Watching him grow & learn: some observations

• I predicted 2 weeks ago that the sight of a crawling baby would soon disappear in our house. Indeed the week after Kabouter made the switch to trying some steps now and then, to walking by default.  
  
  The change didn't mean a big change in mobility to us: we already needed to grow some eyes on our back when he was crawling.  The big change to me was his size & silence: all of a sudden there was a head or hand next to my tight! Eeek, where did  you show up from so quickly    (I was used to hear him crawl with loud smacks of the hands on the floor).  Gosh, my little boy was all of a sudden so tall!

• It has gotten so much easier to get you dressed and undressed.   No more breakable small infant, or a wrestling baby laying down.  No more dressing acrobatics with a baby that managed to roll-over and get up in 1 sec but without the skills yet to stand-alone or understand the depth behind the side of the changing table, all while I was trying to hold him down, secure and (un)dress him at the same time    or close the diaper while he's in fact already crawling away.
  
  Now he stands up, leans on my shoulders if needed, pushes his own hands through the sleeves or pulls his T-shirt/sweater across his head once his arms have been freed when undressing. Ha, I didn't know a 13 month old would be able to help so well while dressing yet.
  
• I was amazed this week to see him race through the daycare on a little toy car.  Whaaaa , what a speed.
  
• Since 2 days he insists to try to hold his toothbrush himself and he's actually not doing such a bad job trying to brush a bit his own teeth.    The same is applicable to the hairbrush ...where he also gets a ball trying to brush our own hair.
  
• We've taken out the maxi-cosi out of the car and installed a front-facing real child seat...whaa he get's so big.
  
• It's amazing how often people applaud on tv (talk shows, quizzes, ...) ...now we know as he enthusiastically claps along each time  :D.   Of course there is also room for applause in the middle of a game, meal, ...
  
• More and more he tries to sing along in the car.
  
• Since the end of the summer vacation, he is more and more occupied with playing....true playing:  throwing the ball and fetching it again in order to go and throw it again (at himself, other side table or to us)..."reading" books or since 2 weeks some first attempts to make a 2-piece puzzle or carefully deconstruct the building block tower that I repeatedly make for him.
  
• When he's waking up, he doesn't start crying non-stop anymore...he cries/yells and then waits a bit before he continues as if he knows by now that we need the time to respond.
  
• He cracks up in laughter when we do something out-of-the-ordinary e.g. talk with a funny voice, make giant steps, make funny face...