Linnaeus 12.3

As Sprout gets older, the changes from week to week continue, but they're more subtle. This week I can't think of any skills that he's done for the first time, just little things he's improving at. I think he's starting to recognize more words. When asked to, he will usually point out particular things in his bedtime book (he generally insists on reading Goodnight Moon), like the balloon, the kittens. I think he knows the word tattoo now & will poke mine when we say the word.

He's gradually getting better at standing & cruising. When we put him down on the floor, he often straightens up to land on his feet standing, rather than pulling his legs up out in front of him to land on his bum, like he used to. His crawling continues to get faster & he can crawl over to the couch, then pull himself up on it in one smooth motion. He still gets pretty excited about being able to do that & giggles a lot when he pulls up onto furniture.

For a while now, not just this week, he's started to point & look at trees & plants quite a lot. When we're out on walks, he'll reach out of the stroller & try to touch shrubs & plants as we go  by. He reacts even more to animals, reaching for them & squealing excitedly. Besides the fact that I miss Stimpy a lot, I'm sad that Sprout doesn't have a pet any more. It's going to be a long time before we're ready to get another animal & I'm not sure we'll ever get another cat.

When left to roam free around the house, Sprout will occasionally play with his toys, but often prefers to  take all the cards & bills out of any wallets he finds, or pull things off low shelves & out of cabinets. Despite trying very hard to remember to close the lid of the toilet every time, he got into it a few days ago, splashing happily in the water & tasting some toilet paper that he fished out of it. Ugh.

Sushi NOM!

Another first in the eating department was at a Japanese restaurant. We took Sprout to Hime Sushi & he had his own avocado maki. He quickly figured out how to get the avocado out of the rolls & sucked most of the rice off the nori, leaving strips of soggy seaweed behind. He's not such a fan of leaves, so I didn't expect him to actually eat the nori. Maybe when he's actually got molars & can chew it up better he'll start eating the leafy stuff like lettuce & seaweed.

This past weekend we got rid of our TV, which I've been wanting to do for ages. I miss the easy escapism that it offered, but I think I'll get over that. Most of the shows that we watched are available online anyway, so if I find I need to see them again, I'll watch them when I feel like it on my computer. I'm not sure if we'll stay TV-free forever, but I'm happy that it's one less thing to worry about exposing Sprout to. We usually didn't watch too much TV before he went to bed, but I always wondered when the 6 o'clock news was on how much of it he might be taking in. Before age two, there's no benefit & possibly some harm to TV viewing, despite what the makers of all the 'educational' videos for toddlers would have you believe. I'd like to seriously curtail Sprout's screen time as long as possible (& by screen time, I mean TV, computer & video games) because I think it's such a waste of time. I'd like him to love reading as much as I do & spend lots of time playing with toys that encourage creativity & physical activity.

Speaking of physical activity, Sprout spent quite a bit of time this week chasing his best friend Aiden around. Aiden is a month older & a bit ahead in the mobility department. He's been cruising for quite a while & started walking by himself a couple of weeks ago. They're hilarious to watch because they are still young enough that they don't play together, but parallel. They'll often fight over a single toy: whoever's got a better grip on it wins, leaving the other one crying (briefly) in frustration. (Sprout often showcases his incredible pouting abilities here. He looks like a little chimpanzee, he sticks hi lip out so far!) They also love to pick things up & then whack them on other things. Today Sprout hit Aiden's back with a drum stick. Earlier, Aiden was tapping Sprout on the head with a toy pot. Neither one realizes how wobbly the other is & they're always knocking each other over, resulting in a surprised pile of babies on the floor.

Though they're too young to really play together in an interactive way, they clearly like each other & get excited to see one another. When they meet, usually at least once a week, they reach for each other & squeak happily. I can't wait to see what sort of hijinks they get up to together as they get older.

The following video is Aiden & Sprout playing. Near the beginning Sprout is slightly upset about something, throwing a bit of a pout, but quickly cheering up.