Babies go through these brief periods of huge change. I remember Isabel doing something similar, but because she was methodical and cautious, it wasn't quite as dramatic as the phase Orin is currently in. In the last 24 hours, he's been an absolute whirlwind of change.
First, he decided walking is super awesome just before supper yesterday afternoon, when he took about six steps from the kitchen island to me (I was doing something else, so he wasn't even being coaxed). Up to that time, he'd take a couple of steps if coerced, but certainly not of his own volition. Now, he is doing it all the time and getting a real kick out of it.
He also started drinking successfully out of his Klean Kanteen this morning. This is a big deal for us because the water bottles he currently uses leak like crazy, meaning that his bed and clothes get much wetter than need be, so we've been trying to convince him for a while that the KK is where it's at.
He's shown incredible comprehension in a few instances today. First, he toddled over to the fridge and started waving his empty water bottle at the water dispenser. This probably doesn't seem like a big deal to most, but since we've never gotten his water out of the dispenser (too cold), this suggests that he has paid enough attention to what we've gotten ourselves and Isabel and the talk surrounding what comes out of the dispenser to know that it is water. Pretty impressive, in my opinion. The second instance was after supper. Isabel and Dad were heading upstairs to start prepping the bath while I cleaned Orin up in his highchair. He peeked around his chair at the two of them, so I asked him where they were going. He looked at me curiously. I then asked if he wanted to go too and he immediately started wrestling with the buckle and leaning out of his chair. I had no idea he would understand that question, but he evidently did and followed them happily up the stairs.
Lastly, his communication skills themselves have blossomed. He has been saying mama, dada and "cuh" (cat) for a while now. He recently added "nana" (banana) to his repertoire and I am quite sure there are more real words in that vast amount of babble he produces that we just aren't hearing. Most significantly today though was the fact that he is finally signing with some consistency. We have been using the signs for "more" and "all done" and, occasionally "water" with him for a couple of months now and, as a rule, he just looks at us like we are nuts or makes his own crazy hand gestures. Well, at snack today, he used "more" consistently until he was done, at which time, he threw a fit (alright...not exactly progress on "all done, but baby steps people). He used "more" again through supper. The hilarious part, which also indicates that increased comprehension I was talking about was when I put him on the potty prior to bath. After a bit, I asked if he was all done and instead he signed "more". We all had a good laugh at that.
Anyway, if I wake up in the morning and post a Facebook status about my car being missing, you'll all know what happened.
