At Griffin’s most recent check-up, he weighed in at 23.5 lbs. That puts him at 90th percentile in weight for his age and just a pound and a half shy of the weight limit for his beloved bouncing chair, which broke under the considerable strain of his exuberant jumping last weekend. Although he is still quite a chunky little monkey, he is starting to thin up a bit. I think he was at his chubbiest around 8 months, when the creases around his wrists went all the way around.

He isn’t actually walking yet, but he’s practicing so hard that he’s been burning his reserves. Today, I was lying on the floor, feeding him small chunks of organic cherries as he sat next to me. At once, he grabbed my shirt and pulled himself to his feet with very little help from me and then let go and stood there solo for about 3 seconds. He was so pleased with himself after that he crinkled up his nose and smiled so wide his one little bright white tooth gleamed in his mouth. We think a second tooth is trying to make an appearance, judging by his nighttime disposition.

Apart from standing well and walking quite well with assistance to balance, he is now saying “mamamama” to page me when I’m not in his view. He has been fascinated with “flip up” books, with flaps that let you peek, and of course wireless phone handsets and the vacuum cleaner. You can tell he’s definitely starting to understand some words, as he looks directly at you when you say his name and looks at Tenzin when you say her name. He is also understanding some signs, although he declines to do them and almost never imitates us.

Every once in a while he will become shy and cling to me in front of a stranger, but most of the time he examines whoever is exuberating over how cute he is, smiles, and goes back to playing with his toes. I’ve been wearing him less in the backpack because he is SO heavy and leans SO much to one side so that he can see, that my back aches. Apart from that, he thinks it’s fun to yank my hair out. I did wear him in the backpack today though, for a short jaunt into the store, and now his stickyfingers are a new peril, grabbing things off shelves as we pass by.

He has still never had a cold but that might change after our visit to the library playroom today, where he was sucking on a communal toy dinosaur. Have to start sometime! He’s sleeping now and seems to be sleeping longer at night, now that he’s down to 2 naps a day. He is still waking up a few times during the 10 hours of sleep, but is getting back to sleep more quickly. It’s nice to have an hour or so after he goes to bed to relax and do things like this.

As you can see in this photo, he was modeling the latest in Cedarworks infant swings for the 2006 catalogue. Once he can walk, he’ll be ready for the catwalk.

Love to all, Holly