He Likes Us! He Really Likes Us!

Navigating the stairs (at least the first one)

Hey, are you guys sure you're watching me?

Today, I got the greatest homecoming I have ever received. I walked in the door from the garage and Jack was sitting on the floor in front of the front door. He turned and saw me and lit up like a Christmas tree. That was good enough for me, but it didn't stop there. He then crawled down the hall to me, bypassing his toy that was along the way (though he did think about it), and when he reached me (I was on the floor on all fours too.) he reached out his arms and hugged me. It made my day. Heck, it made my year!

But the love didn't stop there, Paul got home about four minutes after I got home. Paul walked in and had his arms full of stuff. He greeted Jack with a hello but had to put his stuff down first, so he walked past Jack. Jack cried out an whined and then started to crawl after Paul until Paul unburdened himself of his load and scooped up his boy.

It's awesome to see that he thinks we're as cool as we think he is. We have to enjoy the moment while it lasts--we won't be cool forever!

Also, he has been pulling up on everything and standing. He has discovered the staircase and enjoys trying to climb them. However, most of the time, he gets up to the first stair and turns around to make sure we are watching, thus losing his balance. He also turned around numerous times to half jump into my arms for a hug.

In addition, Jack has become increasingly interested in story time. We read his animal book and I make the noises of the animals, which he loves. He also enjoys turning pages. But he is only allowed to turn board book pages. Turning regular pages is less like turning and more like twisting, scrunching, mashing and wrenching them out of the binding. Anyway, he is usually not terribly patient about turning the pages and wants to turn a page as soon as you get to a new one. However, not with Corneilius P. Mudd, which still remains, by a long shot, his favorite book. With Corneilius, he waits until I am finished to turn the page. And what is even cooler, he knows when that is because he has begun to get the words of the book (we've read it enough!). Each page ends with a "Yes" or "No" and he has realized this and turns the page without being prompted right after. It's so cool to see him start to process language. I wonder if it is this cool for everyone or just language teacher nerds!