Almost 14 months old

Leeor and I have really been tripping out on Avi lately.

These videos (and granted, they are a week or so old, so he already seems like a different kid) don't do him justice, but I downloaded them especially for Saba and Safta, who are in Tokyo and miss their grandson.

He is talking up a storm. Many of his words are in Spanish, like agua, gato, zapato. Well, the last one is a bit garbled but he says it while putting on his shoes so I figure that is what he is saying. I love the way he moos for cows and quacks for ducks. A lot of the time he just babbles but it seems purposeful and earnest, with the right inflections for questions. He also uses a lot of hand gestures for emphasis. He says daddy, or da-da, or aba, and also mama. I melt every time he says mama. Once he pointed to himself and said his name, but it came out like "AH-bee." And every time I spell his name out of steam in the bathtub, he gets all excited and says, "A!" like he discovered the letter for the first time, and traces where I marked the letter on the shower door.

Avi remains incredibly affectionate. His kisses, or besitos, have gone from open-mouth saliva-fests to real, smacking pucker-ups. He greets everyone he meets on the street with a wave. His hugs are more intense. He really embodies little boy-ness and toddler-ness. People who see him marvel at that with us.

Like today, for instance. It was beautiful and sunny. We went to the Alemany farmer's market together. Leeor and Avi flirted with the Afghani girls so of course they got lots of samples and I got my first batch of herbs for a little porch garden. I hope I can keep them alive! Avi helped me set them up on the little table outside. He carefully felt and smelled each one. He kept going back to the rosemary plant. Delicious. We ate lunch on the living room floor because Avi is a fan of the impromptu picnic, and then we hung out a bit before his nap. Avi noticed this knick-knack on top of the fridge. It was a photo holder, not a frame, but a more ornate, colorful piece, part of a set of three, that had held a photo of Avi as a newborn with Leeor. I had moved the photo to a frame, but Avi remembered that it had been in the other holder before. He pointed and talked a blue streak about it. Leeor and I finally figured out what he was trying to say and we looked at each other in wonder.

In my old job, I was a home visitor and Headstart consultant. I knew 0-3 development backwards and forwards. I hate to admit it, but I evaluated other peoples' kids all the time in my head. I couldn't help it; it was how I spent my days and I was fascinated by the range of devolpment styles and processes I saw. Of course, in my work, I saw kids who were not typically devoloping, so every time I encountered a typically developing kid, it blew my mind. Most of what I knew went out the window when Avi was born, at least consciously. I came across one of my old assessment charts when I was cleaning some stuff out the other day. It's so different to be a parent; my perspective on development has completely changed. I remember anticipating that the first 3 months with Avi would be "symbiotic" because that's what attachment theorists said, and then after that there would be a change. Like there was some line drawn between month 3 and 4, instead of a more gradual, organic, malleable progression.

Now, while I certainly notice the milestones as he reaches them, it's almost as an afterthought. He's just my son, and to me, the most wonderful kid on the planet, not to mention the other love of my life besides Leeor. Then someone else will observe him and mention something about his development and this other part of my brain goes, oh yeah, I remember that stuff. But at the end of the day I don't care all that much. I want to write it down so we have a record of this time, for Avi, for us, for our family, but I feel so differently about it all now.

Avi and i sat on the kitchen floor and colored on a case of soymilk that I'd broken down to put in the recycling. It was a sweet moment. I really treasure this time with him and so enjoy spending time with him! On Wednesday he will be 14 months old. Together we look at the picture of him as a newborn and talk about what a big boy he is becoming. He smiles and looks like he understands. He is a really cool kid.