Self-feeding

My little meatloaf has taken another step towards independence :(, he has started to self-feed. I had been delaying this evolutionary step for awhile because I didn't want to be the one to clean up the mess, but the day has come!

While all his buddies started self-feeding around 13-14 months, I decided to coach him by using his shovel and pail. Every time we would go to the sandbox, Mati would entertain himself by pouring the sand into the pail. He practiced, again and again, the whole complicated dance of directing his hand towards another object with precision. I'm glad I waited and took this path because, while I can't take him just yet to eat with the Queen of England, he's no huge mess. He's even starting to wipe his mouth clean after he finishes with a napkin! It also seems to me that he is enjoying his food much more, savoring every fork- or spoonful to the last drop.

Talking

We've noticed that Mati is starting to make longer monologues and longer words too. I think he's also starting to imitate the phonetic sounds he hears us say, like the "rrrr" in Spanish. And to make his Tata Nabou very happy, he says "Abu".

Memory

Mati is also showing signs of remembering people. He clearly associates my mom with the phone (wonder why???), the paintings in his room, and is able to point her out in his gallery of pictures. On Wednesdays we go grocery shopping and the staff at the supermarket always says hi and plays little peek-a-boo games with him while at the cashier. For the past couple of times, he's been the one initiating the hellos as soon as he sees them.

Affection, affection, affection

This little guy has me wrapped up in his little finger ... He knows exactly how to melt my heart: with kisses and hugs. He'll hold my head and give me a kiss or just come cuddle in my arms (especially when I get upset with him for doing something he shouldn't have done). He does this with my sister too. Yesterday at our Wednesday playgroup, he kissed one of the grandmas goodbye. He's just a bundle of love!