Peek-a-boo, sippy cups, and bathtime

Gabriel discovered a new game two weeks ago. He would sit in your lap all goofy, and then collapse on his front, hiding his face, and then sit back up giggling. We thought he was just tired the first time he did it, but then he did it right after a nap, and then he played this game at a restaurant. He was sitting on my lap and kept peeking at Thomas to see if he was watching. At that point, it was pretty obvious this was a new game. Our therapist was thrilled. He now has the awareness to look to see if we are noticing what he is doing and actively engaging with us, and apparently that is a major milestone. So, yay for Gabriel and playtime. :)

We also bought a new sippy cup for him. Since the standard sippy cups all have either a hard or soft "spout" and we all know the bottle is Enemy #1, I was pretty sure he was never going to engage with a standard sippy cup. And so far, he hasn't. We've tried. So we found this 360° drinker that allows liquid to seep through around the rim of the cup so it's kind of like drinking from an open cup without the drenching that will happen when you tip it too far. The first couple times, he let us put it to his mouth and did swallow some water, but we'll see how long that lasts before he catches on and finds ways to avoid it. This is what he thinks it's for right now:

He also had his first big-boy bath today, complete with bath toys. The hidden message here is that he has finally gained enough muscle tone to sit up for long enough to take a bath! :) And here is a picture that I can certainly use to embarrass him when he's 16: