16 months...

What an amazing time this has been for us. Every day- literally- Augie does something different and better. I feel like the full fog of babyhood has lifted (just in time for another one to set in, har har) and Augie is really a little man. I was talking to Christine tonight about the congnative things he does... and they amaze me. Perhaps having children is one of the most meaninful studies in humanity. You don't appreciate small skills until you a. have a kid or b. lose the ability to do small things yourself.

In the past few weeks Augie has started to make so much more sense of things. He communicates so much better, even though the actual word part isn't there quite yet. He does like to say "Yeah" though... with gusto.

He is demanding in an intriguing way. (One day I might say frustrating or annoying, but today I will say intriguing). He knows what he wants and tells us so we better do it. His frustration level is lower in the sense that he can do more for himself, and higher because he can't do what we can do.

He loves to climb up and down the stairs... okay, on anything. On us, on his fire truck, on the cat. He even climbed steps and slid down a slide with no help for the first time a few days ago.


He wants to feed himself. He prefers to drink from mom or dad's cup... and is really angry if he isn't able to share with us. Not just food, cellphones, computers, wallets.

He knows where the fish are, and that fish in a book, at home and in the pet store are all the same thing.
He throws balls, kicks balls and runs. He's also dabbled in spelunking (sp?) for toys under the couch and tables, but does need a good belay partner on occasion.

He can turn on the TV, put the tape in the VCR (although not always right direction) and push almost every button in sight. One of the most interesting things about this is that he doesn't have but one video, and we don't really watch TV or change the channel from the set. He figured these out by the process of elimination or trial and error, or whatever people smarter than I call it.

He claps when you say clap, knows that the doors on the bus go open and shut, and runs away when I say "come here"

He is our little wonder. I am so glad to see these things, to be thankful for the experience, to learn them with him... I guess because we all miss out on them the first time. I can't belive mere months ago he couldn't sit up or put his hand where he wanted it to go, and now he can accurately turn pages in a book and place objects into small spaces. (Although this is not always a joy).

Thank goodness I have paid attention enought lately to enjoy these things. They have really become a delight.