Tidbits

There have been a few "happenings" around here that I have been meaning to share but this week kind of got away from me. It was a good week, but time always flies by.

• This week I changed the sheets on Travis' bed and I had Justin helping me. He loves to get on beds and couches and crawl around. Since I was working on the bed he couldn't do that, so instead he stood up and walked (cruised) along the bed to the other end where I was working! I took quite a bit of coaxing for him to do it again, but since then he has been doing it more and more, with no prompting!
  

• We have discovered that Justin's little play house works perfectly for fighting fires. We can save Justin from the burning building and Travis can put out the fire. Too fun!
  
  

• My mom came to town for Meat Day and a little visit. I had to work so she and Randy were home with the kids. She decided to sing "Frere Jacques" to them. She then explained what it meant and told the kids to pretend they were asleep. I can't believe how much Justin understands and does when we ask. He knew just what to do. Both boys are pretending to sleep.

Justin just couldn't resist peaking! And even Travis' stuffed groundhog got into the game.

• Justin is getting so much more independent. He wants to do things himself, particularly eating and drinking. We found that the Nuby cup, which we tried earlier and he just spilled all over himself, now seems to work very well. He liked to bite the top and then didn't actually drink. Now he bites on it and totally destroys the plastic valve, BUT he can do it HIMSELF. So we are thankful for bibs at our house. He now also has made the connection that biting on the valve releases the drink, AND (most importantly) he WANTS to drink. He now will boycott food on occasion and just drink. Hey, that's an improvement for us. And although he's small for his age, I am confident he will not suffer from missing a meal.



• Justin loves books and flips through them really well. He really looks at the pictures and he has started pointing out things for us to name He can't identify things specifically for us yet. (Where is the puppy?) But I think he is imitating sounds to attempt to say the word. I just get all fuzzy-feeling when I see Justin in the middle of a pile of books. His favorite game is emptying the bookshelf. I know, sometimes it's difficult to find the one you really want!
  

Kicking back with a book. It might help to turn it around.

Yes, Justin, that's a raccoon. Don't get so excited, we don't like them!

I know Justin is trying to say words and we just don't get it yet. I think "Travis" might be his first word. His voice is making the inflections that sounds like the rhythm of a word, but his lips and mouth can't make the shape to have it sound right. I really think he will be saying words before too long. We already think he says "yes" and "this". And in the car the other day Randy said he thought for sure that Justin said "Hi, Daddy".

And the biggest thing is just that Justin is doing new things almost daily. It's hard to keep track. He knows all about shoes and when he's ready to go he gets them for me to put on. I might have done him a disservice by getting him the same shoes as Travis. Sometimes he cannot tell the difference and brings me one of each! He points to things all the time and "asks" about them with his tone of voice. It has been fun watching him interact with toys and books. He thoroughly enjoys himself!