Things that I Love about that Baby

* Zeke has so much to say, though he doesn't have words. He now says "please" and "thank you" using signs, as well as some signs that I don't know what they mean. He also indicates "help" by outstretching his arms like in this photo. (A lot of his friends and peers have more words, but I am unworried. I was a very late talker, but still seem to have plenty to say nowadays!)

* Zeke also has some of his own words. He frequently says "ah-da". It seems to have a few meanings, but can generally be summarized to mean "OK". He also has a song he likes to sing. It goes "Ahhhhhh-da, ahhhhhh-da, ahhhhhh-da."

* Zeke seems to be learning to say "uh-oh" after things drop, fall or are thrown. He is still working on this, though. He's got part of it, though. He says "uh".

* Zeke likes to imitate us. He likes pretending to talk on the phone, combing his hair, and brushing his teeth. When we get up in the morning and I go to brush my teeth, he demands that I hand him his toothbrush.

* Zeke is now in love with riding in his stroller. (It is not that I find this particularly lovable, but I love how things change in such unexpected and sudden ways indicating some change in his preferences and his developmental stage.) For the first year of his life, we didn't even really use the stroller, just for occasional walks; we used baby carriers like the sling. I often found that if I brought the stroller somewhere with us, I would often end up pushing the stroller and carrying Zeke. Now, though, he walks us to the stroller and asks to be put in it. He will also refuse to get out. We went to the zoo today and I wanted to take him out so that he could see the meerkats and then the monkeys. Nope. If I tried to unsnap the straps, he would try and put them together again.

* Zeke knocks on doors when he wants in.

* Every night we read the same books (usually Guess How Much I Love You and Snuggle Puppy). When we read Snuggle Puppy, he leans in for a kiss at the points in the book where "Snuggle Puppy" gets a kiss. Zeke leans in even before we say "kiss" so it appears that he knows and remembers the points in the book where kisses come. All together now --- awwww!