Stuff and some other stuff and then some pictures

It really does seem like language just happened to Elijah. He now says:

cracker : gach ga
truck (pretty much anything with wheels) : guch
flower : oof
kitty kat : gee gach
dirt : dih
balloon : boon
spoon : boon
cup : ka
car : ch
go outside : ow
door : do
mama : mama
dada : dada

It seems to make him so happy to be understood. Just a minute ago he looked at the cupboard and said gach-gah and we went over and got a cracker and he was mightily chuffed. He also signs. He still signs to nurse. He signs hat/head. He makes dog sounds (panting), pig sounds (almost a snort but more like a German person coughing), cat sounds (a screech), and bee sounds (zzzzzzzz). He claps when he wants you to sing (which is almost all the time, even when he's nursing). His favorite song has been the teddy bear picnic one (by a long shot). But he's also into the wheels on the bus song (urgh) and that don gato song. He clucks his tongue when he likes a song and sort of bounces a little to show approval. Boy's got rhythm. His clucks usually keep good time.

He's not walking yet, but this week he started taking steps while holding onto our fingers. Before, when we'd try, he'd just fall right to his knees (on purpose) and crawl away. He hasn't seemed too bothered about walking. He's more into kicking and talking. He likes to spas out on the mattress or in the bathtub. And in addition to speaking baby English he also is really into vocalizing all possible sounds. It's almost like a sound experiment in our house. I wish I could capture it on tape. The noises he makes are sort of unbelievable.

E was super on our trip to Colorado. He loved being at Greg and Heather's - they have two cats (two tails to catch!), and a little rubber dinosaur, and one of those cat bowls that perpetually runs a little waterfall . . . and carpeted stairs, which are basically heaven to Elijah, who climbed up and down about fifty times a day, often saying "gach gah" because he knew the crackers were upstairs. In general, the kid likes to eat, preferring, it seems, banana and avocado above all else. He also loves bread, and crackers, and pasta, and raisins. So it's basically a carbs thing with him. He also is pretty cool with tofu and scrambled eggs (he likes a little thyme in his eggs).

AWP was good, in as much as AWP is ever good (as opposed to the ways in which AWP is evil). We saw people. We bought pretty books and also a few ugly books. Mostly it was just really good to see friends and the Rockies were friendly too. Here are some pics.