Growing Up

Robin's showing growth in both his cognitive skills and his empathy lately.  I love that he now expresses understanding in what others may be feeling.  This applies particularly to pain.  If we tell him that we got hurt (or simply if he witnesses us get hurt) he will come over and kiss our injuries for us, and will often give a hug as well.  He's also doing this for stuffed animals.  He seems to enjoy climbing up on our bed, throwing Dean's stuffed dog "Flicka" off the edge of the bed, doing the sign language for "hurt," and then climbing down to give Flicka a hug and kiss.  The fact that he understands that Flicka gets hurt when falling off the bed shows his growing understanding of consequences.  He hasn't fallen off our bed, but we frequently tell him to be careful at the edge of the bed because he could fall off and get hurt.  He will also point to the edge of the bed and then sign "hurt."  He'll do the same thing in regard to rocking his chair back at the table, and he now says "hot" when he points to the stove, too.

I took this video a few weeks ago, of Robin stacking his mega blocks.  He can put them together so much better than just a few months ago.

Robin said a name that didn't belong to a family member last night, for the first time.  Dean's friend Lannie ('annie) is now Robin's new best friend, and Robin managed Charlie before the evening was over too.

He's also getting physically stronger and has much more endurance.  He walked most of the way home from the park the other day, barefoot, pulling his wagon behind him.  The walk to the park is about a half-mile.  (He was barefoot because he had an accident at the park and his shoes got wet.)

He's started interacting with other kids now, which I think is awesome.  Last week at the library he took a little girl by the hand and led her over to show her the fish tank.  He'll give toys to other kids sometimes too.  I love seeing him interact with others.

He's also getting a lot more willful and stubborn.  I guess it's the Terrible Twos.  It isn't so terrible, really, (at least so far) but his tantrums have gone up in frequency a lot.  I'm trying to make sure we have plenty of time and to give him options so he has some control over his life, but we still butt heads frequently.  I'm loving how he's using his imagination and interacting with the world so I think this is a great age, but it's definitely going to be hard on both of us.

We took Robin to an airshow a few weeks ago and he LOVED it!  Here are a few highlights of the day.