Ross took his first steps last night! I think Steve was the proudest I've ever seen him. We were just chatting and playing on the floor with Ross when he was standing up holding on to Steve for a little balance, then let go and took two whole steps reaching for his toy on the couch!! How awesome that we were both there to see it! He's not so interested in doing it continually, but he'll take a few steps for us here and there and will just stand by himself for a few minutes at a time. I've learned with Ross that he has to decide it's useful before he'll even think about adopting a new skill. He makes me laugh. His personality is expanding by the minute and we're just trying to keep up with him!
His latest - unpleasant - phase is doing a high pitched piercing scream every time he's frustrated with you, something he's playing with that isn't working, or if he's ready for a nap. I won't lie - it's not my favorite, and it's pretty tricky figuring out how to teach him that screaming is not appropriate and won't get you what you want in a way that he'll understand. My mom just gave me the idea of using a misting squirt bottle to spray in his face each time he screams...I think we may just have to try it. Here's to the trial and errors of parenting!
Ross's latest advancements, however, include officially waving at you and saying "hi" or my favorite British phrase "hiya". He also says "Dada" "Mama" "Jesus" and "quack quack". The "mwaw" sound may be my favorite though when he opens his mouth and gives you a big slobbery kiss. When he crawls he is always on super speed mode, and if anything is in his way he swats it away or throws it directly behind him. He loves playing with the plug to the drain so I have to be quick getting him bathed before the water is all gone. He's quite taken with Rascal Flatts (which may or may not have anything to do with his mama listening to it). He thinks it's hilarious to be pushed over when he's sitting on the bed. He loves looking at any sort of animal - especially a cat that always hangs around our apartments (that may or may not have anything to do with our neighbors the Listers ;) ) and the robins that hang out in the trees outside our apartment. On a side note - I've never noticed how many birds are around and how many different sounds they make until I moved to Oregon. They are everywhere!
Ross LOVES playing peekaboo, and will play it with anyone and everyone if they give him the chance. He can be quite captivated by turning the pages of the hymnbook at church - for a good 10-15 minutes. He makes the "vrrrooom" sound when he's rolling his cars around - which is a huge improvement from just throwing them on the ground like he was doing a month ago. He thinks Steve's belly is so interesting - especially his belly button. He also is quite taken with my Jillian Michaels workout. He'll watch the TV and bounce along to the music while I'm sweating and panting to death. He is pretty good at throwing a ball - still working on the direction it goes, and he still LOVES knocking down towers. We have a truck that he can stand and push around, but once he hits into a wall or piece of furniture, in then becomes our job to turn him back around so he can keep going. We just love him so much. Like I've said before - he's getting TOO BIG TOO FAST!! He makes us so happy! Hooray for Ross taking his first steps!
