Two months and growing

My gosh, how the weeks are flying by!  Sunday marked 2 months since we first held Cohen.  How can a period of time feel like a moment and forever all at the same time?

Our little boy is growing so much so fast.  It seems like his little baby chubbiness is slipping away as he gets taller and more solid.  We had a doctor's appointment a few weeks ago to follow up on his weight and he had gained 11 ounces in one month.  Not bad! 

The language is coming along but it is going to take a bit of time.  He had to start all over with a new language, so we're cutting him some slack!  He knew some baby sign language when we met him (which helped immensely for us to understand what he wanted or needed) and he learned a few more since we've been home.  He has even made up a few unique signs of his own - he taps his ear for "kitty", pats his chest for "Mama", and pinches his nose for "please".  We think the origin of the please sign is making "beep" sounds when he pinched our noses.  Beep sounds like please?  In any case, as long as we understand each other, we can make up any signs that work. 

His understanding of English is just amazing for so soon after coming home.  Most of the time, he understands and responds when we say something or ask him to do something.  He is saying probably a little over a dozen words, some of which would probably only be understood by us.  Bubble, baby, apple, ball, kitty, bird are some of the words that are coming along pretty well.  Some of the words only we understand - "gong gong" is garbage and "gwang-ga" is water.  Neither of these are the Mandarin words for these items... I checked!  He picked up a new word from our friend Harold the other day - "cool".

His logic skills and intelligence wow us daily.  Of course, parents are supposed to think their kids are brilliant, right?  He recently pointed to the Cat in the Hat and did the sign for kitty, showing us that he recognizes cats and kitties are the same thing.  He says water (in his own strange way, "gwang ga") when he wants a drink of water, when the cats are drinking water, when he finds a puddle, and when we drive over a bridge.  Last week he was helping me put away groceries and he held up an orange and asked "apple?"  I said "No, sweetie, that's an orange".  He looked a little confused and said "ball?"  So I said again "No, that's an orange".  Then he threw it down the hall and the language lesson was over!

I'm sure I could go on all day about our boy, but that's enough updates for today.  I promise I'll post pictures next time :)