What Rocco has been up to these days

It amazes us everyday how Rocco is growing up so fast, in all aspects! I'm usually left speechless and just plain happy with his many milestones.

Physically,

Boy he acts like a toddler now. He can walk so fast, climb the stairs (which always brings me to a semi-heart attack), run, stand from his knees, and lately he's been doing the cute toddler sitting pose.

His appetite,

Just awesome. Before he turned 1yr old, I was problematic on how to make him eat more solids. I don't know what happened over the Christmas break. He just transformed into an eating baby who would happy munch on everything he can put to his mouth. If he sees us eating something, he would drop his toys and come near us to ask for food. He gets impatient when food is not served immediately, and sometimes when he's so hungry, he would grab my hand (with the food) and put it to his mouth. Haha!

His activities,

They're so varied now. Lately, he's been into books. He pretends to read. Before his books, he loved his cars, and then came his balls. One Saturday, while I was in driving school, Sieg and Rocco killed time at Nike. Rocco saw a mini basketball and refused to let go so Sieg had no choice but to buy it. When the saleslady got the ball so she could pack it, Rocco followed after her to the cashier's area, as if making sure that he will get his ball back.

His language development,

Positively progressing. He's really into the “trying to talk” stage now so he babbles and imitate us a lot. He can say the following and associate these with objects or persons: Mama, Papa, Yaya, apple (a-poh), dog (doh), duck, I love you (aya-yoh), moo, ba-bath (Babat), car (cah), namnam (which he says when he wants food), mmmmm (when he smells something), ball (boh). There are more but I keep on forgetting them.

His cognitive skills,

As I've mentioned, he can now associate words with objects or persons. Those that he cannot speak yet, he communicates through action, or by pointing. Aside from the words that he can already pronounce, he also knows the following: Mama Mary, Papa Jesus, angel, Sta. Claus, candle, balloon, shoes, bag, TV, ref, high chair, crib, remote control, sofa, water, lotion, toothbrush, chair, etc.

Aside from word-object association, he can now follow simple instructions such as:

1. Hold your bottle.
2. Comb mommy's hair.
3. Give to papa, or mama.
4. Sit down.
5. Jump.
6. Wash your hands.
7. Close your eyes.
8. Kiss papa, or mama.
9. Say Amen.
10. Get your toy.
11. Bye-bye.
12. Flying kiss.
13. Dance.
14. Get your ball (or his other toys).
15. Call grandma.
16. Where is mama (or another person, or objects)?
17. Go up.
18. Change diaper.
19. Open the door.
20. Close the door.
21. Switch off the light.

Gosh, just by listing those down, I'm now overwhelmed by Rocco's progress. He just turned 14months the other day, and I'm sure this is just the beginning of more wonderful milestones to come :)