. I had a blast making this for Linus and look forward to one day helping Linus decorate a box playhouse with crayons or markers.

Helper

Linus is big into helping. He loves to help me with the laundry. If I'm sorting clothes, he puts dirty clothes into the dryer. When it is time to move the clothes from the washer into the dryer, I hand them to him and he shoves them in. When I fold clothes, he piles them up in the basket. Matthew and Linus put Linus' toys and books away in his room at the end of the day and Linus has come to like putting his books on his shelf. This morning, he pulled a bunch of books down and then sat there and put them back. What a fun game! When I pack his diaper bag to go somewhere, I usually hand him something to put in. Then he finds other things to put in there, like toys, books, or papers.

Here is Linus helping me make cucumber salad. He played with the peeler and helped peel the onion.

Joyful Gift Recipient

BryAnn sent Linus some belated birthday presents. The one that caused the biggest response was a wood mobile with a cat at the top and tropical fish dangling. He pulled it out of the box and proceeded to giggle with joy. It was cute to see him so excited.

We all went to the City Park Arts Festival this morning and one of the vendors gave Linus a pinwheel. He looked adorable waving it around while he rode on Matthew's shoulders and it was a beautiful sight to see him riding in the stroller with the pinwheel spinning in the breeze. What work of art did we purchase? A peach pie. We met the baker, the owner of a bakery in town that uses organic ingredients. She'd baked the pie this morning. Since I won't be turning on the oven until the daily temperature drops below 60, what a delight for us to have this pie. Plus, a lot of peaches are grown in Colorado, so we should enjoy the bounty.

Verbal Skills Explosion

In the last week, Linus has become very verbal. Every day he says something new. We've made the call, and his first word was baby. We were waiting for him to use a word more than once without us saying it first, and that is the word. His second word was tree. He pointed to one in a book and said tree. He said cat on Wednesday. Yesterday he said his first sentence, "Wuter doin?" for "What are they doing?" He excitedly pointed to a bulldozer working in the park as he asked it. I was blown away. Later in the day he attempted to say cockadoodleoo after I said it while reading a book to him. That was hilarious! He also said no for the first time this week. His one and only time saying it was in response to my asking if he wanted to ride Bennett's bike.

In other exciting news, Linus identified the following body parts by pointing to his body instead of mine: eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, hair, ears, and toes.

Here is Linus at the sand and water park in the Stapleton neighborhood. He'd just finished eating a plum and has a red, sticky face. The water aspect of the sand box wasn't working, but about 20 kids showed up and played. By 10 o'clock the sun was nearly literally cooking us and we fled for home.

16 Months Old

Today Linus is 16 months old. No matter how crazy life gets, or the fact that I lose track of what day of the week it is; I always remember the 3rd of each month. Here is what Linus is up to these days:
-He loves to play with the Mega Blocks Brandon passed down to him. He has just started building with them. He takes me by one finger and pulls me into his room to build with him.
-In the last week he has started saying things that approximate English. He repeats things we say. He has said hat, baby, beep beep, cat, yay. For cat today he said, "Ta," When I asked if he could say bird, he said, "Bee bee." Which is how he says baby. I pointed out a dump truck to him on our walk today and he said, "Duh tuh." He said, "Bee bee" on the phone to his uncle Peter the other night when we called him to talk about the new baby, Linus' brand new cousin, Lorraine (aka Lorrie).
-He blows zerberts on my legs and arms.
-He laughs really hard when we play chase and it is so much fun.
-He enjoys it when I do the finger play that goes like this: These are Linus' fingers. These are Linus' toes. This is Linus' belly button; round and round it goes.

Rice Krispy Treat

Here is Linus enjoying a rice krispy treat that he pilfered from a plate on the step while I hooked up the sprinkler. We had just returned from Bennett's house and Linus was wet, coated in sand from the sand box, and sticky from the orange juice popsicles. I thought I'd water the lawn and rinse Linus off before bringing him inside. His diaper is sagging because it is bloated from when Linus sat down in the wading pool.

