This kid loves all things music.

His current obsession is the violin and he’s ignoring how difficult it is to play. Turns out the violin, an instrument I was previously unfamiliar with, is delicate and finicky. Mama got it tuned and the bow prepped. Then Baby grabbed it with his chubby little paws and went after it. I wonder how you tell the difference between a toddler that’s just plain interested in things that make noise and one who’s destined for musical greatness? Time will tell.

Baby is increasingly verbal, now putting three words together when the mood strikes. I engineered an amazing tower with his big lego set and Baby showed his appreciation by slapping it with his hand while yelling “knock it down!” On weekend mornings he demands “wake up!” As is with words, his two and three word combinations are too many to list. He seems to be taking full advantage of his continuing ability to communicate (read: demand) his preferences.

Here’s a cute and frequent exchange: “Did you poo poo?” “No!”

Update on the nanny situation: After much stressing and Wife meeting prospects, we’ve settled on someone and they started last Thursday. Wife is understandably anxious about it all still, but it’s going well and we made a good decision. Baby’s Japanese vocabulary will continue to grow. One of his favorites: “Hote hote hote! And dump!” Hote means dig.

Far less cute: Baby is now testing out the attention-getting act of hitting us in the face. He knows it’s bad and we’re just starting to experiment with time outs. He’ll even follow up a good hit by saying “time out.” Baby has not yet become deterred but he certainly doesn’t appear to enjoy the time out. Not entirely sure how this will pan out, but considering I don’t know many kids who continue into adolescence with an uncontrollable habit of punching their parents in the face, I remain hopeful.

One thing is clear – Baby continues to grow and develop. He’s no longer an infant. I’m now obsessed with seeing older kids and imagining Baby at that age. I’m only now seeing that he will be three years old at some point. And five years old. And ten. I’m not sure when it’s going to be inappropriate to keep calling him a baby, but I think I need at least another ten or twenty years before I consider it.