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Yesterday Erik clapped for the first time (21 months). My parents were sitting on the couch and witnessed this. He has been having a gigantic surge in language and activity over the last couple of weeks, and it is amazing. He usually likes having us all do the wave. He thrusts his hands up in the air like Rocky Balboa, and we all scream "YAAAAAAY!" He does it repeatedly sometimes, and we happily oblige him like trained monkeys. Yesterday he suddenly added clapping, much to our surprise. I have noticed his hands are coming to midline more often to accomplish a variety of things, which is developmentally very significant. We have been told to watch for that and have Erik cross each hand over to the opposite side of his body to get the halves of his brain to work together (a technique used by something called Brain Gym). Obviously, he is making progress in this area. I think half of what he does depends on his simple interest in performing these tasks. He seems much more interested and interactive these days. Four months ago he had very little interest in anything, and now he is walking, trying to talk, and amazing us all. Watching his hands come together and make that sweet sound yesterday made my heart feel like it would burst.