All in a Week's Work

A child's development is no linear thing. Take the past week. Austin has clocked up half a dozen firsts and new tricks, where as the previous month had seen nothing but more-of-the-sames.

Granted, more of the same smiles, laughs and cuddles.

To these we can now add high fives, hand shakes and even kisses. Opened mouthed and wet, but kisses none the less. And lots of them.

Kisses on request. Kisses at bedtime. Kisses when he wants to show his affection. Kisses when his face is somewhere near yours and he wants to make the most of his new trick.

Aunty Rachel was sure he'd brought this one out of the bag just because she'd come all the way from Auckland to see him. Fair enough I suppose. Maybe he did.

It may also be the case that her visit was the catalyst for his first poo in the bath. Thankfully she wasn't in there with him, although her shampoo and conditioner were two of the items that had to be fished out.

Fished out by Dad.

Most impressive of all is his sign language. So far just the one word and, though I'm sure an enthusiastic wave of the right hand is not a text book 'yes', a pretty damn useful one too.

No more serving up strawberries only to find he wants a banana. No more milk when he actually wants water.

Unfortunately, there are some teething troubles. He is a toddler after all. Five minutes ago he gave me a wave when asked if he wanted an afternoon nap. Given the screams now coming from his room I guess he must have thought I was talking about something else.

If only he could tell me what.