Not even 2

CM's verbal skills have really gone through the roof in the last month. At his 18-month appointment, when the pediatrician asked me whether he had 10+ words, I said no because I honestly didn't think he did. Now, he's got closer to 50! Also, he has started to use 2-word phrases ("My turn", "ByeBye Gran") and can follow 2 and 3-step instructions. Below, check out all that this now 20-month can say!




Mama
Dada
Jackson
Gran (for Gramma and Grandad :))
Hello
Hi
ByeBye
Ball
Balloon
Bear
Car
Vroom
Boom
Moo
Chicken
Bread
Down
In
Out
On
Off
Diaper
Row (from "Row Row Row Your Boat")
Towel
Bath
Shower
Mine
Woo-woo (what a train says)
No
Uh-huh
Yum
Humm (Hummer...currently in Happy Meals)
Banana
Cup (usually sounds like "goom-goom" but that's what he means)


Of course, along with this "advanced" vocabulary (having a big brother must help a lot...JW didn't have half as many words at this age), CM is also bigger than the "normal" 20-month-old. He's only 4 pounds lighter than JW, despite being 2 1/2 years younger, and he's wearing 3T clothing (you can see how long the pants are on him, above...but they fit in the waist.) It ain't easy being HUGE! :)

Circus July 2006

Although he was disappointed not to see the "motorcycle guys" (last year there were guys who rode motorcycles inside this big globe), Jacks really enjoyed the circus this year. He ate cotton candy ($10--how CAN they charge that much for a bag of spun sugar?), tried to catch the flying confetti that they blew out before intermission, and screamed as loud as he could while the crowd was cheering (how much fun to be able to make that much noise INSIDE without getting in trouble!). His favorite part was the clowns, though. He understood the humor this year and really laughed at their antics. He came home with a spinning light wand as a souvenir, and we brought one for Cody, too. Next year, I hope we'll be able to take both boys!

Courage

One of JW's biggest challenges in this, his fourth year, has been overcoming fears and anxieties. Suddenly, he has been afraid of various things with a very real and potent terror.

It started soon after he turned 3, when he saw an episode of Scooby-Doo (which he'd watched before and enjoyed), and the villain was a "fire monster." After that, he became our family's fire marshal: he needed to know the location of every smoke detector and fire extinguisher in the house, how we would escape if there was a fire, and every time we cooked, he checked with us to make sure the stove and/or microwave weren't TOO hot or on fire.

Since then, we have dealt with monsters, dinosaurs, aliens, thunder, the dark, the hot tub in our new backyard, and various other potentially scary creatures and ideas. But over this year, JW has also decided on his own when exactly he was ready to move past those fears. Occasionally, he'll randomly say, "Mama, I used to be afraid of X, but now I know it's not real." Or, my favorite, he asserts, "Mama, I'm brave now!" He watches Monsters Inc. and laughs, reads books about T-rex while pointing out how sharp his teeth are, and sits with us in the hot tub, just chillin'.

Just like Dorothy's leonine companion, I think JW gradually discovers that the courage he needed was really there all along. (backdated 2/23/2006)

Translation of Little Man-darin

JW's verbal creations are so fascinating. :)

Many l's sound like w's, so...
Bawoon=Balloon
Ba-wimp=Blimp
Wowa=Lola

Construction site-ers=construction workers

I have the snorts=My nose is stuffy

Pan-panks=pancakes

Rivo=Tivo

Fast Forward Food=fast food

Sneeze=Bless-You (As in, "Daddy, Cody just Bless-you'd all over my panpanks!")


And it's amazing the way his logical little mind works. Here's the newest funny:

J: "Mama, I don't like Sundays."

M: "Why, honey?"

J: "Because they're too HOT."

(get it? SUNdays.)


But my favorite (at least in this case...not always) is when something comes out of this mouth that sounds exactly like what he's heard Mama or Daddy say. The other day I emerged from the bathroom with makeup on for once, my hair blown dry, and a new shirt on. My first-born looked me up and down and proclaimed, "Mama, you look STYLIN' today!" Now what better compliment is there than that? (backdated 2/23/2006)

CM's To-Do List

*Remove all clean, folded laundry from the baskets so Mama has to start again...practice makes perfect, lady!

*Liberate Mama's Diet Coke from the can, which, incidentally, is in the middle of the dining room table (she thinks she's SO clever keeping it away from the edge..ha!)

*Sample dog food...my brother says it tastes like chicken

*Demand to brush my teeth EVERY time Mama enters the bathrooom

*Find and destroy picture frame containing my 1-year portrait...bonus points for shattering of glass

*Distribute a trail of Cheerios evenly throughout the house, to ensure Mama will have to vacuum every room

*While she's distracted with vacuuming, use the time wisely to master stepping on the dog's tails...requires Zen-like concentration: Wax on, Wax off

*Empty Scrabble tiles onto the floor...try to focus spillage so that as many as possible go under the couch

*Push at least 20 keys on the computer keyboard at once to see what happens

*While there, install leftover Eggo waffle breakfast in the scanner

*Remove all kids' movies from the cabinet, and then all DVDs from the cases....scatter thoroughly

*Write tomorrow's To-Do list (devise all-new, ingenious ways to get into every thing imaginable)

*Always keep Mama on her toes...but give her lots of hugs, too. :) (backdated 2/20/2006)

I'm feeling Seasick

If you visit my house lately, and if your lap happens to be accessible and within 50 feet of Mr. CM, he will climb right up and make himself at home. He doesn't stop there, though. Give him a few seconds, and he will start rocking back and forth. If you listen closely, you might notice he's saying, "Woh Woh Woh Woh Woh Woh." What on earth? you think. He's asking you to play "Row Row Row Your Boat," of course!

CM wants you to grab his hands, rock him back and forth, and sing. Don't you dare forget his favorite part, the part none of us learned when we were little. "Row Row Row your boat, UNDERNEATH the stream....Haha, fooled you, I'm a submarine." You have to be sure to roll onto your back and lift him over your head on those last words, or the whole point of the game is lost. He cackles quite demonically while looking down at you, and you will become convinced that he was a pirate in his former life. No doubt about it. Before too long, he'll be shouting "Ahoy Matey" and demanding that we all ask permission to come aboard before entering the house.

Where's my Dramamine? (backdated 2/19/2006)

Threenager!

At 3 1/2, JW has a whole new way of talking, consisting mainly of quotes from The Incredibles. Today we were on our way out the door, headed for school, when he shouted from his room where he was still struggling into his shoes, "I can't lose you again!!!" (This is what Mr. Incredible tells Mrs. Incredible right before they fight the big, bad robot and save the day.) When he really likes something, he yells, "That is totally WICKED!" (The little boy on the trike says that after The Incredibles' whole house blows up.) Then tonight, he was sitting in the bathtub, casually making a phone call on Gramma's old cellphone, which has somehow inexplicably become a bath toy. To encourage him to get out, I told him Daddy was headed to the store for icecream and suggested he might want to go, too. "Yep. I may get a cone," he says, without looking up from the phone. That one's not from The Incredibles, but it still flabbergasted me with its tone and maturity. The boy is growing up. He's BIGGER. He's BADDER. He's a THREENAGER! (backdated 2/17/2006)