He's somethin' else...

     This child of ours is somethin' else!  He amazes us daily with his new skills, inquisitive looks, and the different sounds he makes in an effort to communicate.  Yesterday, he put on quite a show at the UPS store, clapping and waving at people who waved at him.  Then he'd play shy and bury his head into my shoulder, only to pop back up seconds later and peek to see if they were looking at him.  He's quite good at communicating his dislike for certain situations with cries (obviously), grunts, squeals, and flat out huffs.  Even though I've thought this for a while, he is definitely showing more signs that he can understand what we're saying.  In the mornings, when it's not so hot, I'll take him out on the porch just to sit.  He'll make mocking sounds of birds and trucks that are in earshot of where we are.  He'll stand on my lap and look all around God's creation, watching squirrels and crows.  But his favorite thing to watch is Max, our next door neighbor's dog.  If he's not looking, I can say, "there's Max," and his little head will swing around so fast, you'd think it would make him dizzy.  He'll coo and "wooooo" at Max until Max looks our way, then he'll clap and wave.  Sometimes, he'll even "woof" or make a similar sound when we first do it.
     Now, I've read books to him since he was 6 weeks old, but he's just now getting to where he likes them for himself.  He has 4 "baby" books that he loves the best and will actually laugh when we get them out: Farm Babies, Dinosaur Babies, Jungle Babies, and Bug Babies.  From what I can tell, he loves the farm one the best because he laughs almost every time we read it.  There's a cow, horse, pig, etc and I make the animal noises after each one.  Yesterday, before his nap, as we read, he would look at the page and laugh, then look up at me with the most beautiful little smiley eyes.  We did this same routine each page.  I almost didn't want to stop because I was enjoying it as much as he was.
     When it was finally nap time, we put the books down, turned out the light, and I gave him his paci and love bunny.  As I sang him a few songs, he patted and smoothed his little hand all over my face.  I hope I never forget how sweet that felt.  His other hand gripped my rings and then my fingers, before I put him into bed.  I told him that I loved him, said, "night night," and walked out.  Five minutes and a few small whimpers later, he was fast asleep, clutching his love bunny.  What a precious little man we have!

This is the first day he wore his big-boy shoes.