While not ready for commercial release, Kai is making great progress on doing the rollover on his own (which I discovered a few days ago when I turned around and he was practically on his belly). I expect full completion sometime this week (not putting any pressure on Kai, but he has a good track record).

Every day Kai seems to evolve more. We’ve been putting him on the playmat for probably 2 months now, but his engagement required one of us performing a puppet show. Tonight Chika made a lovely steak dinner, and we thought just maybe if we put him down on the mat he would give us at least 5 minutes to enjoy eating together. What surprised us tonight was how he started playing with the toys all on his own — reaching out and grabbing them. Not just one, but multiple. And he was completely engaged by the experience.

Not only did we get to enjoy the majority of the dinner, a present in itself, but Kai is already making us proud parents. I can’t believe he actually grabbed the giraffe. It might have been the “blind squirrel that stumbled across the acorn”, but it didn’t matter to us. We are happy to believe all the smart things Kai does are on purpose.

So rollover wasn’t and still isn’t Kai’s favorite.  But first he loved to stand.  Then he started walking with his left foot.  And then one day (after multiple practices on top of our feet) he finally ventured into lifting his right foot too.  It was amazing to watch how excited he got when he did it the first time, and then kept going.  Now he is a real pro, and someday when he is stable enough he’ll be too fast for mommy and daddy to keep up.  For now, we will enjoy being the only mobile bodies in the house.

A friend suggested that I capture Kai’s early days in video — these times will go so fast, they will pass before you know it. So this is the first in a series of little snippets of life with Kai.