Wordless Wonder

Max is still not talking yet. He mimics animal sounds, like baa, meow, wuff wuff, (r)aaar (for all growling animals) and aak aak (crow and duck calls). But most of the time he still goes "Eeeh! Eeeh!" or "Aah! Aah" and points to what he wants.

Amazingly he also makes the same sounds and can get the TV channel changed, a song on the CD skipped and the menu on his plate replaced.

But these are the things he does really well for one not quite 18 months yet:

#He can feed himself with a fork or spoon with minimal mess and get most of his food into his mouth. He drinks from a regular cup and also with a straw.

#He can draw straight lines as well as circles with a pen/pencil. He also draws curvy lines and dots and dashes. He can draw with both hands still.

#He can identify more than 60 kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures from pictures and miniatures, including camel, gorilla, black panther, lemur, bat, parrot, woodpecker, kingfisher, flamingo, owl, iguana, scorpion, dolphin, clown fish, shark, stingray, crabs, jellyfish... and a whole list of others. His favourite wild animals are the giraffe and the zebra. He, of course, loves the usual pet animals like cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, fish and turtles and frogs.

#He has very good hand/foot and eye coordination and can (dribble?) kick a ball around the driveway with no problem. He plays toy golf quite well and can climb up the rungs of a ladder without help. He can climb up onto a stool and wash his own hands on the sink (of course we always stand by him just in case he looses his balance), and he loves racing around the house with his big brother. Max is trying to jump off the ground with both feet, and is almost succeeding.

#He has amazing fine motor skills: he can pick up a grain of rice and a hair from the floor. He loves picking up small tiny stones on our walks and holds one between his thumb and forefinger.

# He has begun to identify colours, using colour markers. He started with orange and then blue, yellow and red. This was just last night before he went to bed.

I think it's because he is not talking yet that we still treat him like a real baby. Whereas Micah was talking from 9 months and very often we forget he is just 3 and we talk to him like a 5 year old (well, he does ask for meaning of complex words everyday, like what is a tour guide, speed limit, comfort, boulder, evil, etc).

We enjoy both the boys. We give thanks everyday for the joy and challenge they bring us everyday.