Galk!

These past few weeks, Leif has been working hard not only at practicing his walking skills, but also at trying to say (or approximate) the word "walk." His version sounds more like "GALK!", but he says it with such gusto that we often find ourselves imitating him rather than the other way around.

Linguistic side note: I find it interesting that he can say the "w" sound in some contexts (he says "wa wa" for water), but he has not yet been able to muster an initial "w" sound in a closed syllable like "walk." It will be interesting to see how his pronunciation develops over the coming year.

Exploring

Leif's increasing mobility has given him a whole new appreciation for his surroundings, now that he can explore them independently and even (sometimes) from an upright position. One of his discoveries has been just how much fun it is to sit *under* his high chair rather than in it -- and when that gets old, pushing the high chair across the room is also entertaining.


He has also zeroed in on the parts of our buffet that he is actually able to open. Time for Round 3 (or 5, or 8??) of childproofing!

Hair with attitude

Leif's hair has grown enough now that he is capable of sculpting it into what I like to call "hair with attitude." This is most often accomplished at mealtime or bath time. Lately, one of the many songs I sing to Leif throughout the day has often been: "Are you going to San Francisco? Be sure to wear avocado in your hair..." Unfortunately, as I discovered the other day, Leif now knows what "hair" means, so my singing this only prompts him to pat his head with his avocado-coated fingers that much more enthusiastically.

Legoland

On a cold weekend day in late January, we took Leif on a mall walking expedition to the Mall of America, including his momentous first visit to Legoland. (Or at least his first photo op overlooking Legoland!) I'm sure there will be many more visits to come...especially after he has outgrown the urge to eat the Legos.


This was the outing that convinced us our budding walker needed some real shoes, stat! Poor Leif was slipping all over the place in his soft-soled Robeez shoes. He still found plenty to enjoy at the mall, however, despite the walking difficulties. Watching people going up the escalator was a particular hit.

Shake that egg!

In this video, taken on Christmas Day, Leif demonstrates his egg shaking skills (accompanied by Auntie Sarah's vocals).

Two cousins in a boat

We recently got around to loading a bunch of video clips taken in December and January onto our computer, so I wanted to share a few of them. In this video, Leif and his cousin Vivian (at ages ~10 months and ~2 1/2 years, respectively) play together in Leif's new Radio Flyer wagon, which in its not-yet-assembled, wheel-less state was temporarily fulfilling the essential role of Living Room Boat.



(On a side note, the boat has recently been relegated to the basement to have its wheels put on and to await the eventual spring thaw, since Leif's interest in it had progressed from the innocent "Let's walk around the outside of the boat and push the seat backs up and down" to the much more harrowing for Mom "Let's practice climbing into and out of the boat...over and over...head first!")

Baby steps

Leif has started to attempt a few small, independent steps, although he still prefers to walk around holding on to our fingers with one or both of his hands (or simply to crawl). His PR so far is about 4 or 5 feet! As when he was learning to crawl four months ago, holding my cell phone just out of his reach seems to be the best enticement to get him to attempt a few steps on his own.