The Randall Roost: Soren's a year and a half!

Here he comes, crawling through the tunnel of toddlerhood! Isn't he getting so big?

Our little boy is an astounding 18 months old now -- his half birthday was Feb. 27 -- and it's just a delight to witness him developing as an individual and a person who delights in making other people happy.

He is such a ham. For example, we attended an open house at a church in our neighborhood yesterday and I sat him down to eat a snack at a table next to a very elderly man. He wore hearing aids, and it took a few back-and-forths before he understood our names. He seemed fairly reticent. But I jumped up to get some drinks and when I came back, Soren and Carl were grinning and winking and giggling at each other. Soren was full of energy that day and couldn't sit still. Every few minutes he would jump off of his chair, run out the door, run pell-mell down the hallway (making everyone laugh along the way), run back, belly up onto his chair, and grin at Carl all over again. After a half-hour of this good fun, one of Carl's friends came up to us and said we'd made the old man's day.

When we went to say goodbye to Carl, I shook his hand and then Soren very seriously offered his hand to be shook. When he felt the old man's large and wrinkled hand close around his, he paused and got even more serious. Then Soren lifted up his other hand and rested it outside Carl's and they just stood there like that for a moment, his two little hands clasped around the big one. It brought a tear to my eye.

And it reminds me that Soren's physician commented on his excellent eye contact at his 18-mo. well-child exam. Yes, those soulful blue eyes can just bore right into you. He weighs 26.1 pounds now, and both his height and weight are right at the 50th percentile.

Here are a few more pictures from Feb. 27 of Soren's visit with his age-mate Tayla (11 days older). They have very similar physical abilities and really enjoy push-toys -- provided they aren't fighting each other for the same toy!