Driving the Shopping Cart

Since Andrew always wants to turn around to see what is behind him, I have been dying to let Andrew ride in one of the big boy shopping carts.. you know, the one that looks like a car. He is finally big enough for the ones at Publix. He seemed to enjoy the change even though we only needed one item at the store so he didn't stay in it long. Here are the pictures:

He has started clenching his fists and squeezing really tight. It looks like his head is going to explode when he does it. But then he laughs and smiles. ??? I'm not really sure what he is doing. Today he did it with food in his fists like he was trying to squish the cereal puffs and cucumber chunks together. I guess he does it most often while sitting and eating, but he has done it on the changing table too. Strange.

He has also stood up without holding onto anything three times. The problem is - he doesn't know that.

Oh, and he has finally accomplished something he worked on for about a week. We have a kid magnet on the fridge that can spin. He of course can easily take it off, but was getting frustrated when he tried to put it back on. He finally figured it out. He doesn't have a 100% success rate with putting it back on, but he's getting better. I keep showing him that the black side goes on the fridge - and I actually think he gets that part.. his little fingers keep getting in the way and it drops before sticking. He is getting better at it though. So cute to watch.

He is also starting to steer his toys. He will try to turn them to different directions and keep moving, whether he is walking or on his knees.

I was sitting on the floor playing with his trucks the other day. He would watch me move my truck back and forth and around, and then he would try to copy me with his truck. His kept flipping over because he presses too hard and it seemed to really irritate him. He gets so exasperated when he tries to do something and it just doesn't work right... I totally can relate but wish I could help him at the same time. He is so much smarter than his little body can keep up with!

He still loves books. He pulls half of them off his shelf and looks at the pictures every day. But, he has discovered he can eat the paper now. He used to just try and chew on the covers. This week he ripped pages out of two books and ate part of one page too. Yuck. He loves to chew on stuff. He'll chew on that paper, or a string of carpet he pulled out of the bathroom rug, and chew on it for probably a good hour before I manage to get it back out of his mouth! I dont know how much he swallows. He clamps his jaw together whenever I try to get something out of his mouth so I just have to be patient and hope its nothing seriously dangerous.

I love it when he stands at the window of the door and looks out. Its even cuter when Flash is sitting next to him looking out also. One of these days I'll capture a picture.

Yesterday evening, Andrew was sitting in the dark hallway all by himself playing with a fabric belt and a rubbermaid tub, and SINGING away! I loved it. I grabbed my camera to take a video, but he saw me peek around the corner before I even got it on and quit and crawled to me. I love hearing him sing. He also sings himself to sleep at nap and at bedtime. LOVE it!

We finally pulled out Rock Band again recently. He got excited and danced and laughed at first. I think it got too loud for him the second time.. he kept retreating.  He loves the drums the most I think, and when one of us is singing.

Not that its anything exciting.. but here is a picture of Andrew having a non-soap bath tonight before bed: