Nifty November

Well, as I've continued to say... When do I stop recording your words. I can't keep up. The ones I write today are not all the things you've been saying in November, but rather the ones I remember to write on the calendar. You are stringing words together. You are explaining things. You are trying to count more. You are trying to sing the ABC's. I just can't keep up.

I'm still not really introducing any signs and you're not really watching you signing DVDs lately, as you'd much rather watch Sesame Street ABCs or The Muppet Show.

I don't know if there are even any new signs this month at all. It's kind of obsolete now. You and I will still use them when talking sometimes out of habit, but I'm by no means teaching you any new ones. Your signing did come in handy this month though. I'll try to remember to explain what happened.

Here are the words you say now on your own, not just copying (or at least as many as I can remember). Now, I'm not saying that you pronounce all these perfectly or anything.

Talking!!!!

New in the past month
Phrases...
AJ uses ________ /Mommy uses _________ / Daddy uses ________
(insert colour you are using with the colouring book)
up high
I love you (to refer to the book Snuggle Puppy in a sing song voice)
Daddy work
Mommy work
Daddy's stuff (the stuff you aren't supposed to touch, but Daddy keep strewn about anyhow)
one, two, three
eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine (which to you, is actual couting)
mommy's toast
mommy's __________ (you're big into possession)
'scuse me
mommy sit/daddy sit/Kimmy sit (or whoever you want to sit with you)
chicken soup
daddy's keys
mommy's soup
bathing suit
mommy's drink
where are you?
Daddy's brush
Mommy's toothbrush/AJ's toothbrush
good bye ________ (anything you're saying good bye to. Not really new, but you say it a lot more)
good bye radio
Mommies and Daddies (these are to refer to things you aren't supposed to touch/they're for mommyies and daddies only)
Papa's puppy
Daddy's truck
Big big truck, ya ya ya
Not small, no no no
daddy's light
Mommy's towel
hockey no tennis (this is for Grand-Dan from Papa)
baby shoes
yucky yucky yucky
I don't know
New Words...
pumpkins
puffies
mittens
snowman
Christmas Tree
Thomas
animals - the actual word and naming way more animals too. Ones that I didn't know you knew. I haven't written them all down because there's too many and I haven't come across one you don't know.
brown
orange (the colour)
green
black
turquoise
pink
white (in addition to the colours you could already say and identify)
straw
almost
muppets
Spiderman
underwear
finished (you were only signing this before)
celery
moon? Is this new?
clouds
Santa
diaper
Old Phrases You Could Already Say...
help me
help please
I don't know
Mommy Baby Dexter (when you point at my tummy)
apple juice
apple juice with no water please (applish, no awa, peas) LOL. This is my fave.
fish crackers (goldfish)
brush teeth
Gram eyes (when you see Gram's glasses on the table)
Older Words that you could already say-
yucky
turkey
Mummy, but you don't use it very often. You still prefer Ma ma (very Italian)
pillow
toothpaste
cheese
three
jacket
green
more (finally! You would only sign this one, before, but not say it!)
please - or were you already saying that?
body parts, finally, such as, but not limited to....
eyes
ears
hair
nose
toes
feet
legs
tummy
Elmo
Armaan
Dia
Kitchen
big
chicken
door
Makenna
cereal
drink
night night
owie
bus
airplane
orange
duck
purple
blue
yellow
red
Auntie
hot
granola
swing
Daddy with the eeeeee sound at the end
My Daddy
star
circle
Dexter
Kimmy
Gram
grapes
cheese
library
cake
love you
thank you (much better than before)
potty
oops
light
okay
seven
eight
nine
two
five
ten
strawberry
Marvin
Sassy
Shakes
zebra
shirt
ready
peas
graham
Mommy with the eeeeeee sound at the end
move
Erica
Mmmmhmmmmm (for yes)
dog - but this has been for months and months. I guess I just forgot to write it in.
chicken
balloon
Toboo (It sounds more like boot-boo. It's pretty darn cute.)
bike
lion
fish
got it
hello (you already said and signed 'hi', but you've started saying 'hello' on your phone)
stroller (many details to follow on that)
bathtub
all done (like when a DVD is over or a book ends)
colours (crayons)
no
bum
poo poo
bird
train
marble
buttons
up/down (for the teeter totter and 'the kids on the bus')
baby
flower
book
game
play
apple
orange
shoes
toast
help
Paul
bye bye
hi Daddy
bye daddy
cookie
car
that's all
truck
good bye (really you say 'good good')
thank you (sounds more like kay-q)
Papa (for Grandpa - Ken)
Gampa (for Grand-Dan)
garbage
hat
ball
buh bye
hi
up
down
bubbles
Mum and Mamaaaaa (very Italian-like)
Dada
Jack
cat
bath
toothbrush
cracker
tractor