My version of rice krispy treat for my kid? I use organic brown rice krispies, organic free trade chocolate chips, organic butter, and the regular old mysterious marshmallows. My mother always made rice krispy treats with chocolate in them and that is my favorite kind. We took them to Bennett's house for the party.

Tired kid update: He fell asleep in his high chair again while eating lunch. The thing is, he did it with pretty much no notice. He pointed to something on the counter, then put his head down and zonked right out. I guess I'll move lunch up a bit. We had a fun time at the zoo this morning, so I guess I wore him out.

The Week of the Popsicles

Linus had his first popsicle at the zoo with Sara and Billy. Then I got a popsicle mold that makes them in the shape of sailboats. I put blueberry yogurt in them and we enjoyed those popsicles together on a very hot day. Then Linus and Bennett each had three orange juice popsicles at a summer party at Bennett's house. If I'm going to have a popsicle, I choose a fudgesicle, but homemade ones are lots of fun to share with little Linus.

(Bennett turns two later this month. His favorite toy is his lawn mower and he also likes to push Linus in the stroller if we encounter him when we are out for a walk. He isn't very good at sharing yet, but his moms are working on that with him.)

Tired Out Little Kid

Linus fell asleep while eating his lunch one day last week. I had to take pictures because it was cracking me up how he was still sticking food into his mouth as his eyelids were drooping shut. He was so tired, he continued sleeping as I cleaned him up and then tucked him into bed for a much needed nap.

I just tucked him in for a nap after he fell asleep on me on the couch. We were playing a version of peekaboo and he fell and cut his cheek on the corner of a base board. I made him feel better with hugs and kisses and stories on the couch. Next thing I knew, he was fast asleep. There is nothing like having a sleeping baby in one's arms.

Wisconsin Visit

I can't believe we visited Wisconsin instead of living there! Here are a couple of pictures from just over a week ago when we were in Madison to see family and attend American Players Theatre. We had wonderful meals with everyone and Linus got to sleep in Brandon's room with him. Brandon also read to him. Linus spent Saturday with Sara and Billy. He got to sit in Billy's race car and had fun at the zoo. Next summer we'll get to spend more time in Wisconsin and see our Green Bay friends.

Guiness Book

Saturday night we took Linus to the Denver Art Museum for their free weekend of activities, including having the community stop by and paint on the gigantic paint-by-number picture. They were trying to break the Guiness Book of World Record's record for longest paint-by-number. All three of us painted on it. We also saw a fire dancer and checked out an exhibit that is finishing up at the museum. Linus was up past his bedtime by about an hour and boy was he irritable on Sunday. I guess we just tried to pack in too much in too short of a time.

There are so many fun free things to do in Denver. On Sunday I attended a free performance of Much Ado About Nothing performed by No Holds Bard and last night I went to see their performance of Hamlet while Matthew and Linus attended Mayor Hickenlooper's inaugural party at the Botanic Gardens.

Sprinkler Lesson

One warm evening last week, the three of us went for a walk and tried out an ice cream shop we hadn't been to before. Linus arrived back at home with chocolate ice cream dried up around his mouth. Matthew took Linus in the house while I turned on the sprinkler for the lawn. In Wisconsin I have never watered a lawn, but here we need to. Linus came back outside and walked to the sprinkler. He was shocked when it sprayed him in the face with water. I thought I would allay his distress by demonstrating how fun it is to run through the sprinkler. He still wasn't convinced, so I scooped him up and we ran through it together. He liked it better this way because I kept his face out of the water.

Four Firsts

Friday was a big day for Linus! "Why?" you ask. Here is why:
1. He crawled for the first time!!!! He crawled across his room in the morning and in the afternoon he crawled in the living room and Matthew witnessed it, too. We were both in shock.
2. He walked down steps by himself, using the handrail. I got a picture of it because I was taking pictures of him sitting on the steps in the back of our house and then he proceeded to walk down the stairs. This is the first time he did this by himself.
3. He was on television. We went to dinner at our Indian restaurant and a local news station was there filming a story about how the restaurant's business was effected by the closing of a nearby hospital. We were all on the news, but Matthew and I were excited for Linus to be on television. No one was as excited as his Aunt Stephanie, who LOVES television.
4. Linus brushed his teeth for the first time. Now that he has teeth, the doctor said it was time to start teaching him to brush his teeth. Matthew and I demonstrated for him. I got him a cute little tooth brush with Sesame Street characters on it. (They didn't have any without licensed characters.)

