I'm not ready!

Edward has decided to have a developmental spurt of sorts. It's so amazing to watch, but it makes me sad. I'm loosing my baby!

Over the weekend, Edward finally decided that walking was better than crawling. He's been walking some for months, but he acted like it was too much work for most trips across the floor. All of a sudden, he went from rarely walking to rarely crawling. We're still amazed when he walks from room to room jabbering away at us.

And the talking! We realized that his large vocabulary has changed. In the past, he understood us, would mimic the word, and point to what we were talking about. He did independently use a few words, but most were repeats after we said them.

Now, Edward says quite a few things on his own. Mostly types of food. And he's constantly trying to learn new words when we label things for him. (I love listening to him sound out new words.) The hard part is that he doesn't have many consonants. We're learning to hear the subtle differences between banana, bottle, bread, cup, ball, done, down, etc.

He has also developed more non-verbal communication. Some are obvious to anyone. When he brings you his shoes and sweatshirt, he wants to go outside. When he makes huge head gestures, he's saying yes. (I have to get video of him nodding yes. I find myself asking him questions all day just so that I can giggle at his giant nod.) Then there are the less obvious. When Edward reaches out his arm, then smacks himself in the head, he wants you to give him whatever he was "pointing" at. How can you refuse a request like that!

This boy is cracking me up. (Boy! Not baby!) I want him to stop right here. No more growing up. It's not allowed. I'm not ready.