Random Traffic Through Nick's Brain

Long overdue update. All about Alex.

• Alex’s first two-syllable word is “backpack”. Apparently he likes Dora the Explorer. He’ll say backpack (very distinctly pronouncing the “b” and the “p”), grab our hand, lead us to the living room, point to the remote, and climb onto the couch and stare at the TV. I’m not sure whether to be happy or not. And yes… he does say other two-syllable words such as mama, dada, and nana (banana). This is the first one with different first and second syllables.
• He’s starting to listen. Today I asked him to “close the [living room] door”. I didn’t make any gestures whatsoever. Much to our surprise, he turned around, walked about 2 metres to the door and closed it.
• He’s currently 2nd percentile for weight, 11th percentile for height, and 28th percentile for head circumference. We have to feed him more butter, olive oil, and heavy cream (seriously, our pediatrician told us this).
• He’s communicating really well. He’ll pick up a book, open to the page with a star, and sign star. He understands some body parts. He can make animal sounds (“What sound does a dog make?”, “oof! oof!”). Overall has over a dozen ‘words’ he can say or sign.
• He has a memory and an attention span. If we hide something he will try and find it for over a minute. Then, minutes later, he’ll resume his search.
• He can do all the things on the toddler jungle gym in the park near our house except for the vertical ladder. He can pull himself up onto things like chairs using only his arms (i.e., he doesn’t need footholds). He can climb onto the dining room chair and from there onto the dining room table. More worrisome, if we push all the chairs in under the table, he pulls one out in order to climb up on it.
• Yesterday, I’m sitting on the couch, printing out directions to a friend’s birthday party. Alex walks by with a block of cheese in hand, about 3 cubic inches worth. A minute later Alex walks by again, sans cheese. Now, given that he’s 2nd percentile for weight, I know he hasn’t wolfed down that huge block of cheese that quickly. Dina and I search the apartment for the cheese. Since doors and gates are closed, he only had access to the living room and dining room. We don’t find the cheese. On our way to the party we discuss how we’re dreading finding a stinky, mouldy, hunk of Jarlsberg. We get back from the party about 2.5 hours later. I sit down on the couch. A few minutes later, Alex walks by with the missing block of cheese in his hand. Again, we’re not sure whether to laugh or cry.