Latest Interests

As I mentioned before, Linus has become very interested in sitting in chairs. He also sits on the vacuum cleaner, my head if I'm lying on the floor, and the step stool. Over the weekend he figured out how to climb up onto the dining room chairs, but he dances around up there instead of sitting down. Yesterday the chair flipped over backwards and he hit his head. So far today he hasn't climbed the chairs.

He is also interested in eating out of little containers. I put his fruit or crackers in little bowls for him and he gets a kick out of it. He also enjoys pulling crackers out of ziplock bags.

Our realtor gave Linus a soccer ball and showed him how to kick it. He wouldn't kick it with her, but when we took it out to our back yard he kicked it around with me.

Linus is able to point to my eyes, nose, mouth, and sometimes ears, but he won't point to anything of his except for his nose. One day he'll suddenly be able to do it, as that is his way.

Cowboy

Before leaving Wisconsin, I procured a second hand rocking cow for Linus. He likes riding it, as well as sitting on it and looking at books now and then. The other night after his bath he ran over and got on for a ride. We were cracking up!

15 Months

Linus turned 15 months old on Tuesday and the very next day decided to try eating yogurt with a spoon, with some coaching from Matthew. He mostly sees the spoon as a plaything, but he's on the right track.

We went to the Botanic Gardens this morning and saw a duck with five ducklings. They were adorable. I was gushing over them and Linus acted as though we saw baby ducks every day. He was more interested in the kids that gathered around. (Linus' rash has healed so it was okay to be in public.)

Flirtation

Last week it was dastardly hot and so I set up a little baby pool in the back yard for Linus. At first he sat down next to it and played in the water with a boat. I told him a few times that he could get in and then he stepped in and played while standing. He eventually sat down to play and splash. It was fun to hang out with him back there in the shade. And I was very happy to capture his coy look. This is the look he gives to the neighborhood women when they call out to him from their porches. He also gives it to our realtor now and then. He had never given it to me before and I happened to be snapping a picture just then.

Linus has been sick since Saturday evening. He suffered from a fever of 101 and he didn't sleep well. He also cried a lot. His fever went away and it was followed by a rash. I took him into the doctor on Tuesday and he was diagnosed with head, foot, and mouth disease. He also had the beginning of his very first ear infection. So he is on an antibiotic for the ear infection and he can't be around other kids until his rash heals. That is when he'll no longer be contagious. It isn't very fun being stuck in the house. The temperature cooled down some and it would have been a good day to go to the zoo. We'll play in the back yard when he gets up from his nap and go for a walk this evening. We'll just keep him away from kids. He started feeling better yesterday. Thank heavens. It is nice to have my happy baby back.

Chair Fascination

Linus has become very interested in sitting in chairs. This strikes me as odd since the kid has never been interested in sitting and has always wanted to be on the move. He has a little red plastic chair that I junk-picked (also known as curb shopping) and his way of getting into it is to climb up on it into a standing position and then he tries to maneuver into a sitting position. The chair is too small for him to do that, so I come to the rescue each time. Then he sits there swinging his legs and looking very pleased. I hand him a book sometimes and he looks at it while sitting there.

His interest in chairs has even led him to stand at his high chair and gesture and grunt in a way that tells me he wants to be lifted up into it. So I put him up there, whereupon he sits for a minute or two looking around and then wants me to lift him out. He also likes rocking chairs and uses his whole body to get the chair to rock. Yesterday his great aunt and uncle Martha and Bill watched him for me while I got my drivers license and car emissions checked so I can register my car here. They pulled out Thomas' chair from childhood and Linus enjoyed sitting in that. In the afternoon, we all sat outside on the breezy deck, each in our own chair, and enjoyed ice cream sandwiches. I gave Linus a third of mine and he gobbled it right up.

