backwashing is a useful skill

Kevin generally insists on having a cup like Mom and Dad's to drink out of. At first when he drank from one, a lot would dribble down his front because he didn't know how to control how much liquid went into his mouth. But he's gradually learning how to spit it back into the cup if he takes too much. You never realize how useful it is to be able to backwash until you watch someone who doesn't know how to do it try to drink from a regular cup. He does pretty well drinking from a regular cup. We still give him sippy cups generally, but if he asks for it we will give him a regular cup. We've learned pretty quickly not to put too much water or milk in it at once because it doesn't take long before he's no longer thirsty and the cup becomes a toy. Kevin also likes to put all of his dinner in the cup, and finds it very delightful to be able to look down into the cup and see his handiwork.

I am frequently amazed at how smart this kid is. One evening I found him with a partially unbent paper clip (no idea where he got it from), putting the long pointy part into the hole of the doorknob of the bathroom. I am not kidding--he got it in the hole. We generally keep the bathroom and our bedroom locked because that's where all of the off-limits stuff has migrated to. I thought it was very smart of him to notice how we unlock the doors. Behold the proof:

He had "toilet water" written very clearly in his determined eyes

He is starting to be a little more interested in having books read to him. One thing we've observed about Kevin is that he is very interested in what you can do with things, and not very interested at all in things like pictures. For example, some kids like to sit and look at the pictures in books, but Kevin is more interested in what you do--turn the pages. He likes the kinds of books that have things you can feel, like fur or whiskers or feathers, and he likes the kinds that have flaps or other things that involve an action on his part. I'm sure it's also partly his age, but it's interesting to see already what things are interesting to him and how his mind works.