We got Eric a bike yesterday -- Target was having a sale and we had been thinking that we should get him one soon. It would normally be a birthday present -type of gift but given that his birthday is in October, we didn't think it would be particularly kind for him to only have 2 weeks to ride it before it sat in the basement all winter. Pic will go up on the site soon. Eric got to ride it for a few minutes before bed, which translates to him sitting on it and us pushing on his feet to give him the "feel" for pedaling. He's never done anything like it, so it'll take him a few days to get the hang of things.

Eric is getting closer to reading, though his interest/compliance in sounding out words when prompted waxes and wanes. This, however, is mostly because he's three. His interest in complying with ANYTHING we suggest waxes and wanes.  This morning while Greg and I were finishing getting ready for work, both boys sat on the floor in front of their bookcase reading books on their laps. I wish I could have caught it on camera.

Kyle is really driving to communicate (though today was a little tough since he was both teething (molars?) and starting Eric's cold so he was more than a little touchy).  He has about a dozen words and signs:
- dada / daddy
- mama / mommy
- hi / waving
- ba-ba / bye bye
- nodding
- uh-oh (his first word, which he dropped while he learned to walk and has just recently reintroduced)
- pointing
- dat (what's that?)
- lifting arms up (Up!)
- food sign (pointing to mouth with index finger)
- water sign (pointing to mouth with thumb)
He may also be working on banana (nana). Surprisingly, he hasn't figured out "no" or "Eric" yet. He certainly knows Eric's name, he just hasn't tried saying it and hasn't assigned Eric an only-Kyle name yet.

Kyle also has very good comprehension skills. He will follow two step directions when he's feeling particularly intelligent (rested, fed, etc), and one step directions at other times. He understands things like "go play" and "find something else to play with". He can also answer simple yes or no questions, provided the answer is "yes" (nodding). He might be starting to learn to shake his head No but hasn't mastered a negative reply of any sort yet (besides pushing something away when offered it).

Kyle recently stacked 5 Twig blocks on top of each other (5!!) and this evening put a 'stick' Twig block into the hole of another one. This is a smooth fit but with very little tolerance so required some fairly sophisticated manipulation for a 14mo old.