skills to pay the bills.

Big developments in the world of Josiah.

He can now get from crawling position back to sitting. If you think about it, this is a really big deal. Now he can move to his toys and then actually sit up to play with them. He is very excited about this new skill. Just kidding, I don't even know if he realizes that he hasn't been doing it. Playtime is mysteriously not as frustrating, though.

Yesterday I had him in his highchair in front of the window and he turned around and grabbed the blinds. I took his hand off and told him "No." He looked me straight in the eyes, grinned, and shook his head "no." I told him he was right. As he continued to eat his bananas he kept grabbing the blinds, listening to me say "no" firmly, and proudly shaking his head accordingly. It's awesome that in less than a week's time he has learned the association of the word and the head shake...it is not so awesome that he doesn't get "no" means "no," and not just a head shake. We will ask him questions and he shakes his head "no" as if he is responding. He very promptly utilized it when I asked him if he had a stinky diaper. Too bad he was lying. Jonathan has tried to manipulate him into using "no" in bad forms by asking questions such as, "Do you like your mom more than your dad?" or "Is your mom cool?" He hasn't cooperated thus far. haha. He must know SOMETHING. For now it is cute, and I know it won't be long before he FULLY understands that evil two letter word.

The (other) big thing today has been pulling up on things. I'm sitting at the desk to type, and he just grabbed my foot from my crossed leg, and before I realized it he was standing up, leaning on the table next to our desk. My jaw dropped. He continued to pull up on that table until he figured out how to slide its doors to the side and access the goodies inside. He is pleased as pie that he has obtained a plastic cd case that surely must be off limits. Life as I know it has ended as of 3:41pm.

His second tooth is coming in quite well, but it is shadowed by the growing prominence of the first. Could anything more change in the next few minutes? I don't know there are any milestones left for the day, or the week, or the month for that matter. Friends in play group seem to think he is advanced in his physical skills. I think they are lying. I think he is pretty average, but the average range is so broad. He is definitely far surpassing all of his buddies in mobility, toy manipulation, and the ability to make things happen. I don't say this to boast. I commend the other mothers for their ability to maintain control for a couple more weeks. Well, now it is time to take him to the plush carpet because these newly acquired acrobatics are starting to scare me in the office with a wooden floor on top of concrete.