Valin knows a new trick!

Oh, that title makes him sound like a dog. Well, anyway. This morning, during breakfast -while I waited for him to finish eating- I taught him to clap. I knew it was coming because yesterday he would grab my hands and clap them together. So the next step was to teach him how to do it himself. And it's the cutiest thing because he gets so happy with himself, which is only increased when he saw our reaction. We laughed and clapped along with him.

Then, he did it again when I put him down for his morning nap. He would lay on my chest, like always, then I would hear giggling, he would push off so he could see me, and then clap. I would give him an encouraging reaction but then gently put him back down so he could fall asleep. He did it two more times, until I finally layed him down and he fell asleep.

And then at lunch he loved to fling food onto the floor as he clapped for me. He smile and laugh made me giggle too, despite the dirty floor. And then agian when I was rocking and singing him to sleep, he would push off my chest (with a giggle) and clap, then immediantly would lay back down. I decided that he must have loved my singing preformance so much. Either that, or he wanted it to end.

Anyway, it was turly one of the cutiest things he has done yet. The coolest thing is that he loved something I taught him. I loved to see that. And another great thing is that things like this are going to be happening more often now that he is nearing the toddler stage. I'm so excited. Oh, and I forget to tell, Valin is walking now. He still looks like a drunken sailor, but he'll slowly get the hang of it. Crazy how time just flies! And just 17 more days until he is one year old!! Wow! I love my life!