Counting and climbing

These days, Jack's big accomplishments are counting and climbing. He loves to do them both. The counting is fairly harmless; the climbing, not so much.

Counting. We usually practice as we climb the stairs up to our apartment. When left to his own devices, Jack usually counts as follows: "Wan (1), tree (3), figh (5), tree, figh, two, tree," etc., or some variation --- although rarely in the correct order. I love it.

Climbing. Earlier this week our 17 1/2 month old climbed out of his crib. Holy moly. He was unhappy about the idea of taking a nap and was yelling so loudly that I went in to see what could be the matter. He had one leg up on the side of the crib rail and was lifting himself up on his elbows. There would be nothing to break the fall but the hardwood floor. He stopped when he saw me, thank goodness. I didn't get him out of the crib, but instead started untying the bumper (which he was standing on to get some extra height). As I was sitting there untying it, he again tried to climb out and was successful. I was there to catch him, thankfully. Without the bumper, he's denied the extra inch that enabled him to climb out. But give him a few months and I'm sure he'll be back at it.

He also enjoys climbing on all the furniture. Last week I turned around to find him standing on top of a side table that is about two feet off the ground. And then there's the tupperware. While working in the kitchen last week, I watched as he turned over two plastic food containers and then stood on one with each foot. He then proceeded to skate around the kitchen. Ahhh, toddlers. :)

Melting hearts

Recently, when Jack catches Chris and me in a hug, he immediately runs up to us and says "Up". One of us lifts him up and he puts his arms around both of us and pushes our heads together. He giggles and seems to want nothing other than to be a part of this group hug. It is a sweet reminder that we are a family now.