More Milestones

Ok, I know Eirik is all I talk about. Well, I can't help it.
Today he was so cute.
It is like overnight the language lightbulb went on for him and all of the sudden he is comprehending so many new things. He had a couple of exciting firsts this week. He has been saying Dad for a while now. It was for sure his first word. Of course he could say mamamamama first, but he had no idea what it meant and he promptly forgot how to say it a week after he learned it. So Dad is by far his favorite word. Today we were reading books in his nursery when suddenly he looked up at me as said "Dad?" I said, "Dad's at school honey." He crawled into the front room where dad usually studies, determined that dad really wasn't here and came right back to his books! How awesome for a parent to realize that their child knows your name, your permanence in their life, and your importance, and that he trusts so completely.

Last night we were reading books- (yeah we do it nonstop) and I showed him a picture of a fish and for the 1000th time I showed him the baby sign for fish and...drumroll, guess what... he finally did it back!!! I know, it's such a small step, but for us it was like a major breakthrough. You should have seen his little face as he realized that he could tell me that he understood by simply putting his lips together in a pucker a couple of times. He was excited and kept doing it over and over as I congratulated him repeatedly. We were both so excited and this morning he went to the book, opened to the fish picture and showed it to me while he did the sign. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Now, if I could just get him to sign "more"!!

He's also been working on saying a few more words. For the past few days he has been saying things that sound like dog, duck, done, down, and I do believe he knows what he is trying to say. But today, without a doubt, he said "hot". He was in the bathtub and said "hot" to tell about the water. He even said the T at the end.

I know, I know, only a mother can be this excited about these little things, but today I could tell in Eirik that he knew a whole new world was opening up to him. He's learning as fast as his little brain can. For a minute today he was trying hard to tell Paul something. Paul finally let Eirik walk him into the living room where he say himself down in front of the computer and put his hand toward the screen and said "da". He wanted to learn something and when we put in a baby Einstein he was enthralled and learning.

I'm reading a book called "How Smart is your baby?" It gives tips on ways to accelerate your baby's milestones. It's pretty cool. Too bad I didn't read it from birth. I'll have to do all the tricks from birth with the next one.

To sum up, I think I could write all night about the cute things Eirik is doing. We spent all afternoon playing in such a way that neither of us got bored and he kept crawling over to me and giving me these big hugs with lots of laughing and slobber kisses on my neck. I looked at him at one point and just thought to myself, "How did I get so lucky that I get to be the one that hangs out with you everyday, all day long?" What a great feeling for a mom to get to have. I'm in a good place.