Here are the animal sounds you currently say.
Pig - snorting (FINALLY!)
Cow - brooo
Cat - mow
Dog - woof woof and you 'pant' now too!!!
Monkey - uh uh (instead of ooh ooh)
Elephant - pfhhh (like a trunk noise, hard to explain)
Chicken - cluck cluck (you actually click your tongue)
Sheep - baaa
Rooster - cock doo
Bear - Raa
Lion - Raa
Tiger - Raa (I forgot that you could already say this too.
Rabbit - it's like a kissing/eating sound KWIM?
***you refuse to say quack or oink****

Signs!!!

You are still stringing signs together like 'more milk please'. You think this is pretty neato. You'll copy a whole bunch of the signs of the signing DVDs when the kids are doing them, but here are some of the ones you'll initiate and do on your own.

Newer Signs in the last month-
-None new that I can think of.
Older Signs, or signs I've already mentioned in the last few posts-
cereal
fish cracker (goldfish)
apple
shrugging shoulders - should I count that? It's pretty cute.
car
drink
airplane
ice cream
orange
hot
swing
cheese
library
toast
thank you
cracker
bike
potty
tickle (you made this one up)
-A bunch of others you've made up to try and tell me specifically which DVD you'd like, but darned if I can figure them out. This is frustrating.
bird
train
sorry
want
baby
ball
game
play
flower
book
finished
fruit
cereal
dvd / sign
monkey
play
help
bib (made this one up yourself)
thank you
cookie
cereal
bath
sleep
mum
Dad
hat
Hi
Bubbles
Please/like
More
Finished
Gone
Milk
Water
Eat
Change (you'll sign change if you're poopy or just on the change table if I ask you to)
Dog

More AJ Updates

Books
You are still loving books, and you love to read them when you wake up in the morning if you're waiting for us to come get you or if you aren't quite ready to go to sleep. You'll turn up the dimmer switch on your lamp (that you aren't supposed to touch) and then you'll get out your books. You actually tell me to get out of your room "bye bye mommy or night night mommy" cutting me off mid sentence so that I'll get out and I won't see you turn up your lamp and get books out.

Counting and Singing
You are still loving to count, especially as we go up and down stairs and you like trying to sing along to the ABC song. When you count, it's either 1, 2, 3 or 8,9,8,9,8,9,8,9,8,9,8,9. When we're counting together, you'll say the number that comes next, but when you're counting by yourself, you have preferred numbers.
You also like to sing the "Spiderman" song when we're putting on your spiderman underwear. It sounds like, "I-man I-man blah blurg blah blah I-man"
You also like to sing with Daddy in the new big truck to the tune of the Honey Combs commercial in the 80s. It goes, "big big truck, ya ya ya. It's not small, no no no"

Eating
Nothing's changed much, but you're back to off and on eating well at breakfast. Dinner's usually pretty good, but you've had a bit of an attitude lately.
You're still a veggie lover and I'm so glad! Broccoli, carrots, peas, cauliflower, corn, Edamame beans. Bring it on! Those are your main faves.

Sleeping
You're still loving your new room, but there's more to do in there which means that sometimes, when you shoud go to sleep, you sneak around to find your crayons and turn up your lamp so you can go colour.

Drawing and Colouring
You still LOVE colouring and you also like to be very bossy when you colour and tell people which colour they should be using. You can now accurately pick out the colours pink, red, green, brown, white, turquoise, blue, black, purple, and yellow and you can say them too. You just love to colour and draw. Seriously, I really can't even begin to explain how much you like doing this. And if someone will colour with you, then you're in Heaven!


Potty Training
You still wear big boy underwear all day at home, and you wear pull ups the rest of the time. Your night time sleeps would be dry if I came to get you as soon as you wake in the morning, but I don't, so you're wet when I come. One of your potties is in your room. Sometimes you go sit on it to poo, but with your pants on. You've been pooping in the potty more. I think it still scares you a bit. You can pull off your pants and underwear, but you don't necessarily think to. Your naps are dry unless you need to poop during your nap, but for the most part I've fixed the poops from ruining your naps by giving you cheese at breakfast and lunch and not giving you fruit at lunch and holding it off instead until your 3:00ish snack.
You are quite proud of yourself with this potty training and are sometimes quite upset if you have an accident. It's cute.
You can also put on your own pants. I thought this kind of belonged in the potty training section.

