Please Rise and Shriek for the All Honorable Olie

Two new developments to report. First, Oliver is now standing on his own. He can't rise to stand without help, nor has he totally perfected his balance, but his jello legs are suddenly a thing of the past. Just this last Sunday evening he still wobble-stood, forcing one to help hold him upright. Now, two days later he suddenly stands solidly on his own. Of course, he falls over when he loses his balance, which is often, but his legs no longer buckle. Just like that, he stands.

The second development is that he verbally responded to me tonight. He's often verbal, but typically with less intentionality. Late last week he started screeching, shrieking really. He's been trying out new sounds for some time and when he finds one he likes, it gets practiced over and over again for a few days, then on to some new verbalization. Shrieking is so now. "Babababa," "Dadadada," "Abababa" and "ffffff" are totally yesterday.

At any rate, he erupted into a delighted shrieking tonight after I tossed him into the air and I saw no reason not to join in on the fun. He shrieked, I shrieked back. He smiled, locked my gaze, then shrieked right back at me. I returned the favor, only to be one-upped yet again. Seeing that the competition was a dead heat, I simply joined in and we ended by shrieking in concert. Oh, what must the neighbors be thinking...