The Baby Whisperer

We've had a busy week so far even though it's just getting started. Sunday, Walker went to spend the day with his Nonni and Grandpa. Cliff and I were going to get him Sunday afternoon and Cliff suggested we just spend the night with them since we don't often get a chance to hang out with Jeremy and Josh...my brothers on that side...due to college schedules, etc...
They were both home at the same time for once and so we all had a great night of just spending time together. Walker went to sleep around his normal time and that left lots of evening adult time.
Monday morning we got up and came home and Walker was randomly saying "bye bye" all day. We've practiced this word lots but he'd never said it before until then. In the same day he also said "bus" and "bah-bah". We think "bah bah" was just some made up word because we have never, nor will we ever, refer to his bottle as a "bah bah" like his grandparents like to do. :)
Anyway, he's whispering a lot lately and I think it's so cute. It's like he is trying out his sounds before he says them outloud. My brother Stephen did this for YEARS and up until he was wayyy too old for it to still be cute. He's the only other person I've ever known to whisper before he talks, so Walker definitely got this trait from him. I tried to capture it on video today. He was either yelling or whispering "bye bye" all day long and you never knew which you were going to get. He hasn't said bus again today...he's been pretty fixated on "bye bye." He's even paired it with his already established wave. Anyway...in this video you can see him mouthing "bye bye" over and over again. He was actually whispering it but you can't hear it. If you turn your volume way loud you can hear it a tiny bit. But then he actually does through a "voice" bye bye in there about midway through. The rest of the video is just him playing but I don't know how to shorten it or cut parts out, so I had to leave the whole thing. It's only about a minute total I think.

Something else he did that was very funny was that yesterday I was eating Olean potato chips with my sandwich and he liked the crunch noise they made. He kept laughing when I'd chew and he'd hear the crunch. He was trying to reach in my mouth but I wouldn't let him. Well, he grabbed a chip off my plate when I was talking to Cliff and I just knew he was going straight for his mouth. Wrong. He shoved the thing in my mouth and then started cracking up. He did that three more times...then he proceeded to try and give himself one while I was talking to Cliff some more. It's like he premeditated that if he could get me thinking he was just feeding me then I wouldn't notice him slipping one into his mouth. But, he was wrong. :) Mom's know everything.
He's just so funny. The way he figures things out never stops amazing me. He's so smart when it comes to how things work and how to get things to go his way...using the bus to get on the couch, moving the chair away from the cabinets so he can get in them, etc...Such a smart boy!
Today Judy came to keep Walker for a few hours. She wanted a few practice rounds for when school starts and she has him full time. She's his Sunday School teacher (aka nursery worker) and so I know he's very familiar with her but she's never kept him in his environment, so I was a little nervous how he'd react when I left him. He's really been dealing with some separation anxiety stuff. Anyway, he was asleep when she got here and when he woke up he was so happy to see her that he just started waving and squealing. Then he wanted DOWN so he could show off. And boy did he. It's like he knew exactly what he wanted her to see him do~drive his bus, climb up on top of his walker and throw his ball. What a charmer! He couldn't have cared less that I left him and I think he was actually pretty excited to see me go, as he was continuing his hyper wave from a few minutes earlier...
I'm just so thankful for our childcare situation! I had to call my friend Jenny this afternoon b/c I was so excited about his reaction. I don't know why this was a big deal to me but it just was and I needed to share it with another mom. (lucky her, ha ha). I had just gotten so concerned about how he'd react to me leaving him since he hasn't been a big fan of that lately...but also really hasn't had to deal with it much because I've been constantly with him. Yay, Walker!
He's doing soooo much better going down for naps and bed the past few days and is still sleeping through the night. Hopefully we are past the phase we were going through with bedtime struggles...only time will tell. It's only been a few days.