apple-sauced

He's not quite himself yet, but things are 100% better than yesterday. He didn't spend hours crying today, and he didn't whimper much. He was still pretty cuddly, but I never mind his cuddles. Rare is the time when he's still long enough to snuggle!

When I got to the lake house today, Dennis and David were sitting together and eating lunch, and Dennis was doing his best to share lunch with David. He kept offering pieces of food to his Daddy, who of course thanked him but politely declined. Some of the food that Dennis tends to offer is pre-tasted and therefore a tad slimy. I once made the mistake of accepting one of his offerings, and then he spit out everything that was in his mouth and offered it to me. Ick!

Tonight we had supper at the table like a real family. It was fabulous. We vowed to do this nightly before Dennis came along, and we have failed miserably! We do manage family meals, but they usually don't happen at the dining table. He seemed to enjoy it immensely. He ate his cheese and applesauce and whole wheat bread and also shared some of our vegetable beef soup. He did a fabulous job feeding himself with the spoon, mostly dipping the correct end in this time. The strawberry applesauce ended up everywhere, but a good portion of it actually made it to his mouth. We're so proud.

Before the meal, I am happy to report that he played happily alone in his room for nearly an hour while we cleaned the kitchen and cooked. He threw a few toys over the gate to freedom at first, though, and shouted for us. When he got quiet, we snuck by to check on him, and he was engrossed in his wire and bead toy (where you move the wooden beads along the colored metal wire). We were quite amazed that he was so happy and playing so peacefully while sitting in one place.

He eats with his left hand. He tried it with his right hand some, managed to dip the spoon in the sauce, but transferred it to his left hand to get it to his mouth. But when he and I were 'coloring' tonight, he used his right hand to make marks with his crayons. It'll be interesting to find out which one becomes dominant.

I also noticed today that his conversation is becoming much more sophisticated. He uses sounds that are so very like real words, in cadences like real sentences. We have absolutely no idea what he's saying much of the time, but he will occasionally throw in a word that we know, like 'tree' or 'Daddy' or 'outside' or 'door' or 'car'. Pretty soon he'll be telling me all about it!