Liam said “truck” on Friday while playing with his local grandparents. Later that night, when HRH told him that the dishes were swimming in the sink, Liam looked at him and said, “ssimmingsinsing.” Blink, blink. Okay, so now it’s officially time to watch what we say, because he’s at a point where he can echo it very closely.

Yesterday he finished the water in his cup, and held it out to HRH. When HRH had taken it from him, Liam pointed at the empty cup and made his “more”/”give to me” sign, which closely resembles the popular “bring it on” motion of closing fingers into a fist over and over. So HRH got up and went into the kitchen to refill the cup while Liam waited quietly in the living room. (This in itself is a big thing. Usually when we leave the room with an empty bowl or cup he gets very upset, as if we’re taking away a full one or something.) HRH came back and held it out to the boy, who reached up for it with a big happy smile and then drank noisily. “I thought my heart was going to burst,” HRH said later. “My son asked me for more water.”

And he’s using his Thomas the Tank Engine ride-on toy as a walking aid. He walks along in the living room pushing Thomas along in front of him. Of course, then he wants to see Thomas’ face, so he drops back to all fours to scurry around front and give him a kiss. But there’s definite walking.

So it’s official: we have a toddler. Yes, he’s taken a step here or there from hand to hand or from table to bookcase, but this is the real thing.