Notes from the month of September
This month was a flurry of Orson activity.
Words
"Deh-deh" or Daddy seems to mean "person I
like".
"Muh-muh" or Mommy seems to mean "I want".
"Nah" is a mysterious new consonant sound, now frequently employed.
And of course "buh-uhn", "bub-m" and variants continues to mean
"button" or "I have something to communicate".
He's starting to put together adjacent syllables that begin with
different consonants. Previously the consonants were the same but
the vowel sounds varied.
Mobility
Not walking, but crawling so confidently. He
accelerates when he leaves rooms (and feels he might be being chased,
or swooped upon and picked back up) but pauses before entering a
new space, looking back to check someone is watching or following.
Stairs are now a favorite, as is climbing right up onto the low
chair in the back room. He's very stable on his feet for the most
part and can shift his weight well when he needs to.
Also new this month is climbing up and sliding down the low chair
in the back room. Up and down. Up and down. Up, bounce-bounce-bounce,
down.
Eating
Food has always been a pleasure but now he's
expressing his happiness with each mouthful - "mmm!" He can be tempted
into eating whatever others are eating, and will eat cheese anytime,
even when not hungry.
He does turn his head to refuse food if his mouth is still full,
and spits out if the food has clumped into an unmanageable mass.
He has started offering his food to others, particularly when he
is done with it. It has to be finger food, like fruit or puffed
wheat.
Behavior
He is now very definite about what he is doing
and is less likely to be distractible from the thing he's currently
doing. A few days back Liam kept putting his arm in the way and
unlike previously where Orson would have been interested in the
arm, he pushed it away so he could get back on with whatever else
it was he was doing.
Because he was craning to see everything so much on pram walks,
we turned the pram around briefly so that he faced out into the
world on walks. He seemed to really like this, but we missed being
able to smile and talk to him as we walk so we turned it back after
just a few days.
Growth
A new tooth this month - his seventh. There
was quite a bit of teething discomfort early in the month, and the
pacifier has become a sleeping staple for the time being.
Background
Judy worked twelve days across four weeks this
month, meaning Orson got to spend a whole lot of time with Bill,
learning about napping (or not napping) without Judy. He seemed
to have a great time, and Judy adjusted her work schedule so she
could be home for a late afternoon nap if Orson was in dire need
of such a thing. He also therefore has become a regular at the Vic
Market again, and is getting to know people there by sight.
He also spent a bit more time in parks, meeting and looking at other
babies, and spending time on the swings and big-fun slides.
Quilters descended on the house on three consecutive Wednesdays
and Orson got to be clucked over by everyone, something he very
much enjoyed. In fact, he was known to cry when he was taken away,
or when people left. |
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