This post is long overdue, and many of these “milestones” have been in place for months. But in hopes of never forgetting the many darling things he does:
Penguin hugs- When Anders gives hugs he puts his arms down flat against his side, or against his chest and presses his body and head into you.
Child’s pose-bum in the air, head on his blankie,
Adores his “Chip chip” (stuffed monkey), “Lovey” (bunny/blanket) and blankies (gets giddy when he sees them in his crib and pulls them out, and nuzzles them- often laying his blankie on the ground then doing child’s pose on top of it, his head resting on it a content smile on his face.

First Haircut

Hates diaper changes.
Shoes- he LOVES shoes. He prefers to be wearing shoes, and wants to put them on as soon as he wakes up. He gets so excited when he sees a pair of his shoes and will bring them over to me, even if he is already wearing a pair. He said “Shoez” for the first time last week.
Signing- Anders seems to really appreciate the sign language we have taught him. He beams with delight when he signs “water” or “drink” and I say “Are you thirsty? Would you like a drink?” Or when I open the door for him to go out after he’s looked me in the eye and signed “outside.” He regularly uses, “hungry,” “outside,” “dog,” “drink,” “night night,” “bird,” “bread” and “hot” but he also knows “Please” “thank you” “more” and “all done.” It’s so darling when he’s sitting there eating breakfast and he sees a little bird at the birdfeeder, he’ll say “cheep cheep” and sign bird. He’s also lately started signing dog whenever he hears a dog barking.
Just this last week he’s started to attempt speaking more. He’s said shoes, car, rock, Jesus, that, Momma, Dadda.
Smiles. They’re constant. They’re wide mouthed. They light you up. The other day we were at IKEA waiting to make some returns. One lady near us was taken in by his friendliness and talked and smiled at him, another woman gave very little response. He kept looking at her and beaming, and beaming and them became quite serious, clearly puzzling over why he wasn’t getting his typical response. He just stood there staring at her for a long time. And then looked back at the more joyful woman and gave her another dazzling grin, she burst out laughing.
Hide and seek. He’s the kid that does it with whoever’s sitting in the pew behind us. It’s one of the few ways I can distract him from screaming and spinning when I change his diaper.
Eating. He loves to eat. He seems to have textural issues. A dish that he’ll put his nose up at in the chopped form, he’ll scarf down when blended- mostly vegetables. He still breaks out in minor hives around his mouth when I feed him scrambled eggs or peanut butter. He just doesn’t eat eggs any more, but he loves peanut butter.

Outdoor boy- he loves being outside and requests to go outside several times a day. (Every time I sing praises to our home with it’s fenced, private backyard!) He loves the sandbox (Despite it’s 1/2″ of sand). If I go out with him he likes to have me help him through his routine of toys: 20 seconds on the scooter, 20 seconds on the bike, 10 seconds on the rocking horse, then we play ball, and then he wants me to help him climb the ladder up to the fort, then he wants a few pushes on his swing. It’s the same order everytime, the same short durations. He’s bound and determined to get up to the climbing trees where Scotland loves to play (a bunch of HUGE rhododendron that I pruned up so the kids could climb in them. He has successfully made it to the top a few times on his own, but he’s also gotten stuck enough times to be more cautious now.

The best development of late is his ability and desire to play with Scotland. A month or two ago their interactions were frequent and loud- Anders did a lot of screaming. I’ve worked hard to teach both boys better ways of interacting, and tried to stand back a bit more and let them work it out. It seems to be working because they play together so well now. Scotland loves the company and Anders loves to be included. Anders plays legos with Scotland, they wrestle, they play in the sandbox, they run around and chase each other, and more and more they CRACK EACH OTHER UP! Hearing the two of them bantering back and forth, laughing hysterically at the other’s silly sound or crazy movement always brings a smile to my face. Anders puts up with a lot. Where he used to scream every time Scotland took something from him, now more often then not he just runs with it. He can put up with a fair amount of wrestling, and seems to be learning when to run off, and when he does need to cry for help. (Scotland sometimes forgets that he’s playing with a one year old and not a fellow four year old!)

Running. You probably couldn’t technically call it running, but his arms are swinging and his little feet moving fast and you can tell he thinks he’s running. The movement is clearly a delight because it’s always accompanied with a smile and twinkling eyes.

Taking instruction

Writing. Anders has a natural pencil grip. He scribbles with good control. He loves to sit up to our desk downstairs and color next to Scotland.
Backing up to sit in your lap.
Helper. He loves to help sweep- usually just using his broom to scatter up the pile I swept up. If he sees me carrying something large, he’ll reach his hands out to help. He’s forever joining me with a tool to build a cabinet or work on the kitchen in someway. I nearly always vacuum with him holding on walking along with me.

Looking dapper on Mother’s Day

Just this past week he’s turned into a cuddle bug. He’s never been a super huggy child, but all of a sudden he’s started to just come up to me his arms held high with a little whimper. I’ll pick him up and he’ll turn his head to lay on my shoulder, and move his arms flat against his sides- a penguin hug. I love it!
Social. He loves people and attention. Last week during Sunday school he entertained two of the elderly sisters behind us for the full hour. If they dared look up at the teacher he would do something darling and funny to bring their eyes back to him. He passed his ball back and forth, he tickled them, and more than anything he smiled, then tilted his head and smiled some more. At first I felt bad that he was being so distracting but then looking at their own beaming faces, I figured this was probably as good for them as anything!
He loves being involved in Joy School. And loves to have friends over.
He continues to love his sleep. He goes to bed around 6:30 and wakes up around 7:00 then usually takes a 45min-1 hour morning nap around 10:00 and another one- two hour nap around 12:30.
He likes looking at books, but doesn’t much like being read to. Well, his favorite thing is for you to have a book that you read, and for him to have a book that he looks through next to you. He DOESN”T want to sit on your lap. And he DOESN’T want to look at the same book that you are looking at. He’ll get out books through out the day and sit down and flip through them looking at the pictures.
He loves playing kitchen.
He continues to love balls.
He does this adorable thing during prayers (well rarely during the prayer.) He puts both hands on his chest (like he’s too chubby to fold them across himself or something) and bows his head. It’s darling, and lasts 2 seconds.
He’s very independent. He’s happy to play on his own. He takes commands well “Anders will you go get your jacket/shoes, we need to go.” He gets the goings and comings and goes with the flow well. He walks the halls of the church like he owns the place, and people always comment on what a little man he is. (It’s clear, that he is totally unaware of how much smaller he is than the rest of us.) When we enter the library he immediately wants down so he can beat his brother to the computer station.
He uses a fork well.
By and large, he’s a really easy baby. Just keep him fed and well slept! We love our Anders. He keeps us laughing and smiling.