Leaps and Bounds

The last few days have been full of remarkable moments for X-Man; it's been one of those weeks when you can just tell he's growing in wisdom and stature.

* X is now choosing to walk, unprompted. He'll start out across the room, and I won't even notice for a few seconds. Then it hits me that he's upright -- and he's not falling down! He's still faster when he crawls, so that remains his primary mode of transportation. But I have the feeling that when he gets the hang of this, he'll start running and never stop!

* I am proud to report that he is finally out of most of his 9-month clothing. Now, at least for his pants, he is sporting 12-18 month clothing, which is a real breakthrough for him.

* X has also become a signing machine, doing a new sign almost every day. (In the photo, he's doing an "X," imitating his father and brother when they salute him with his nickname.) Today it was "thank you." Yesterday, it was "fish." He's also doing about 20 other signs, including "walk," "all done" and the letter sign for his big brother. And he's signing "milk" like CRAZY, stalking me around the house and making clicking noises (which I make at him when I want him to latch on when nursing). It's kind of like Captain Hook being chased by the ticking crocodile in "Peter Pan."

Quite a hilarious and delightful little man! What a blessing he is to us...