One Smart Cookie

We have a small folding stool that we keep in the pantry (when it's not being used as a toy, that is) for reaching things on high-up shelves.  Robin likes to play with it, and has already learned how not to pinch his fingers in it, and how to make sure it's stable before stepping on.  He particularly enjoys launching himself off it into somebody's waiting lap.  Well, yesterday he seems to have made the connection between the stool and getting taller.  He heard an airplane pass overhead and ran to the back door because he wanted to go see it.  We'd just come inside, so I told him we weren't going out again.  The next time I looked over, he'd carried the stool to the back door and was standing on it so he could see out the window.  Later in the day, he was placing it next to the wall under a lightswitch so he could climb up and flip the light on and off.  His problem solving skills are definitely improving!

I made myself an alphabetical list of his words a few weeks ago, and we're up to 41 now including spoken, signs, and sounds.  Many of them don't sound exactly the way you or I would say them, but we know what he means by them.  A lot of what he babbles now really sounds like words too, and sentences.  I'm really looking forward to hearing what's on his mind, once he starts stringing sentences together.

We think Robin might be starting to know his colors too.  He's not completely consistent, but he will follow commands like "can you bring me the blue ball."

Our biggest news is that Robin is mostly potty trained!  I'll probably blog about this at length on ScienceFictionMommy, but for now I'll tell you that he's almost 100% on pee training:  he understands and communicates when he needs to go, he can hold it until he gets to the toilet, he goes standing up like his Daddy, he has successfully let other people help him, has been successful at other people's houses, and finally used his travel potty (meaning he ought to be okay at parks and stuff.)  We have yet to master public places, mostly because he hasn't had to go while out running errands.  #2 is a bit slower, partly because he does it less, and partly because he often does it right after waking up from naps (he's in pullups while asleep), so when I don't get to him right when he wakes up, I've missed teaching opportunities.  However, we have had a few successes now, he definitely understands the feeling, and he hasn't had a #2 accident in his underwear in almost two weeks.  We're very proud of him!

Wearing his daddy's Spiderman shirt like a cape

Shampoo mohawk

Reading to his moneky