Autumn

Here is a recap, by way of random memories and musings, of our first autumn back in Oregon.

When we arrived in Corvallis, Josef was barely crawling at all.  Over the second half of June he refined his technique, and by the height of summer he was cruising all over the backyard.  Later he developed a method to get around while holding something in his hands–sort of a half-crawl with one knee and one foot.  At the end of August he figured out how to balance standing up by himself.  His desire to be able to throw things into the kiddie pool necessitated this innovation.  During September he honed his toddling skills by hanging on to the edge of a couch or coffee table, and in October he took his first steps.  I would call it more of a controlled slow motion fall forward, with legs moving.  One of the first times it happened was during a Skype session with Oma and Opa, which was really special.  Come Halloween time, he was able to show off his skills for Gramnette too, as she came for a visit before her move to Portugal.  By November he was a seasoned toddler!

Josef’s first legitimate word was “balloon,” spoken on his birthday.  He would repeat a few other words when prompted, but that was the first thing he could independently identify and call by name.  He quickly added others to the mix.  Josef’s words (roughly in order of appearance):

Booooon (Balloon), Ahh-Cann (Trashcan), Ahh-Coo (Vacuum), Uhn-Kin (Pumpkin), Boon (Broom), Ell-kee (Milk), Att (Hat), Poop, Bah (Ball), Ott (Hot), Bee-Bee (Berry), Ukk (Truck, Duck), Ock (Clock, Sock, Block),  Bapple (Apple/Pear), Ba-Ba (Banana), Papa, Ba-Pa (Grandma), Ma-Pa (Mama), Up, Keesh (Keys), Kissh (Kiss), Ah-Wah (Sarah), Aoun (Down), Beep Beep, Auw-Lay-Uh (Calculator), Doe-Doo-Loe-Doe (Meaning unknown.)

He loves sound effects.  He knows the noises that dogs, cats, birds, and bears make and he is trying to refine his pig snort.  He also learned how to make the tick-tock sound of a clock.  When he falls down he likes to say “plop!”  He likes to poke your nose and say “Boop.”

There is a small herd of stuffed animals on top of his bookcase, and sometimes when he is feeling the love he will point to each one in turn, and we take them down and he gives them each a kiss.  When it comes to humans however, he prefers to be on the receiving end.  When asked for a kiss he just leans in and presents his cheek for kissmentation.  Believe me, there is no more kissable surface on earth than that plump rosy cheek!

One of his great frustrations in life is mis-matched tupperware lids.  (Mine too.)  He will struggle mightly for a couple minutes to get a lid on, and then fling it aside with a shrieking spasm of rage.  Lately he respond similarly when asked to wear a coat.  If I show him the coat first, and show him the arm-holes, sometimes that helps things go more smoothly.

Whenever he hurts himself on something he always points at it, tears in his eyes, with a look of recrimination.

Josef’s first obsession was with trash cans. It started when I took out the trash with him in my arms.  I was pretty impressed that he could say the word, so perhaps he felt a little pride at that.  Thereafter, he would always make sure to point out any trash can he could see, even if it was across the street, or in the bed of a pick up truck.  He has become quite adept at spotting them, and we always laugh to hear a ecstatic cry of “trashcaaaaaaaan!!” from the back seat of the car.  A nice byproduct of this obsession is that he is very helpful about throwing things away for us!

A favorite bath time activity is the ever-popular “cram washcloth into pitcher with spatula” game.