First steps

Leo has taken his first steps, or should I say hurried stumbles forward?

He has been standing on his own for a while now, and for a long time. He'll be cruising around, and then, when you say "bravo", he lets go of everything and starts clapping. He also bends down to pick up toys and then stands up again with the toy in hand, all without holding on to anything. So we knew it wouldn't be long before he started walking. He's not quite there yet, still a little hesitant about walking without a crutch, but little by little he's moving forward.

He has also figured out that lifting up my shirt means that he can get to the boobies unaided, and he finds this hysterical. He starts to push my shirt up and says "boob-boob", then either pats them or puts his face up to them and laughs. A friend was holding him with his back to me, and she asked "where's mama?". Nothing. No response. "Where's boobies?" He instantly turns to find me. Well, I guess I know my place!

We have switched him over to a cup with handles, which he now drinks from on his own. He loves it, and takes every opportunity to guzzle water. You would not believe how much he has peed since being allowed total control of his own cup! He also will not allow you to feed him with his spoon. If he's eating from his spoon, he has to do it himself. If you want to feed him soup or something liquid, you have to use a different spoon! Incidentally, he ate his first canned baby food this past week. We bought a few cans for convenience, if we were super tired or running out of fresh food. He was not overly impressed. He ate it, but his expression showed that he was disappointed in us and the offering we were making!!!

His favorite game right now is chase. No matter what he's doing, if you say "I'm going to get you!", he stops everything and starts running and giggling. Unfortunately, he thinks it's even funnier if he starts to run out the door!

He still loves any kind of rough game - being thrown around, upside down, sideways. He has absolutely no fear of anything. If you put him on the bed for a second, he'll race to get to the edge, and if you weren't there, he would go over it without a second thought. He'll also sit on your lap and throw himself backwards. So far, we haven't dropped him, but one of these days...

The one downside to his development is that he is slipping backwards with the diaper free. We have a girl up here looking after him while I'm working on the house, and she doesn't put him on. So he has stopped asking. He still poops in the potty for the most part, but he rarely asks to pee anymore. Oh well, no biggie.

Photos