Preston is a clever clogs

Preston is getting so clever! He tries to communicate all the time and is saying more and more sounds and talks away to himself and tells us big stories. He is also using a lot more baby signs as well which is really impressive to see, especially when he asks for something specific eg grapes or milk and we say 'ok, here it is' and he is instantly satisfied. We have had hardly any tantrums lately because we know what he needs!

Petey and Karon came to stay last night so they got to see our mischief boy in action and I think they were pretty amazed by Preston's communication.

However, we have discovered one thing we weren't expecting - Preston has made up his own sign for something, but we don't know what it means!!!! So the only tantrum we have had is when he got so frustrated that I wouldn't give him what he wanted, but I was trying - I gave him about 10 options of things that were in his line of sight! Nevermind, we will eventually get it I'm sure. I'll just have to wait til he next has whatever object it is and does the sign for it.

Preston is also getting clever with phones. He LOVES it when people call up and want to talk to him - he listens in delight to peoples voices. So far he can only tell my voice and Dan's voice over the phone. I've been at work almost every day the last 2 weeks and the other day Preston was getting bored of daddy so gave Dan the phone and said 'MAMA!' as if to say 'call up mama please!' And whenever the phone rings, he puts his hand to his ear as though he is answering it.

Remember how I said I had taught him to say Mmm mmm MMMM? Well he says it whenever he has delicious food, and the last few times i've been to the supermarket he goes crazy in the fruit and vege section and wont shut up going MMMM MMMM MMMM!! at all the yummy things he likes to eat. Of course, everyone else in the supermarket just stares weirdly at us....

Preston's tumbling fun

Every week I get a development email from some place I subscribed to when I was pregnant, and it has interesting tips in it for growing kids. This week it suggested advancing early walkers like Preston with balancing activities such as getting them to climb up on something and then fall onto piles of cushions. This sounded like fun!

Preston has just in the last week figured out how to climb on top of his toy box (and today he figured out how to climb onto the couch, so now all our clever Preston-trapping of the lounge needs re-cleverising), so i got out all the cushions and made a big soft area around it. He climbs up and I hold up my fingers saying 1 - 2 - 3! and then he grabs my hands and we do a controlled but fun fall onto the cushions. He LOVES this game! He especially loves the counting, and by the time my fingers are about to make 3, he can barely contain himself with excitement!

He is so cute - if we haven't been paying him enough attention (because we are doing something else) he climbs up onto his toybox and tries to count 1 and he has both hands with 1 finger
up and he tells us he is ready for the tumbling game. What a clever boy!

Remember The Count from Sesame Street? When he counts, he says "1! Ah, ah, ah... 2! Ah, ah, ah..." and so on. We started saying it and now Preston copies! He goes around saying 'Ah ah ah' when he wants to be funny, especially after we have said a number. And when he is eating something yummy he has copied me saying "Mmmm mmm MMMM!" it's so hilarious.

Preston is being very funny and makes us laugh all day long at the moment!

Preston Update

HI, I know it's been ages since I last posted, and I must add more pictures. Here is a photo Melanie took on our girls weekend at Ruakaka.

Preston is 14 months old today, and what a running around mischief maker he is! He loves exploring everything, especially outside, and he's just figured out how to climb up on things (yikes!).

He still does a few baby signs like milk, hat, grapes and a few more, and picks up new ones I teach him really fast, and his vocab is increasing too. He tries really hard to say words and copies us as best he can. Mastered words (well, pretty clear anyway) include Mama, Dada, puss puss, bear, peas, apple (although i think this is his word for fruit), Amber, woof, and he has a pretty good go at saying cheese, biscuit, Preston but they are not quite mastered yet.

He's also mastered all our remotes for the tv/stereo/dvd/xbox/nintendo and turns it on and finds what he wants to watch!

There are finally some teeth - the ones he sprouted over New Year are now fully grown so he has 2 on the bottom and two on the top with another one on the top just sprouted in the last few days. And his hair is starting to thicken out so now he looks like a real little boy.

We still take him to swimming lessons and he loves it, and we go to the Parnell pools during the week on hot days. splashing around is so much fun!

we have heaps of pics to add to flickr so hopefully we'll get onto that soon.