As Felix is getting older, he's much more fun. I get less cuddles, though.
Motion
Felix now walks in a similar way to an adult. Rather than throwing legs forward to move, he leans and moves legs. When not wearing a nappy, it has the ease of anyone.
Climbing is definitely the new vogue. He can easily climb onto the sofas at home and last weekend climbed up onto the dining room table via a dining room chair. He'd never done that before, so a gentle telling off was in order.
At play parks, he will try to climb just about anything and has no fear of heights or drops. At any given park, he will climb to the highest point and go down the biggest slide.
Two weekends ago, Felix had his first go on a bouncey castle at my sister's house. Although unsure of it all at first, as soon as he realised he could fall over and not hurt himself, he giggled and chuckled raucously. He did manage to stand, even when cousin Ted (who is 3 1/2) was bouncing up and down like mad. Last weekend, Felix found out that he could slide backwards down his grandparent's stairs on his tummy by lifting his feet.
Food
Felix's diet is slowly becoming the same as ours. Rather than using pureed fruit pouches as a supplement to veg, we're actually giving him the same veg as we eat. He rather likes peas, potatoes and carrots on occasion. He loves salty foods most of all and will munch olives like they're going out of fashion. He's not fussed by them being stuffed with garlic or pimento or feta. Bagels and cream cheese are still the staple lunch food and breakfast are the ever popular banana. We've tried him on chicken and it is hit and miss, ham and proscuito are still favourites. He loves brioche too - especially with choccy chips.
Apples have become more of a favourite now but there is a difference in preparation. We used to peel and chop into segments. Now we just expose a section of soft apple under the skin and give it over to him. He'll happily turn the apple in his hands but will spit out peel.
Essentially, if you are eating something, he will toddle over and reach a hand up while grunting at you.
Communication
Huge leaps have been made in the past two weeks. He has finally got to the point where he can copy words people say. If you give a sentance, then he will copy back any of the important nouns. Here are some words he uses persistently and correctly.
Another form of communication is leading people by the fingers. If you're sitting on the sofa having a rest, Felix will walk up - even climb onto the sofa, take two of your fingers (normally on your right hand) and wander off to the thing he wants. He'll then point at it, indicating play time, thirsty or "get that out from under the sofa".
Personality and Play
Felix is still quite a serious little fellow. He engrosses himself in a task, which is all-encompassing and if you disturb him, it had better be for a good reason. He likes matchbox cars, wooden 'Brio' trains and building Megabloks (cheap ass Lego, perfect for toddlers but I wouldn't buy it at any other age). Much like all toddlers, he does have a raging temper - particularly when he doesn't get his own way. Too young to share, he'll throw a fit if someone else is playing with a toy he wants. He's not as easy going as other children his age. If another kid knocks him over or wrenches a toy out of his hand, he will follow them around the playgroup until he can inact his revenge - which is to slap them. More recently, he's started biting too.
Most days, he attends a play group. It's like nursery but where the Mums look after their kids, while drinking coffee and chatting. Felix plays well with other kids but he has a Nemesis: Emily. Emily is a good amount older than Felix but has a similar, bloody-minded personality. They fight a lot. Hitting, biting and pulling of each other's hair. Fortunately, Emily's mum is as laid back as Kate, so they gently split the kids up - other mums would throw a fit.
We have started to see some separation anxiety creeping in. If I go to work or Kate leaves Felix at a creche, he will cry until distracted by something else. There are a few exceptions - notably visiting his maternal grandparents - but he doesn't like people leaving. This is likely to get worse before it gets better.
Sleeping
Felix will sleep from 7pm to 6am pretty much every night unless he's ill or if there has been a break in his routine. So, we're pretty lucky on that. He still has a 2 hour nap in the middle of most days, which makes him much more pleasant in the afternoon and evening.