Firsts

Well, I must say that 12 months is proving to be quite a milestone month for Lucas! Here are some fun new things he's been doing the past 2 weeks:
1. He found my cell phone this morning and rather than trying to eat it or bang it on the couch cushions (where I had left it), he put it to his ear and started babbling and smiling at me!

2. He had his first tantrum. Lucas wanted to stay outside and I picked him up and brought him inside. Much flailing and wailing ensued. However, I must disclose that he slept poorly the night before and it was also naptime so the tiredness was probably a big factor there.

3. Lucas is attaching sounds to objects. I guess that's a convoluted way of saying he has a few first words! I always thought that a first word for a baby would happen like this: "Look at the ball, Lucas! Can you say ball?" and then Lucas would point at it and say "Ba!" or something. But in reality, I think it's a lot more gradual process than that. Last month he started pointing at the neighbors' cats and making "k-t-k-t" sounds. But he would also make that sound when not looking at kitties. Now he almost always uses that sound for showing us the kitties and not for anything else. He also would point to our eyes, noses, and mouths and say "eye". These past few weeks, he has on a number of occasions pointed at our eyes and pictures of eyes in books and said "eye". He's also been really into pointing out light sources to us and then saying "aghh". Now that sound has developed into "lie" for "light". Last night he pointed at our kitchen table lamp and said "lie" unprompted. So, there you have it. Lucas' first words are Kitty, Eye, and Light. Interesting. :)

4. He can get on and off our couches by using a box against the base of it to get up and then he'll turn himself around to lower himself feet-first to get off. Looks like we're ready for phase 2 of baby-proofing the house now that he can climb!

The next "firsts" on the horizon are first haircut (it's now curling over his ears and his collar), first independent steps, and first full night of sleep where he wakes later than 5am. (oh, please let this be on the NEAR horizon-- mommy and daddy would love to get more than 6 hours of sleep for themselves!) . We're enjoying Lucas so much right now and all the new things he's learning and doing. Watching him grow up is so cool and every little accomplishment he makes just amazes us no matter how small it is. Yay Lucas!