Locked in the Car, Again
So, I locked you in the car for the second time in your life. BCAA was not so fast this time and it took them 40 minutes to come! Thank goodness you can use and understand signs. I kept letting you know through the window that we'd go get ice cream and this seemed to get you through the 4 times or so that you started to wig out.


That's all I can think of right now.

OOOOOOOOHHHH! October!!

So, it's getting hard to say when I should stop writing down your new words. I'm not really introducing as many signs now, so those have slowed way down, but you're still using them and so am I. However, with words, geesh! Now your stringing them together even more and more than before, so do I write new phrases too? You're also answering questions like never before, and not just with yesses and nos, but with stories and words and real answers. Your poor little brother (or sister, but probably brother) I'm sure will never get this much attention. I'll start with your new vocabulary like usual, and then an update as to what you've been up to.

Here are the words you say now on your own, not just copying (or at least as many as I can remember). Now, I'm not saying that you pronounce all these perfectly or anything.

Talking!!!!

New in the past month
Phrases...
help me
help please
I don't know
Mommy Baby Dexter (when you point at my tummy)
apple juice (applish)
apple juice with no water please (applish, no awa, peas) LOL. This is my fave.
fish crackers (goldfish)
brush teeth
Gram eyes (when you see Gram's glasses on the table)
Words...
yucky
turkey
Mummy, but you don't use it very often. You still prefer Ma ma (very Italian)
pillow
toothpaste
three
jacket
green
more (finally! You would only sign this one, before, but not say it!)
please - or were you already saying that?
body parts, finally, such as, but not limited to....
eyes
ears
hair
nose
toes
feet
legs
tummy

Older Words that you could already say-
big
chicken
door
Makenna
cereal
drink
night night
owie
bus
airplane
orange
duck
purple
blue
yellow
red
Auntie
hot
granola
swing
Daddy with the eeeeee sound at the end
My Daddy
star
circle
Dexter
Kimmy
Gram
grapes
cheese
library
cake
love you
thank you (much better than before)
potty
oops
light
okay
seven
eight
nine
two
five
ten
strawberry
Marvin
Sassy
Shakes
zebra
shirt
ready
peas
graham
Mommy with the eeeeeee sound at the end
move
Erica
Mmmmhmmmmm (for yes)
dog - but this has been for months and months. I guess I just forgot to write it in.
chicken
balloon
Toboo (It sounds more like boot-boo. It's pretty darn cute.)
bike
lion
fish
got it
hello (you already said and signed 'hi', but you've started saying 'hello' on your phone)
stroller (many details to follow on that)
bathtub
all done (like when a DVD is over or a book ends)
colours (crayons)
no
bum
poo poo
bird
train
marble
buttons
up/down (for the teeter totter and 'the kids on the bus')
baby
flower
book
game
play
apple
orange
shoes
toast
help
Paul
bye bye
hi Daddy
bye daddy
cookie
car
that's all
truck
good bye (really you say 'good good')
thank you (sounds more like kay-q)
Papa (for Grandpa - Ken)
Gampa (for Grand-Dan)
garbage
hat
ball
buh bye
hi
up
down
bubbles
Mum and Mamaaaaa (very Italian-like)
Dada
Jack
cat
bath
toothbrush
cracker
tractor

Here are the animal sounds you currently say.
Pig - snorting (FINALLY!)
Cow - brooo
Cat - mow
Dog - woof woof and you 'pant' now too!!!
Monkey - uh uh (instead of ooh ooh)
Elephant - pfhhh (like a trunk noise, hard to explain)
Chicken - cluck cluck (you actually click your tongue)
Sheep - baaa
Rooster - cock doo
Bear - Raa
Lion - Raa
Tiger - Raa (I forgot that you could already say this too.
Rabbit - it's like a kissing/eating sound KWIM?
***you refuse to say quack or oink****

Signs!!!

You are still stringing signs together like 'more milk please'. You think this is pretty neato. You'll copy a whole bunch of the signs of the signing DVDs when the kids are doing them, but here are some of the ones you'll initiate and do on your own.

Newer Signs in the last month-
fish cracker (goldfish)
apple
shrugging shoulders - should I count that? It's pretty cute.

Older Signs, or signs I've already mentioned in the last few posts-
cereal
car
drink
airplane
orange
hot
swing
cheese
library
toast
thank you
cracker
bike
potty
tickle (you made this one up)
-A bunch of others you've made up to try and tell me specifically which DVD you'd like, but darned if I can figure them out. This is frustrating.
bird
train
sorry
want
baby
ball
game
play
flower
book
finished
fruit
cereal
dvd / sign
monkey
play
help
bib (made this one up yourself)
thank you
cookie
cereal
bath
sleep
mum
Dad
hat
Hi
Bubbles
Please/like
More
Finished
Gone
Milk
Water
Eat
Change (you'll sign change if you're poopy or just on the change table if I ask you to)
Dog

More AJ Updates

Books
You are still loving books, and you love to read them when you wake up in the morning if you're waiting for us to come get you.

