Fantastic!

The past couple of weeks have been great for Buddy.  We went to the ophthalmologist and she was very impressed with his progress.  He was doing so well they even called in a second doctor just to show him off!  He is still nearsighted.  They said that he has to return in six months and have his eyes dilated.  They will decide whether or not he will get glasses for the nearsightedness then.  The glasses will not fix the problem of ocular albinism, but they may be necessary anyway.

Last weekend, we visited friends a few hours away.  We had a great time.  We attended a princess birthday party, so I made beaded crowns for the three of us and we all dressed up like royalty to attend the party.  The next day, we went to the beach.  This time, I sat with Buddy at the very edge of the water, so only a few waves reached us.  Every time we got wet, I said "OOOOOOOhhhhhhh" and Buddy laughed and squealed and had a fantastic time.  He played in the sand and tried to eat some seaweed, and thoroughly enjoyed himself.  Our friends have a much larger house than we do, and it has carpet.  Buddy spent most of his weekend crawling around, pulling up on furniture, and looking out of their sliding glass door.  He now has rug burn and callouses on his knees, but I guess that means he's just getting used to being a boy.  He had the best time.  He also got to try sweet potatoes and bread, and he liked both very much.  He has learned to swallow much better than before.

Perhaps the best milestone for the weekend was that for the first time, he showed interest in another baby.  The friends we stayed with had an infant, and Buddy crawled right over to him, patted him gently, and gave him a kiss.  We spent some time with some other friends who have a baby just a couple of months older than Buddy, and he crawled right up to him and tried to kiss him, too.  He was genuinely interested in spending time with the other babies.  In the past, Buddy just seemed oblivious to other babies and children (although he was interested in adults), so we were thrilled about his interest in other children his size.  Yay for interpersonal relationship skills!