Milestones

Leo's First Professional Haircut!

Leo has been learning and changing by leaps and bounds lately and it is a joy to see him flourish. So much is happening I can barely keep up, but here's some fun tidbits and recent milestones.

In the past month, Leo

• figured out how to climb out of his playpen and his crib!
• said his first 2-word phrase "I drive."
• had a bad fall off a park play structure and, other than a headache, is fine! Mommy needed to cry it out though.
• created and sings his own song, "Taco, hey hey hey!" to which the lyrics are "Taco, hey, hey, hey!" Recently, he's started substitiuting people's names for Taco, like "PopPop, hey, hey, hey!" Really.
• started sitting forward in his car seat.
• made his first official fort.
• made a music box, sun catcher, and ceramic plate in art class with Mommy.
• likes to make what I've coined the "watcha talkin' 'bout, Willis?" face (read Mr. Skeptical or Not So Sure)
• sometimes says "Yeah" in response to yes or no questions with a distinct tone of "Duh!" Isn't that supposed to happen at like 9?
  
• is learning his ABCs.
• pronounces his name "Leh-oh." Before, he was too shy to say his name at all, little guy.
  
• is counting to ten (though he skips seven and heavily prefers the numbers three and eight)
  
• and, of course, had his first professional haircut! Nervous tears at the start were quickly replaced by interest, relaxation, and vanity :)
  

Leo also likes to watch the garbage man on Wednesday mornings, sing high and low, watch YouTube videos of trucks and planes, hug friends and kiss girls, play horsey, color with crayons, tell us he loves us, look at photos of himself and family, take baths, help water the garden, do painting and beading in art class, and watch Curious George and Caillou on television.

I particularly like Curious George because Leo and I have created a ritual at the start of each episode. The moment we hear the drum music start, Leo walks up to me to be held, I scoop him up in my arms (all 27ish lbs of him), and we dance around to the intro music, pointing with delight to the familiar images of kites and dogs and cars that flash across the screen. At this point, I'm pretty sure I look forward to it more than he does. If I could freeze a moment in time, that just might be it :)

Before Haircut - Cute boy, bad trim by Mommy (still, though, Leo liked it!)

After haircut - So GQ! You done mommy proud, son!

Look 1: The Good Guy

Look 2: The Bad Boy