L.J. Lately

I’ve been lamenting the lack of cute pictures I have taken of L.J. recently. Primary reason: he won’t sit still long enough to get a good shot!

Except, of course, when he’s sleeping:

L.J. has learned several new words. Chief among them is “Uh oh!” We are working on teaching him that “Uh oh!” refers to a minor mishap, not intentionally dropping something on the floor. So far the novelty of his new word has preventing this lesson from registering.

He also now says “dog”, “duck” and “that” – although they all come out as “dah.” We can tell them apart by the different inflections in his voice when he says them. “Dah!” for the animals and “Dah?” for that. Lest you think we have training in speech pathology, for dog and duck he’s also usually pointing at one.

If you see Mike walking around with his chest puffed out, it’s because L.J. has finally mastered “Dada!” He says it all the time now and it makes Mike so happy! The other morning he left before L.J. got up and L.J. wandered around upstairs looking for him – “Dada? Dada? Dada!!” I wish I had thought to get it on camera!

L.J. is now walking far more frequently than crawling. He has also mastered standing up from sitting, and bending down to pick up a toy while standing/walking. To me, this has been the biggest “my baby is now a toddler” milestone. Just the other night, I was washing dishes while he was playing nearby in the playroom. I heard the doorway gate slam (his favorite!) and then a few seconds later he came walking into the kitchen. What? What?! “He came walking into the kitchen” – surely he’s not that old yet!

Good thing I just have to look at him “riding” his tricycle to see that’s he still just a little guy. He loves his tricycle and asks to be pushed on it all the time. Nevermind that his feet are still several inches from the pedals. We push him around the house or down the street on it frequently – he keeps his balance and holds onto the handlebars with no trouble at all!

Oh, and this: L.J. wanted to go for a walk recently. He pushed his stroller to the door, got his stroller/car blanket and climbed in. The picture below was 100% orchestrated and accomplished by L.J.!