My Boy is Advanced

Felix entered the screaming-to-communicate phase a whole two weeks early. Yes, I am one proud mama. It’s a special sort of grating scream that says, “Hey, I don’t want to be in my car seat.” Or “Hey, my bottle ran out and I could use a couple more ounces.”

I was baffled by the sudden onset of the screaming, so I Googled and learned it’s totally normal around 9 months old, and also a great time to really start signing. I’ve been signing “milk” and “eat” for a while, and recently added “up” and “more”.

Also, the trick with the screaming is to reward the communication without rewarding the scream itself. Uh, okay. My best guess is to respond quietly while using a sign and addressing his need. The car seat is challenging since it’s not optional, but I’ve been giving him unique toys like a coat hanger or my comb to keep him entertained. 

Mmm, hanger.

I also started thinking he might be a late walker, since he is such a good army crawler with little interest in getting up on all fours. Then suddenly over the weekend he got up on all fours to try and crawl, and he started going from sitting to knees (instead of face-planting into the carpet). He also started pulling up onto his knees in his bassinet, so we could very well be on our way to walking by 1 year. Crazy how fast they change! It really doesn’t make a difference to me, but I hope to have his birthday party in the park and would be fun if he could toddle around the playground.

In the past week, Felix has also:

• Tasted a nickel, a penny, cat food and dog food
• Started saying “ma-ma” with as much meaning as “da-da” and “dit-dit”
• Army-crawling into the kitchen to watch me make dinner
• Giving kisses by slowly leaning into my face with a slobbery open mouth (love it!)