Can you wave Joseph?

It is pretty easy to tell when Joseph is learning a new motor skill (still something new everyday); however I find it much harder to see his linguistic progress. He makes all sorts of noises and sounds including of course "mama" and "dada," but I haven't seen any proof that he knows what he is talking about. He will mimic you, but that is not the same! Now for the first time I have some of that proof for which I have been waiting.

Last week we decided to try and teach him to wave. One evening we worked on it and he caught on! We were delighted. He was so into it that he did it all the time. When he woke up in the middle of the night and I went in to him he was waving away. Now the trick has further improved. As of two days ago if you say "can you wave Joseph?" HE WAVES!!! This is so exciting to me. Our first real verbal communication (beyond me responding to his cries/screams). Still waiting on communication going the other direction. I predict his first word will be “Kitty.”

How to make Joseph smile—or hopefully laugh so hard he gets the hiccups!

1. Kiss him! Kisses, kisses, kisses everywhere.
2. Bring kitty near. Anything to do with Kitty is HILARIOUS. Chasing Kitty (or Kitty hunting) is probably his favorite activity (after eating).
3. Demonstrate your best dance moves. Shake your booty!
4. Then pick him up and dance together. Lots of bouncing and spinning appreciated.
5. Give him something to climb on. Tired parents works well. As do stairs, boxes, pretty much anything. (A new trick this week is that he can climb up the entire set of stairs by himself!)
6. Use a different accent or funny voice.
7. Mke a silly face.
8. Tickle, tickle, tickle.
9. Dust. The swiffer duster is apparently very comical.
10. Make silly noises. Beep, sneeze, hiccup . . .
11. Smile at him.
12. Find a mirror.
13. Wave, put your hands in the air, clap . . .
14. Find an exciting toy. Which usually means something that was certainly not intended to be a toy. Wooden spoon, papers, magazines, box, shoes, Tupperware, belt . . .
15. As far as toys go balls are probably the favorite. I just got him a big huge yoga ball that he loves. He likes it if you throw balls or bean bags at him or drop them on his head. Sounds weird but he absolutely cracks up.
16. Open a door and let him make a mad dash for it.
17. The list goes on and on. It is amazing the crazy things you do to hear that giggle--and the totally unexpected things that get it going.

Crazy times

You always hear about how “things change ever day” with babies. Up until this point I did not feel that this was true at all. In general each milestone seemed to be long awaited and very hard work. All of a sudden though the pace just seems to be accelerating like crazy. Something new is always happening. The difference between what he is doing today and a week is nearly unbelievable to me. If you told me that he will be playing basketball in a month I would probably believe you. It is so amazing and crazy. Examples: It was probably about two weeks ago he figured out how to sit up on his own and maybe a week and a half ago he just barely started pulling up on things. About the same time he really started feeding himself food (picking up chunks with his fingers). Maybe four days ago he all of sudden was a lot better at pulling up and can do it just about anywhere on anything. Two days ago was the first time he started “creeping” while holding onto furniture. Today he suddenly decided to climb up three steps, to practice standing in his crib instead of sleeping, and even to crawl in the typical style. He is into everything all the time. We think he is waving now and he definitely will hold a blanket in front of his face and then lower it to play peak-a-boo. Brad and I have a bet: If he is walking (or to be very clear, we decided if he takes 5 steps by himself) by March 12th (a month from when we made the deal) I win. Holy crap!

I am sure I am missing a bunch of his other new tricks and I am also sure I sound like a complete gushing/obsessed-with-her-baby new mom. But, well, I guess I am.

Videos!?

So, let's see how my technical savvy is doing. I tried to upload two videos below. One is to document Joseph's special way of "crawling" (many have suggested I do so) and the other to show his new trick of standing! I know the second is going sideways, but it was cuter then the ones I took going the right direction. My tech savvy isn't good enough to figure out how to rotate it! Also, they are super short since they are just taken with my camera. Let me know if this works. All my best to everyone. (And yes, he is in his pajamas in the middle of the afternoon. Why not?)

He's a cutie-pie!

New Years Day

First big hike (during the January thaw)

Dad takes over

Grandma gave me a cookie! (His first)

Crawling and climbing and getting into everything . . .

Moving--in my own way

On Wyatt's bike

First picture of him standing all by himself!

I love playing in my shelves

Being cuddly

Just before he took his first steps holding onto the truck



Coming to get you!