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My turn to drive!
Oh well, guess I’ll ride back here
Unfortunately, he did have to ride in the back seat when the car was actually moving… The two months since I last posted have been a busy time for Katmai. We left the Seldovia blizzards behind to take him to southern realms where the ground was showing, dragging him around on book tour with us for a month. Katmai toughed it out through over 4,000 miles of driving, sleeping in 20 different places, and attending all but one or two of our 15 hour-long presentations. He’s an adaptable kid.
Katmai on book tour (13-14 months) from Erin McKittrick on Vimeo.
And though I feel like we provide him with stimulation at home, seeing all those new people and places brought out an explosion of development. When we left he was 13 months old. He would take a few steps, only occasionally, mostly with the right foot, but basically was crawling. He knew around 10 signs and gestures to communicate.
In Eugene, at his aunt Valisa’s, we took him out to look at the moon – prompting his very first word. It all snowballed from that first word of “moon”. Now, he’s 14 months old. He’s walking everywhere, has a pretty good overhand throw, can climb down stairs, and between signs, sounds, and words, can communicate over 50 different things! Most of it happened in just a couple weeks. That’s a lot to show for a bunch of hours talking to mama in the car seat.
I have to put in a list of his words here, because I just think it’s so cool:
words (9): moon, mama, dada, eye, ice, hi, balloon, dog, knee
sounds (3): clock (clicking), moo, neigh
signs (52): bird, kitty, bear, dog, mouse, whale, fish, pig, frog, horse, cow, monkey, mole, otter, moose, owl, walrus, baby, car, airplane, computer, light, telephone, fire, flower, tree, stars, grass, wind, rock, outside, rain, snow, up, down, sleep (bed), big, hot, sad, all-done, more, again, nursing (milk), eat, cheese, bread, water, ball, go-round, book, hat, bye-bye
He even occasionally combines them, creating such scintillating phrases as “more cheese”, “dog food”, “baby eat”, and “book all-gone”.
The highlight of Katmai’s vacation: go-rounds and the moon
First horse
But with all the great leaps, there’s one thing that hasn’t changed: Go-rounds. Whether it’s the wind farms of Wyoming, the ceiling fans in a restaurant, or the loose knobs on someone’s kitchen cabinets, Katmai has a passion and obsession with spinning things that has lasted well over half his life. Did you know that lampshades often spin? That nearly every house has at least one loose drawer knob? Thanks to Katmai, I know all this and more.
Learning to slide
I don’t like this life vest
He’s added a number of secondary passions along the way. After go-rounds, moons and horses are his favorite things to point out and talk about, though balls and books are still the best toys. He likes most animals, but I think my friend Rachel started the horse obsession by taking Katmai to see and pet her horse. I’m not sure why he loves the moon so much (he’ll find it in every story book, as well as outside). Wait until he finds out that the moon goes around.
Ketchikan forest
with his cousin
California hiking
on the plane
[...] hates driving, and is better at entertaining Katmai, so the division of labor was clear. I drove, while Erin exchanged toys, taught signs, sang songs, [...]
Great!