Body Parts
Last month/the month before, I mentioned that you all of a sudden became interested in pointing to body parts. I was wondering when that would happen. Well, sure enough, this past month, you just all of sudden say them all too. For goodness sake, you can point to your elbos and knees if I ask you! Where did you learn that? Anyhow, yes, you say them now too, finally!!!

Counting and Singing
You are loving to count, especially as we go up and down stairs and you like trying to sing along to the ABC song. I nailed up a big sheet of corrugated plastic under your loft bed so that when you look up, you can see the ABC's, numbers, and colours that I wrote up there. Here's a little secret.... in the upper case alphabet, I forgot the 'W'. I squished it in later, but it's driving me nutso!

In fact, you've just really started enjoying trying to sing along to things in general. You like dancing lots too. Any store that we enter that has loud music, like Future Shop, you'll just start dancing away in your stroller or cart or just stop walking and start boogying!

Eating
You have a huge appetite at breakfast and dinner now, especially, dinner, but lumch is still a crap-shoot. I think you eat more at home though than at daycare or Auntie Erica's.
You like to dip your bananas into your leftover yoghurt or milk in the morning.
You're still a veggie lover and I'm so glad! Broccoli, carrots, peas, cauliflower, corn, Edamame beans. Bring it on! Those are your main faves.

Sleeping
You made the big move into your new room a week ago, and you don't seemed phased by it at all. You seem to also understand that your old room is Dexter's. Hmmm, not sure if you really do, but it sure seems like it!

Drawing and Colouring
You still LOVE colouring and you also like to be very bossy when you colour and tell people which colour they should be using. You can now accurately pick out the colours blue, black, purple, and yellow. Maybe more, but these are the ones I've noticed. You just love to colour and draw. Seriously, I really can't even begin to explain how much you like doing this. And if someone will colour with you, then you're in Heaven!

Personality
So, although, according to the Baby Whisperer, Tracy Hogg, you are a Textbook/Angel, you have definitely always had some 'Touchy' in there too. After reading her toddler book, I'm trying hard to understand and accept that more. I'm trying not to push you to 'go get em'. Like, when we're at the park and there's other kids there already, I'm just accepting that you are going to take a while to get warmed up, if you get warmed up at all. Unless, Jack is with you, then you'll jump in right away. I gave up on having you 'perform' your latest talents a long long long long long time ago. You are so silent when we're out, until you get really warmed up. However, Hallowe'en night may have helped with this. You perhaps are under the impression that strangers will gladly give you candy all the time now!

Hallowe'en
We went Trick or Treating with the Joniecs. You had a great time and warmed up immediately, much to my surprise! You must've gone up to 30 or 40 doors. Once you saw that the first house gave you a sucker, you were hooked and saying "Tri-treat" before we were even getting to the doors. We had to fight you a few times to get you into your stroller so we could get to the next place fast. You just wanted to walk the whole way and at 8:00pm, you were still rarin' to go! You were a cute little lion this year. I hope to post a pic soon.

Apple Barn - Pumpkin Patch
I took you, a week ago, to the Apple Barn Pumpkin Patch. You had a blast riding the tractors on the tractor trail, petting animals in the petting zoo, slapping pumpkins, playing at the park, taking a hay ride and drinking hot apple cider and more and more. At closing time at 5:30pm, when we had been there for 2.5 hours, you still wanted MORE!
I was a naughty Mommy and took you out for your first Happy Meal after that. You loved the apple slices dipped in caramel.
[img]http://www.richardandsonja.com/gallery/d/13026-2/dscf3631.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.richardandsonja.com/gallery/d/12897-2/dscf3588.jpg[/img]

Potty Training
Well, you're practically there. You have much better days at home than at daycare, but that's to be expected. About 3 days before Thanksgiving, something triggered you to realise how to just make the pee come out right away. Now, you pee every time I put you on the potty and you tell me when you need to go potty.
You were big boy underwear all day at home, and you wear pull ups the rest of the time. Your night time sleeps would be dry if I came to get you as soon as you wake in the morning, but I don't, so you're wet when I come. One of your potties is in your room. I'm hoping you'll take the initiative soon. You will if you have no pants or underwear on. I just need to get you thinking to take them off yourself. You can pull off your pants and underwear, but you don't necessarily think to. Your naps are dry unless you need to poop during your nap, but for the most part I've fixed the poops from ruining your naps by giving you cheese at breakfast and lunch and not giving you fruit at lunch and holding it off instead until your 3:00ish snack.
You are quite proud of yourself with this potty training and are sometimes quite upset if you have an accident. It's cute.
You can also put on your own pants. I thought this kind of belonged in the potty training section.

