Repeating

Me, to Ephiny: Jolly is so cute I could just about die.
Jolly: Die! Die! DIE!

Yeah, we've reached that stage, at least occasionally! It's pretty hilarious. And, he is in fact ridiculously cute.

Other big hits right now: climbing things as a biped, with a parental hand or two providing handholds. This is totally more than making up for the fact that Jolly never liked to walk supported by us when he was littler. We spent over an hour today outside climbing from the ditch up to the rotting cedar treestump back down, with only brief breaks for airplane appreciation (we're in a high flight path) and petting the neighbor's dog. And then we went inside and climbed up and down the two Ikea stools again and again, which was incidentally what we did for a good chunk of time right before we went outside, too.

Other funny things:

• Jolly is getting better at communicating things. Unfortunately, that doesn't always mean he can GET what he wants, since the things he is saving his rare signals for are "more gummy vitamins".
  
• When he encounters something he really approves of, flavor wise, he just goes into this rhapsody of Mmmmmmmmmmmnommmmmmnnommmm sounds. Lately, coffee, quince jelly (he ate about a quarter of the jar - will need to work hard to find quinces somewhere this year!), cherries (he ate the majority of an enormous can, and even was capable of operating the pitter to pit them first!), pineapple, and the predictable chocolate. He would happily be a frugivore if we let him. He will gamely direct you into the pantry and then signal very clearly to the exact location on the shelf where the Chocolates of the World assortment is kept. See also the first point about not always getting what you want, even when it is beautifully communicated.
  
• Right now, an assortment of fruit have become apples (Aepfel). I get why: Orange = Apfelsine. Pineapple = Ananas. Pomegranate = Granatapfel. It's hard to learn languages!
  
• Richard Scarry's Biggest Word Book is a current favorite, because there are lots of words and things to point at. It is in fact excellent, marred only in its scientific accuracy as there are an awful lot of male calico cats in the Richard Scarry world. I would accept an incident of ONE Kleinfelter Kitty, but not the dad AND various other denizens. But this is not bothering Jolly yet.
  
• He's also into my own favorite book from when I was a child, Ich Bin Die Kleine Katze (I am the little cat).
  
• He is starting to get the idea that he should be gentle with the cat. FINALLY. He generally says "Ei ei ei!" while petting the cat, and it then becomes "EI! EI!! EIIIII!" when he is hitting the cat and then kitty privileges are briefly revoked. But, progress. Priscilla is a saint for spending as much time as she does in the child-roaming portion of the house.
  
• "Up!" is a mostly correct, imperiously issued command.
  
• He is still wearing a pair of 6-12 month jeans we got as a present and started putting on him well over a year ago. Spectacular mileage! He finally outgrew Kate and Summer's magical jeans, though, again after well over a year.