Milestone Minutiae

than a sick baby losing his voice? Luke still has most of his lower-toned vocals, but when he gets really upset and the pitch rises, he cuts right out. Oh so sad. He's been talking to me a lot, too - generally mild grumbling with only occasional real fits. In other vocal-news, I've noticed a distinct change in Luke's babbling. While the Wus were here with 8 month old David, it was striking how much his babbling sounded like "speech." Luke (six weeks old at the time) mostly sounded like a kitten, mewing and crying. Now, Luke is using consonants as well as vowel sounds, often in two-syllable phrases like "laa laa" or "mao lao." I've heard lots of soft consonants, including d, m, g, r, h, and l.

Luke is getting pretty good with his hands. He can consistently reach out and grab toys, then take them to his mouth. He still has a little trouble grabbing in the right place so his mouth gets toy, not hands. It's a big source of frustration. I've been looking back at photos of Emmett at Luke's age. Around three months, Emmett was sticking out a little pointy tongue a lot. I'd never seen Luke do it, though. Then today on the changing table, out came a little pointed tongue. I wonder if it will develop into as much of a habit as it was for Emmett. A few days ago, I got into a laughing game with Luke. Holding him just a few inches from my face, I'd giggle. As soon as I paused, Luke would take a turn giggling. We went back and forth for a while. A day or two later, I found he'd also laugh in response to a sneeze. Emmett us really enjoying his new camera. He's been taking pictures of table legs, the tops of toys, Luke, and various parts of dogs. Ma

Luke rolled over today (front to back) and we all missed it. I set him on his belly to look at some toys, and went to get some cereal. By the time I returned, he was on his back. I put him back on his belly and he rolled a couple more times. Now he has a new trick to show everyone who comes for Christmas!

This afternoon, I've been making some cookies. Luke is getting pretty good at entertaining himself (for a few minutes at a time), so I put him down under his "gym" where we hang a few toys for him to look at and grab. The gym is in the living room so I can hear him but not see him directly. Soon he started to get a little upset, so I talked to him assuring him that I'll be coming. The fussiness passed and I put another batch of cookies into the oven. Then I noticed that he'd been pretty quiet - typically I'll hear the jingle bells when he hits them, and he'll "talk" while playing with the gym. I went to check on him, only to discover that he was sleeping! That may be the first time he's fallen asleep outside of my arms, David's arms, the swing, or the carseat!

Luke is really talkative now, and you can go back and forth cooing with him for quite some time. Emmett converses with him too, which is really cute to watch. Luke's also getting quite interested in toys - he'll stare intently at them and reach out for them. He makes the cutest face while doing this - lips pursed like he's saying "ooooo," eyes intent, and his eyebrows furrowed. It's all very serious business, and Luke is typically pretty quiet - all you hear is him breathing. Occasionally, he'll grab a toy I'm holding up and pull it to his mouth. He'll happily stay on his belly for longer now, too. He arches his back and wobbles all around. It's just a matter of time before he figures out how to use his giant head as a weight to pull his body over and roll to his back.

Driving in the car, Emmett will often ask about words on signs we pass. Since I'm driving, I can rarely help - I don't even know what sign he's asking about until we're well past it. At a stoplight today, today he really surprised me. He said "What does that now sign say?" I started looking around, trying to figure out what sign he was talking about. Then I saw the "Now Open" sign across the street. He had read the word "Now" correctly, all by himself! I asked him how he did it, and he said it was easy because it only had three letters.

Today we went out for lunch. At a table next to us, there was a baby sitting in an infant carseat. When we got to the table, Emmett said "Our baby is smiley-er!" Nice.

Luke is grabbing toys much better now. He can hang on, and he really seems to want to get them into his mouth. He's not so good at that. Interestingly, he often seems to be primarily grabbing with his left hand. To be fair, neither hand is coordinated right now. I've just noticed him reaching out with the left hand more. We'll see if anything comes of that or not.

Emmett has started taking care of his things (sometimes) without even being asked! Last week, his crayons fell on the floor. We all noticed Jake had started stealing some to eat, but I hadn't had a chance to pick them up. Later that day when I went to pick them up, I noticed it was already done. A quick check with David revealed that it must have been Emmett. Sure enough, when I asked Emmett he said he picked them up so Jake wouldn't eat any more. A couple of days ago, I cleaned Emmett's room. Later, I passed by and saw him playing with lots of little toys spread all around the floor. That night at bedtime, the toys were all back in their box, up on Emmett's shelf. And today some winter gear arrived from Lands' End. A pair of boots, a pair of shoes, and a pair of mittens. I asked Emmett to put his new shoes away in his room, so he did. Later, I saw his new boots were put away, too.

Today Emmett and I visited the Spanish Immersion school. Emmett had a pretty good time - I sat in the lobby and he decided to stay for the whole class. He came out upset once, and came out just to see me once (he was happy). Both times he said "I'm done. I'm just done." but went back to the class with only gentle encouragement. I think being suddenly immersed in a foreign language is hard work. Afterwards he reported liking the singing, and that he was confused a lot of the time. I reassured him that was normal, and it would get better over time as he learns to speak Spanish. As it turns out, there is no need to start at semester breaks, so we're going back tomorrow. He'll attend for the next couple of weeks before the Christmas break, and then we'll pick up again in January. From what I observed today, it is a pretty intensive program. The teacher interacts with and prompts the kids to talk all day long. When the kids speak properly, the teache

For a while now, Emmett has been shortening some words when he talks. It's usually when he's asking for food - he'll ask for a peanut butter and jell sandwich, or a peanut butter and hon sandwich. Once he asked for a "case" - a quesadilla. Also, Emmett has been caring for his stuffed animals much more. The teddy bear shows up in the carseat - all strapped in. And Sofia the Jaguar has spent considerable time under Luke's gym. Actually, Luke had to share space with her one day.