Linnaeus 18.0

Happy half birthday, Sprout! It's cliche, I know, but the time really has flown by. This little boy we have on our hands is so different from the baby who was just getting the hang of sitting at this time last year. He still hadn't eaten any solid food a year ago & he'd stay in one place on the floor if I left the room. Now he sometimes eats as much as I do & if I leave him alone for more than a minute, he'll probably be scaling the bathroom vanity or trying to get at the little cow-shaped creamer in a high cabinet in the kitchen. At least I can tell where he is, as he rarely stops talking for more than a few seconds. As I write this, he's flipping through books, naming the animals & things he sees in the picture.

He has spent a lot of time with books, but I'd say toy of the week this time round is balls of any sort. Top favourites are a small soft one from Ikea or an inflatable beach ball, but he also likes a felt one made by the lovely Kirsten, & he thinks pushing the yoga ball around is hilarious. He's started throwing balls, but clearly doesn't really understand the mechanics of getting it to go in a certain direction. His throws are as likely to go up & backward as they are to go to a person. I've been trying to play catch with him, but it usually ends up a bit more like fetch: I'll throw it to him, it'll bounce off & he'll go crawling after it. Then he chucks it in a random direction--if it's anywhere near me, I'll grab it & toss it back, but it's often at the other end of the room, so he charges off after it.

We've discovered that Sprout seems to be happier & sleep better if he gets in a good hour or so of hard playing per day. Oliver's been taking him to the Mount Pleasant & Creekside Community Centre drop-in gyms a few times a week. Not only is this good for Sprout to see other kids & get some exercise, but Oli gets to hang out with a couple of other dads sometimes.

I'll leave you with a photo collage of Sprout playing dress-up with one of his many stuffies.