Kahlil Update

Thought I should give an update of what Kahlil is doing these days. It's a Grandma requirement.

Play Time: Kahlil's play has changed quite a bit in the last few weeks. He is much more into looking at his books and doesn't try to rip or eat the pages. He will play with his stacking cups for quite a while and he has actually put some of his big wooden puzzle pieces back in the right place. He will also take things in and out of a container several times... this is verses just dumping everything and being done with it. He also likes to put things in the seat of his firetruck and take them along with him. It's fun to peek in there and see what the chosen toys of the hour are. I was very surprised the other day at the park when he started running and kicking a ball another little boy had brought. He was so good at it straight away I think this must be something they do at the creche. We didn't have a good kicking ball at home, so Jay bought one this weekend. Kahlil is quite interested in Jay's chess board and pieces. As Kahlil moves the pieces around, Jay explains what the pieces are and how they are suppose to move. I think we have a little time before he becomes a Chess Master :-)

Physical State: It seems he is much taller than when we arrived. I cant give exact numbers without our door frame markings at home so my feeling is based on his clothes getting snug and where the table hits him on the forehead. He has also gotten good at things like getting off the couch alone and getting on/off his firetruck. If you hold his hands, he will walk up stairs one step at a time just like a big person. He has also started to 'jump'. It's more the motion of jumping than actually jumping. He bends his legs and puts his arms up. Then quickly straightens out the legs and swings his arms down. Sometimes he actually lifts one foot off the ground. A couple times he has gotten both feet off the ground. When he did this, the reentry was a little rough. It was very cute the first time he started jumping... he was VERY proud. He came over to me with a big smile and showed me his new trick. And then he showed Jay right away when Jay got home from work.

Communication: Kahlil is quite the signer these days. He can do 'more', 'water' (which sometimes means drink in general), 'milk', 'orange', 'bath', 'down', 'all done', 'eat', and 'banana'. We just started on 'cereal'. And he waves goodbye all the time now. I'm also going to try to get the more abstract signs of 'hurt' and 'help' across. He does say Mama and Dada, but these are usually only when we are separated and reunited. Another word he started to say is 'cracker'... but it sounds a little strange. If you try to say 'cracker' without opening you mouth (sort of hum it) that is close to what he does. We have also been making faces at each other. The current favorite is to curl up our lips.