Uh...oh!

Chou-chou's third official actually-means-something word is "uh...oh"! He's trying to say "uh-oh", but puts a marked pause between the "uh" and the "oh". I never realized just how much we (apparently) say "uh-oh"! Obviously we've said it enough for him to learn it! His little telephone that he now puts up to his ear in pretend-style says something that sounds like "uh-oh" too, so I think that may have had something to do with it. Although in French one might say "oo la la" or "houp-la", I've had a hard time incoporating these sound words (including the French animal noises) into my repertoire with Chou-chou. How could I not say "uh-oh" to him? And our goal with him learning French is not for him to actually be French, obviously, but to be able to communicate in French with others. So that's what I tell myself to make it all okay...:)

"Wow", ou bien "oo la la", is all I have to say about Chou-chou at 13.5 months! Last week it seemed like overnight Chou-chou transformed from a soft dribbly baby into a little sponge of a person, now capable of doing all sorts of stuff. I think as parents there are some days that you just look at your child and realize they were so different what seemed like hours before. Those moments are definitely frequent with a newborn and very young baby-- I remember saying "he looks different" or "look what he can do now!" all the time last year. Nowadays the milestones are no less amazing, but definitely more spread out. Jarod and I both noticed a huge change in Chou-chou at about the same time last week, though, and we're just gushy mushy in love with him more every day. Here are some highlights of Chou-chou's life at 13.5 months...

Chou-chou has really started walking now. He looks a little drunk most times, and definitely lurches forward with hands out every 10-20 steps or so. He's had some good falls, and a lovely green bruise on his forehead for our portraits last Saturday (yay for airbrushing), but luckily Chou-chou's really a rough-and-tumble kind of kid who doesn't fear physical pain yet (the vaccuum is another story...).

Chou-chou points at everything and says something unintelligible while he waits for you to label the object. His usual words are "beuk" (not really "book", not really "back", maybe more Frenchy?:)) and "geuk". Also, his favorite with Daddy, or Papa as we've taken to calling him, is handing him a book and trying to climb in his lap. This is so sweet and really makes Papa smile.

Once the car's parked and Chou-chou's car seat buckle is undone, he arches his back really hard and tries to slide out on his own, making exhausted out-of-breath noises. This makes it very difficult to actually get his arms out from the restraints, but somehow he's out by the time his feet hit the floor of the car! Car rides have gotten a lot better in recent months, too, now that Chou-chou is front-facing and can watch the world go by at a better angle. I still wonder what he's thinking about as I glance at him in the rear view mirror, taking it all in thoughtfully.

Our babe is slowly but surely turning into a snuggle bug. It used to be that in the sleepy early morning hours when we brought Chou-chou in bed with us, he'd reject being cuddled in under either of our arms. Lately, though, and not all the time yet, he's been sucked into the warmth of a big mama or papa! Ahh... so sweet.

We think Chou-chou might be mechanically-inclined! He's been pretty good at putting his Melissa & Doug wooden stacking rings on one at a time for a couple months now, but just the other day we noticed how he can easily stack them all on top of each other with no frustration. Gloating parents that we are, we've concluded that this is a strength for him which he likely inherited from Jarod, especially considering this is marked as an 18-month toy (we're also convinced he's musical and good at math like his mama was at one time... so he'll be a mechanical engineer... it's decided!).

Chou-chou loves his ride-on train and push-wagon, both birthday presents from the grandparents. With his wagon he gets inside and holds onto the bar and starts moving his hips forward and backward, in an attempt to make it go. This is pretty cute. Just last night he figured out how to make his train move... backwards. If we push him forwards he spaces out with his finger rapid-firing the horn/woo-woo/song button, clearly enjoying his ride. If he faces backward and makes it move, his back hits the buttons so we get to hear just as much woo-wooing.

What else... I know that's a lot, but I know there's still more that I've been meaning to get down before there's something else new! He's had two 15-month molars for a couple weeks now, and they're about halfway in. Surprisingly, they haven't been nearly the fuss that all his other eight teeth have been, and I discovered them by accident when unlatching him from my boob awhile ago.

Speaking of the boob, Chou-chou's really into it still. And you know what? I'm okay with that. For a couple months I was really paranoid for some reason about him not phasing any feedings out. All along I've been planning on nursing him for 18 mos.-2 years., so I'm not sure which insecurity was really driving the paranoia. Probably just the fact that I've heard from other moms (including my own) that at this age toddlers should only really be nursing before bed and in the morning, and the rest of the time they should be eating real food. This is great for all those other babies. But I don't know why I'm surprised that Chou-chou, who's been slow on real food/picky eater and was kind of a fussy guy as a younger baby, wants to nurse like there's no tomorrow. And many of the moms I know who are nursing toddlers are in the same boat. I turned to my breastfeeding friend the other day, http://www.kellymom.com/, and she told me that 12-15 month olds start nursing all the time again as a way to check-in with mom as they discover their new worlds. This totally makes sense! And it's not like Chou-chou wants to nurse while we're out in public so much, since I can just give him a snack. But when he bumps his head or gets scared or goes down for a nap? Totally.

Okay, this post is entirely too long! And not really about "uh-oh". Yay for my big 13.5 month-old, though!!! I couldn't be any more in love, in case that weren't already obvious!

One more thing: I've been realizing lately as I see other new moms with tiny ones in bjorns out and about, that my baby Chou-chou isn't so much of a baby anymore. This is bittersweet. Mainly okay since I remember not sleeping at all and I love my big baby-boy at the age he's at, but a little sad. Someday we'll hopefully have another, but I know that you only have one new baby once in your life, only one brief time where you exude the air of "my-life-is-completely-turned-upside-down-but-I'm-in-love-can-you-tell-I'm-a-new-mother?-ask-about-my-baby!". I feel pangs of compassion and longing as I see these new mothers, and I want to tell them it will all get easier. I definitely ask "how old?" and say "aww...", cause babies are so indescribably intoxicating. Ahh... Point final!