Walking and Talking

Stian is really enjoying assisted walking. He wanted us to walk with him lots this evening. He's also going through a little language explosion. Last week he learned "cracker", since then he has learned "car," "ball," "bubble" and "tickle." You'll hear "cracker" in the first video, and his little "hi-ee!" in the second. And notice the Lego in each hand.

Assisted Walking and Other Stuff

Stian is still a ways away from walking unassisted. But he has suddenly shown an interest in walking with us. He has liked walking with an overturned bucket or laundry basket for awhile, but didn't want to walk with us. I suspect it's because with the bucket he could lean over it and put more weight on the bucket, making it easier. Perhaps now his legs and core are stronger so he can walk more upright. He will walk holding on to our hands, but he prefers if we hold his wrists, or like this morning if he insists on carrying things with him, under his armpits. He has never really liked it if you hold his hands.





Incidentally, Stian has become pretty enamored of these blocks over the last few days. If I recall correctly they came from Wayne, Nathaniel and Kelly for Christmas last year. He loves to have one in each hand. In fact he really likes having two matching things to hold on to. I think it started with the twin mice (I mentioned them a few posts ago). He likes to have one mouse in each hand, one block in each hand, one cup in each hand, one little teddy bear in each hand, etc. He doesn't want to have a cup in one hand and a block in the other - they have to match.

And a few other random things:

Stian's new favorite word is "cracker." I don't really know how he learned this word. We have said it around him, but it wasn't one we were really working on with him. But he says it all the time. He'll wake up after a nap and we'll hear him over the monitor saying "Cracker. Cracker. Uh-oh. Cracker. Hi-eee!" Of course he loves crackers, so that could be part of it. But he loves fruit, and bread, and yogurt, and well, just about any food. So I'm not sure what is so special about crackers, or if it's just that he can say it.

Stian is also starting to pretend. I didn't think they really pretended much at this age. Of course his pretending has to do with food. One of his little plastic containers was on the floor and he picked it up the other day and put his hand in it and then brought to his mouth over and over. It was as though he was pretending to eat Cheerios out of it. And the last couple of nights while we've been reading Goodnight Moon before bed he has also pretended to eat from the bowl of mush. On the page where there is just a picture of the bowl of mush he reaches for the spoon in the bowl, acts like he grasps it, and then brings his hand to his mouth a couple of times.

And finally, Stian loves balloons. He got a balloon for his birthday from my mom and dad and he loved it. We have finally thrown it away because it lost so much of the helium. But now Stian points out balloons in books. He has two books with balloons: Goodnight Moon and Clifford Barks. Everytime we come to a page that has a balloon on it he has to point to the balloon.

Mall Play Area

It's been so cold outside, so we decided to take Stian to the play area in the mall. When Laura and the girls came to visit last spring we had taken the girls there as it was rather cold outside and they needed to do some running around. It seemed pretty nice, but Stian was obviously too little for it then. But we decided he was big enough to give it a try this weekend. He was still pretty young for it. But he did seem to enjoy watching the other kids running around. And then he started to crawl around some himself.

These pictures are pretty horrible quality. The first is taken with Kris's phone, the other two with my phone. My phone takes better pictures, but they're both pretty bad.

Bike

Stian got this bike for his birthday from Grandma and Grandpa Loftus. Now that he's getting better at assisted walking, he's getting better at the bike. He thinks it's much fun!

Stuffed Animals and Snack Trap

Stian loves his stuffed animals. Loves them. He is so cute. He has learned how to say "hi." He says it in this little high pitched voice - in higher than his normal voice - and he says it as though it's two syllables: "Hi-ee!" So he says "Hi-ee!" to his stuffed animals all the time. It is often followed by a big hug.

Here is Stian loving on Brent the Beaver (named by Klebo) and Click and Clack the twin mice (all three gifts from Auntie Karin):







And yesterday, when I was looking for something else in Stian's closet, I came across this Snack Trap that Laura gave us and realized Stian was probably old enough for it now. It's an ingenious little thing that has a top where Stian can reach in and grab Cheerios but not spill them. Well, he can spill a few, but not as many as if we gave him a normal bowl of Cheerios. He loves it! He's so excited to have control over getting his Cheerios. (And thanks to Klebo for the Bull Dozer shirt!)

Brownie Pan

This is the awesome brownie pan that Kris got me for Christmas - all edge pieces! Oh yeah!



Yes, he was shopping in the Sky Mall.

Luulah

Stian's lovey is one of those creepy blankets with an animal head stuck to it. I don't get it - but he loves it. This one was given to him by Wayne, Kelly and Nathaniel. He really does love it. He's terribly attached to it. He sleeps with her and has her with him at daycare. (Shhh don't tell him, but there are actually three Luulahs in circulation now, once he got so attached to her we bought more!) We named her Luulah because that was one of the first talking sounds Stian made.

Here Stian is with his beloved Luulah.

Innovator

After months and months of trying to get Stian to drink out of a sippy cup, he finally seems to be getting it. He doesn't drink much, but he at least has some. He is a stubborn little guy. But he's also quite the innovator. Who needs to use their hands?

Three Birthdays

Kris's birthday is December 29th. We celebrated with his family before we left the Cities and then we celebrated on his actual birthday while we were up in Wisconsin. We also had a small celebration for Klebo too as his birthday is January 16th and we wanted to give him his gift and celebrate with him while we were there.

Scenes from a Wisconsin Christmas