Linus Meets Margaret

We had a great trip to Virginia and D.C. over the weekend. It meant a lot to us for Margaret and Linus to meet one another. Linus was interested in her cane and walker. After he warmed up to her, he liked handing her things through her walker or playing peekaboo. Actually, he'd act like he was handing her a book and then pull it back as she reached for it. He really enjoyed going up and down the stairs with our help and he liked carrying around a stuffed tiger he found in the girls' room. Another activity that entertained him was playing with the gravel in the driveway.

Margaret told Matthew she wasn't going to try to hold Linus, but when we were saying our goodbyes, she did. I stayed right there by her side to make sure that if Linus lunged, I could help out. It is interesting to think about how Margaret and Linus are 100 years apart and all that Margaret has seen and all that Linus will see.

Summer Fun

We went to the Museum of Nature and Science right away this morning before it got too hot to walk there. I like taking Linus in the morning because the museum is pretty quiet and he can run around the exhibit halls without annoying anyone. Other stay-at-home parents are there and Linus usually makes a friend each time we go. When we left, the H2Odyssey was on. This is an interactive water feature; basically it is a fun fountain that people of all ages enjoy. It shoots up sprays of water, starting out with only two sprays and working up to all 30 or so going at once. People run through it squealing. We joined some other kids down there playing and they lent Linus this blue bucket to play with. The water felt so good in the heat.

We leave tomorrow for D.C. to visit Matthew's grandmother and to see some sights. Linus and I return home on Monday and Matthew will be gone all week.

House Hunting and Books

Yesterday afternoon Linus and I went around with a realtor for some preliminary house hunting. Linus was a good sport about getting in and out of the car so many times and not getting to walk around much. Of five houses, only one was good and it was so cute I was ready to move in right then. And the neighbors have a goose!!!! A perfect fit for us! Our Green Bay realtor said a family went through our house for the second time. I hope they make us an offer.

Since last Friday Linus has been looking at books on his own, as well as bringing me the same book over and over and over again to read. It is kind of cute, but tiresome, too. His room here is large enough that we put a book case in it with most of his books on the bottom shelf. There are two large books that don't fit on the shelf so they are in the living room on the coffee table. Those are the two that he tends to have me repeatedly read. One is a Little People on the farm book with flaps to lift and the other has photos of animals.

Table Manners

Recently at the Indian restaurant the waitperson gave Linus a little melamine bowl for his food. He did a good job with it and didn't toss it on the floor. I decided he was ready for his own plates. We went to Target and I got him some fun melamine plates from the summer/picnic aisle. One has fish, another has suns, one is gingham, and one is shaped like a strawberry. They are lots more fun than the plates in the kid department. That night with dinner he used the strawberry plate. We've started giving him his spoon, but he mostly just plays with it. Once in a while, when his food is gone, he puts the plate up to his face or on his head. For the three weeks when we wouldn't have our things here, I got Linus a travel booster seat. We now have it at the dining table and he eats dinner at the table with us instead of in his high chair. Breakfast and lunch tend to be in the high chair in the kitchen.

A few evenings ago I asked Linus if he could give me a hug and kiss. I hadn't done this before and didn't know what I'd get. He leaned in close and put his mouth on my nose. I thanked him and then asked if I could give him a kiss. He leaned in and put his nose in my mouth. So sweet and goofy.

A Boy and His (Neighbors') Dog

The people on the other side of our duplex have this cute little dog. Her name is Diva and Linus adores her. He gets so excited and squeals when he sees her. Sometimes he even drools, which is a sure sign that he is really excited. Diva was out in the back yard the other day when Linus and I were back there playing with his new sand and water table. (We just have water in it.) He kept offering her his wet socks. She is the perfect size for him to get comfortable with dogs and to learn how to gently pet an animal.

Some of Linus' new skills or interests: good at climbing stairs, eating off of a plate, closing doors, carrying things from one place to another and then taking them all back again, starting to push his corn popper toy, looking at books on his own. He also now has six teeth