my little bear continues to grow… a common piece of advice has been to enjoy his being a baby while it lasts, and that’s something i’ve tried hard to do. it’s still going too fast. it’s exciting to watch him go from being a helpless little newborn to an ever more autonomous baby, but there are already things i miss. when he was tiny, it was so much easier to let him sleep on my chest. he still can, kind of, but he’s so heavy. i can still hold him with one arm when he falls asleep on me, and i know i’m going to miss when he won’t fit.

this month has been about the same as last month, except he’s doing everything faster and less clumsily. he walks holding onto furniture and his walker toy, though still can’t let go to move to a different place. he can’t stand for more than a few seconds on his own, but he’s working on it. he shakes his head “no” when he doesn’t like what we’re doing or if he’s had enough to eat. (he also pushes the spoon away as if to say, “i am so done with this, mama.”) i gave him his own spoon to practice with at mealtime, and he tries to put it in the container, but mostly just bangs it on the tray and sticks it in his mouth.

i think he said his first word on the 3rd. he went up to brumby, put his hand on him and said, “dog.” when i asked him if he said dog, he turned back to brumby and said it a couple more times. now he does it almost every time he sees the dog. we went to the beach on sunday to visit grandma and she had her dog there. it is a huge dog, way different-looking than brumby, and he kept saying “dog” at her, too. he’s been saying ma-ma, da-da, etc. for a while now, but it seemed a little too indiscriminate to be his first word. he says “da-da,” “da-dee,” and “daddd” all the time, even when his father’s not around. and he’s been saying “ma-ma” or “mummmm” when he’s upset for a long time. but now he pretty much just says “dog” when he sees a dog. he said “beh” to his bear once, but since he only did it once, i think it was a coincidence. today i was watching rugrats while he played on the floor and i said, “hey, little bear, look at the baby!” and he looked up and mimicked “ba-by.” on the changing table, when i sing “la-la-la” to him, sometimes he does it back, and we go back and forth a bit. it’s the most conversational i’ve ever seen him.

he also started playing with us this month. we roll the ball back and forth when he’s in the mood for it. (most of the time, we only get a couple passes in before he’s off to explore something else. he already has a.d.d.) he also plays keep away with brumby. they play tug of war with his bone toy and stuff. thankfully, brumby is a pretty laid-back dog, but we keep a close eye regardless. little bear is still pretty friendly with other people. in general, this kid knows no fear. when we were at the beach on sunday, he loved it. a couple of waves got him in the face, and he didn’t care. he just kicked and splashed and had a great time. he loves swimming in the pool, too. it’s so neat getting to watch him try new things and have so much fun. (including trying and loving jalapeno ranch dressing. that stuff is almost too hot for mama, but he loves it…)

he’s also been honing his temper tantrum skills. it is very obvious these days when he hasn’t had enough sleep or it’s time for a nap. and if you take something away before he’s done with it, watch out! thankfully, the tantrum doesn’t last too long when that happens…

so that’s pretty much what little bear’s been up to these days. he’s fussing right now, so i guess i’d better see if he needs a nap. (and don’t even ask about the crib sleeping. we were close, but no cigar.)