Mini Development Boom

It seems the Bear has been on a mental growth spurt. My parents have been in town since last Thursday and it seems he is showing them everything he can do and more! It's been fun. Here are some growth stories:

The Slide
There is a slide at one of the parks that curves and when the Bear slides off he lands on his feet and falls down. One day he went down and fell, as usual but then went back up the steps to go down again. He went down a second time and fell to his hands again. I said, "Try it again and see if you can stick the landing!" So up the steps he went and down the slide. He did this maybe two more times...falling to his hands. He was so determined and went up the steps again. This time, he only fell to one knee! I said, "I bet you can do it this next time!" As he climbed the steps, he stopped and looked at me and made the "more" sign so enthusiastically as if to say, "I can do this one 'more' time and I will stick the landing." So I said something like, "One more time! You can do it!" He got to the top of the slide and sat down. Down he went and he stuck the landing! Hooray! He gave me a high-five. He then ran to Tuka and gave him a high-five and then ran to Nana for a third high-five! I asked him if he wanted to do it again he looked away and pointed at the swings. His reward to himself for all of his hard work was apparently to swing on the swings.

Nooooo
He knows how to say "no" now. He was eating oatmeal for breakfast earlier this week and had a spoonful of oatmeal and started to shake the spoon back and forth. I immediately said, "Stanleyyyyy." and before I could say anything else he stopped, held up his index finger and said, "Noooooooo." Haha. He did stop shaking the spoon, so he understands what it means.

More
He has mastered the sign for "more" but now he can say the word while signing. He says it like this, mo'.
Mo' food, mo' slides, mo' juice, mo' milk, mo' apricots, mo' climbing.

Nana and Ducka or Baba
He can say Nana really well and knows who she is. He has not mastered Tuka yet but instead says something like Ducka but mostly calls him Baba which sounds very similar to Papa.

Bubbles
We were hiking along the creek on a very cold day and there was a bubble, about 2 inches wide, just twirling at the bottom of a little waterfall in the creek and I said, "Look at the bubble." and he immediately said, "Bubble." He's good at "B" words, Bobby, Bubble, Bus.

Determination
Just like with the slide where he will try and try and try until he can get it he did something similar at the Life and Science Museum. There is a tree house type of thing where he can climb up and then put a tennis ball sized ball in this red ramp that the ball travels down and around the room and eventually down into the box on the floor. He can barely reach the ramp and I usually climb part way up the ladder and help place the ball in there. He kept trying and trying, on the tippiest of toes, fully extended arm and fingers...and FINALLY he did it! He got the ball in the ramp and then in all of his excitement he tried pushing the ball along (which is unnecessary) and then as it traveled along the ceiling and then down the ramp Stanley was shifting his weight from foot to foot, enthusiastically pointing with both fingers at the moving ball and making noises like, "Whooo, Hoo! Wha wha wha!" So funny.

He Knows
He knows words that he can't say yet. When he was on the swing at the park I said, "Do you want to play in the sandbox?" and he pointed at the sandbox. I was impressed. He is a sponge.

Toilet
We set up his little toilet seat next to ours in the bathroom. He loves opening it and then sitting down. The first night we had it set up, before his bath, he sat down on it, got up and looked in, nothing. He sat down again. Then he got up, looked at me and shook his head "no" (as if saying, nope, don't need to go and walked out of the bathroom. HA!

More Words and Signs
The other night at dinner my mom put a glass of water near me and the Bear and he put his hand to his mouth and pulled his hand away and down (the sign for thank you) and said something like, "tanky!" I couldn't believe my ears and eyes. He has said it many times since. He also was asking for more of something and I said, "Say, please." and did the sign (rub hand in circle over center of chest) and he responded by saying, "sah pease." and rubbing both his hands all over his torso. It was great.

Balance
We have a ladder (maybe 6-7 rungs?) leaning up against the house near the front stoop. He now climbs that, unassisted and when he's at the top he leans/dives for me (I'm standing on the top of the stoop) and that's how we come inside the house now. Also, at the Life and Science Museum in big blue block area he got up on this railroad track looking block, a foot on each side and started walking and balancing along. It was scary but he was so determined and focus. Have a look:

on the edge from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

All of this in one week. He's on a rolllll.