More Halloween Cuteness

Dang, why did I make "duck" my first word! This hood is annoying........

Uh-oh, Mom, we have a problem here! (With Marley, our across-the-street neighbor.)

I'll show you my pacifier if you show me yours!

Halloween Warm-up

Just had a nice-sized spider run across my keyboard as I was catching up on other people's blogs.... a sure sign of fall in Colorado. We're getting ready for a balmy Halloween weekend here. Of course, Micah doesn't know what this is about, but we plan to take him out to some daytime costume events to show him off in his adorable duck costume. Photos of that to come, but in the meantime, thought I'd show off what he wore to daycare today, courtesy of Aunt Victoria (cute beret came home with me from France). Little boys aren't nearly as much fun to dress as little girls, but this is pretty darn cute!

Where did you learn THAT????

Micah's 15th month has been one new trick after another. I was away from home for a week on a long-awaited get-away with two dear friends (to France!!! I'm a very lucky mommy!) and came back to find a skinny little boy where my soft baby had been. Adam kindly pretended that Micah hadn't walked his first steps alone while I was gone, but then, the first day I picked him up from daycare, he took a few steps to the teacher. While I felt a twinge of jealousy, I also am happy beyond measure to see him grow and become independent. Walking away from me is what he was born to do.

His walk is like Frankenstein, and he still prefers to have a finger or two supporting him (or to crawl), but every day he gets a little stronger and more sure of himself.

Other new and surprising tricks come every day. A few days ago, I was in the bathroom washing my face and heard him crawl in behind me. I turned off the water to see him, and was confused when I heard water still running. He had gotten into the bathtub and turned on the faucets, and was watching the water hit his shoes. On another day, I was making a quick potty stop before taking him to daycare, and he came in and sat down on the little step-stool we have next to the sink. Where did you learn to sit on a chair like that?? So cute!

Daycare is where a lot of these new tricks come from. Yesterday when I picked him up, he was sitting at the table with two other kids, "coloring," or at least, holding a crayon. He's also learned to get onto a swing and will hold onto the chains while Daddy pushes him (with a hand positioned in front and back just in case his attention waivers.)

My favorite new development is an interest in looking at books. From about the time mobility started, he's had very little interest in sitting to look at books, but now he will pull books off his shelf and turn the pages. His favorites seem to be ones with photos rather than illustrations, particularly of animals and babies. Every day he wants to look at his books called "Cats" and another called "Dogs" that has tabs that move the animals' tails. I'm partial to the page that has 4 dog pictures showing "Bark dog, howl dog, sniff the tree. All dogs poop and all dogs pee" -- the tab lets you move the dog's leg to show it peeing on a tree.

All this learning is tiring, though! By 6 pm on several nights this week, Micah cruised over to his crib to look for his pacifier, by which I decided that he was ready for bed. A few minutes of snuggling and our special song, and I put him in the crib and he happily curls up and settles down within moments.

Life is good and babyhood is fleeting!

Autumn sights and sounds

It has been a lovely, warm fall here and we're trying to take full advantage after August's heat and September's day care/diaper mess. Micah continues to be a gentle, loving, easygoing little boy, as long as he gets enough sleep and lots of food! Within the last 2 weeks, he went from no walking to some tentative steps (only when one of us holds at least one hand); it is only a matter of days before he forgets to plop down to the ground and crawl when he wants to go somewhere.

We're also enjoying Micah's newly learned playfulness. He's starting to find it funny when Adam "wrestles" with him, and will also play peek-a-boo type games. Thankfully, mischieviousness has not yet arrived, though I have no doubt it will, knowing that he's Adam's progeny. A few days ago, he discovered this box full of packing foam, and amused himself for a long time in it.

And words! Words, words, words, a new one appearing every few days. I've noticed that when he gets a new word, a very similar sounding word often appears a few days later. This weekend, it was "apple" (pronounced "ah-puh") one day, then the next, when he heard a low-flying plane overhead, "ah-pun." Sooo cute! He definitely meant different words, and when we were outside at a harvest festival, he turned his head upwards every time a plane flew overhead. I don't remember specifically using that word, but his new daycare has a retired DC-9 in the playground (they use it for a kindergarden classroom), so perhaps he learned it there.

This weekend we went to a little pioneer pumpkin festival held near our house. Micah enjoyed seeing the farm animals up close, though he didn't seem to associate the giane working horses with one of his other recent words, "neigh." (I made up a little song that goes "The duck says 'quack,' and the cow says 'moo,' and the horse says 'neigh neigh neigh neigh neigh" -- even before I get to "quack," he starts singing the neighs.)

He sure looks like a little boy in this picture and not a baby anymore....(do you hear mommy crying just a little?)