A few updates

Updates:

Noah has been taking a few steps lately. He thinks walking is soooo entertaining. He gets a great big silly grin on his face every time. He can now wave bye-bye and blow kisses. He can say a few words: his favorite word is "geggle-bop" but he also likes Dada, Mama, Buh (brother), Voom (vacuum cleaner or toy car), and sometimes Puh (up). Unfortunately, he frequently chooses to communicate by screaming. He screams when he's upset (brother took his toy) or when he's excited (brother made him laugh) or when he wants more food. When I tell him "No screaming," he looks at me and gives a few test screams in progressively quieter tones, with a question mark on the end, until I stop saying "No screaming," and give him a smile.

He is a big fan of the 6 month old baby that I care for. When she arrives in the morning, he gets that big silly grin again. He crawls up to her carseat, pulls himself up, and leans over to put his face against hers.

This morning I awoke at one in the morning to find him sitting next to me and clapping. He was very delighted with himself for discovering how to clap. I was delighted too until I saw what time it was.

Elijah is sick today. One side of his face is swollen up like a chipmunk, and he is feeling very out of sorts. I wondered at first if he might have mumps, but the doctor says it's probably some sort of subcutaneous skin infection. I think that's doctor-speak for "I don't really know what it is, but maybe antibiotics will fix it." So he's got some antibiotics. I have mixed feelings about giving him antibiotics when I don't really know for certain what he's got.

I got Elijah a book called Richard Scarry's Great Big Schoolhouse. It goes through things like colors, numbers, alphabet letters, days of the week, and so on. The book is right up Elijah's alley because each page has lots of things going on, so he can sit and study each page for a while before he's seen it all. My only complaint about the book, and a complaint I've had with a few other books too, is that it says things like "All children go to school to learn how to read and write." Well obviously this is not quite true. When I read it to him, I rephrase it as "Many children go to school to learn how to read and write," and then I add, "but some children learn how to read and write at home." Yes, I plan to homeschool him if at all possible.

Well, I have some cleaning to do, so I will leave you with a picture (or three). These are of Noah expressing his usual level of interest in the camera. I can't figure out how to post them three in a row side by side, so this is a rather convoluted layout.