So many changes!

Alright, I cave. I have been on strike for the past week because this blog is supposed to be more of James' responsibility now that I'm back at work and in school (and because this blog was started for the benefit of his family in England). However, to be fair, I never actually told him this. :D Plus, he was away all week-end with the band and now he has the cold I had last week. So, we'll let him slide this time. Poor guy had an allergic reaction to DayQuil on top of the cold yesterday - he was covered in itchy, swollen hives. No fun.

Dorian has now been off the boobs for 9 days! The changes in him have been incredible. I wish I had weaned him months ago. Actually, no, I wish I had never nursed him at all (not really, but oh my god, he is a different kid now). He is starting to sleep for the first time. We had a 5 hour stretch last night...in his own bed!!! Then he woke up and came running to our bed so I pulled him into bed with us and cuddled him and he fell right back asleep for the rest of the night! No milk or cottage cheese or anything during the night for the past few nights. And...wait for it...he took a 3 hour nap today with no interruptions. This is huge! He went down easily tonight too - no crying.

The sleep changes are AWESOME and hopefully will be here to stay. But the biggest changes have been developmentally. He has turned into a different child over the past couple weeks. He is talking like crazy! Most of it jibberish, but still. He is talking ALL THE TIME and he obviously thinks he's saying something because he'll talk while he's pointing to things or in response to something we've said or when he wants something. It is incredible. He was in the BEST MOOD EVER today. Seriously, no crying, no tantrums, just a happy, happy, happy child. If he was like that all the time, I wouldn't have been so eager to return to work. I could easily be a stay-at-home mom with a kid like he was today. It was a total change.

He is dancing to music all the time now. He starts bopping his head when we read any rhyming books. He giggles. He is very cheeky. He knows when he does something he shouldn't be doing because he always looks over at us, waits for us to say "no" and then chuckles hysterically. He roots around in the fridge and picks out what he wants to eat for every meal (he always picks healthy stuff - his favorite foods at the moment incluce any kind of fruit, avocados, cottage cheese, cream cheese, fruit-flavored yogurt, broccoli, Weetabix cereal, waffles, pancakes, ice cream, and tofu). He can almost feed himself with utensils...he can do it, but we still have to put the food on them usually. He can hold ice cream bars and eat them on his own. He can drink out of his sippy cup or a small cup with a straw on his own. He draws (scribbles) using pens and crayons. He loves playing with playdough. He plays the recorder beautifully, and of course, still loves to play his piano and guitar. He "reads" to himself and to us all the time. He loves spending time with his grandparents and will happily spend the whole day with them - no separation anxiety or mama's boy anymore. He gives us hugs, kisses and high fives depending on which one we verbally request. He understands so much now. He points to his nose and mouth, and to ours. He sings. He has moved up a level in Gymboree. He is the smartest one, even though he's the youngest. Seriously! There are things they have the kids do and he gets it before the others do. It's amazing. He also always wants to be the first to do things and he watches the teacher quite often, even when he should be sitting down with the other kids (see the pic below). He climbs up stairs and ladders and goes down slides. He is very serious when he is learning something new. You can tell he is really thinking about things. He is obsessed with my dad. He cries when he leaves, much like the way he used to cry when I left (he doesn't cry when I leave anymore, only when my dad does!) He loves James' shoes and feet for some reason and was desperate to get James' Docs on today. There are so many things I know I'm forgetting to mention. He is just such a grown-up boy now!!