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Luke Climbs

Luke has finally discovered the joy of climbing stairs. For the past few days, whenever he becomes quiet, I know to try looking upstairs. Fortunately for us, he is agile enough at this point to get up them with no problems (unless one of his sisters is laughing at him from below). Amanda, when she first learned to climb stairs, was much younger and managed to fall down them at least twice.

I still try to walk behind him as he climbs, but I do let him climb since he gets so much joy out of it. If adults enjoyed climbing stairs the way he does, many more stairmasters would be out of people's closets... The entire nation would probably not be facing the obesity epidemic.

I like watching him climb onto the couch. He gets up there and plays and plays. He makes attractive noises as if to say, "look at me! I'm so clever!". He makes me smile.

Luke also loves climbing up onto chairs and stools to reach for whatever happens to be on the counter or table. His current favorite is to climb onto Amanda's chair and eat whatever is at Amanda's plate---whether Amanda is there or not. He also climbs on the chair in front of the sink in the bathroom and looks at himself in the mirror. Climbing on kitchen stools is great as well. I've had to be much more careful about where I put knives, containers of liquid, the crock pot...

Of course, the real trouble is not getting up, but climbing down. He does have a good sense of how to climb (move one limb at a time, get your balance before moving the next limb, watch what you're doing) but he just isn't good yet at going down slowly (I can't tell you how many times I've picked him up off the floor after he's fallen off a low stool). I think I will be trying to teach him that, instead of just waiting for him to pick it up on his own.

Three more things about Luke (that probably belong in another post, but whatever): First, he got his 6th tooth a day or two ago. It is on the lower right, matching his 5th tooth on the upper right. There was a bit more drama than with the first 4 teeth, but nothing too terrible. He already has his mother's crowded teeth, which means that he will probably need braces...

He definitely has a few words, or word-like sounds. I mentioned earlier that he says "nnn nnn nnn!" when he's angry. He has also said "zzzz zzzz" to mean his sisters, although I am less sure than Michael that this means what I think it means. When he goes up to bed, and I say "good night" to his sisters and daddy, he waves and says "ni ni". However, I can tell that he's waiting to be able to say whole sentences.

Finally, the other day I was home with Luke while the girls were off at school. I was just wondering when I should put Luke down for his nap when he disappeared for a moment, went into his room, and came out holding his froggy blanket. He then came over and laid his head in my lap. As far as communication goes, that is pretty clear.

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