Thanksgiving
We had two Thanksgiving dinners here at our house! You enjoyed both! One was with Grand-Dan's cousin Peter (from Switzerland) and his girlfriend Valerie.

Answers
You like me asking you questions and giving you the chance to answer.
Mummy - Guess where we're going tomorrow?
AJ - Jack's!!!? or sometimes Armaan's!!?
When I asked you if you got to see Jack's new big boy bed, you said, "Whoa Wow! Trains! Airplanes!"
Too cute!

Requests
I ALWAYS water down your juice like 1:4 juice to water at least!!! You have this new affinity for apple juice though, and when you ask for it, you hate it when I head to the water cooler first. I have to show you the juice that I'm pouring in after. You like it just fine watered down, but it's the principle, I guess.
Well, the other day, you said, "Applish, no awa, please." Which translated means "Apple juice with no water, please." You sassy thing!




That's all I can think of right now.

August AND September!!!!

You will still copy any words that we want you to say, so it's impossible to write all those down.

It is also getting impossible to keep track of what you are saying without copying and the words you are signing.

Here are the words you say now on your own, not just copying (or at least as many as I can remember). Now, I'm not saying that you pronounce all these perfectly or anything.

Talking!!!!

New in the past two months.
chicken
door
Makenna
cereal
drink
night night
owie
bus
airplane
orange
duck
purple
blue
yellow
red
Auntie
hot
granola
swing
Daddy with the eeeeee sound at the end
My Daddy
star
circle
Dexter
Kimmy
Gram
grapes
cheese
library
cake
love you
thank you (much better than before)
potty
oops
light
okay
seven
eight
nine
two
five
ten
strawberry
Marvin
Sassy
Shakes
zebra
shirt
ready
peas
graham
Mommy with the eeeeeee sound at the end
move
Erica
Mmmmhmmmmm (for yes)

Older Words, or ones I've already mentioned in the last few entries.
dog - but this has been for months and months. I guess I just forgot to write it in.
chicken
balloon
Toboo (It sounds more like boot-boo. It's pretty darn cute.)
bike
lion
fish
got it
hello (you already said and signed 'hi', but you've started saying 'hello' on your phone)
stroller (many details to follow on that)
bathtub
all done (like when a DVD is over or a book ends)
colours (crayons)
no
bum
poo poo
bird
train
marble
buttons
up/down (for the teeter totter and 'the kids on the bus')
baby
flower
book
game
play
apple
orange
shoes
toast
help
Paul
bye bye
hi Daddy
bye daddy
cookie
car
that's all
truck
good bye (really you say 'good good')
thank you (sounds more like kay-q)
Papa (for Grandpa - Ken)
Gampa (for Grand-Dan)
garbage
hat
ball
buh bye
hi
up
down
bubbles
Mum and Mamaaaaa (very Italian-like)
Dada
Jack
cat
bath
toothbrush
cracker
tractor

Here are the animal sounds you currently say.
Cow - brooo
Cat - mow
Dog - woof woof and you 'pant' now too!!!
Monkey - uh uh (instead of ooh ooh)
Elephant - pfhhh (like a trunk noise, hard to explain)
Chicken - cluck cluck (you actually click your tongue)
Sheep - baaa
Rooster - cock doo
Bear - Raa
Lion - Raa
Rabbit - it's like a kissing/eating sound KWIM?
***you refuse to say quack or oink****

You are signing lots more now too. You are also stringing signs together like 'more milk please'. You think this is pretty neato. You'll copy a whole bunch of the signs of the signing DVDs when the kids are doing them, but here are some of the ones you'll initiate and do on your own.

Newer Signs in the last two months.
cereal
car
drink
airplane
orange
hot
swing
cheese
library
toast
thank you



Older Signs, or signs I've already mentioned in the last few posts.
cracker
bike
potty
tickle (you made this one up)
-A bunch of others you've made up to try and tell me specifically which DVD you'd like, but darned if I can figure them out. This is frustrating.
bird
train
sorry
want
baby
ball
game
play
flower
book
finished
fruit
cereal
dvd / sign
monkey
play
help
bib (made this one up yourself)
thank you
cookie
cereal
bath
sleep
mum
Dad
hat
Hi
Bubbles
Please/like
More
Finished
Gone
Milk
Water
Eat
Change (you'll sign change if you're poopy or just on the change table if I ask you to)
Dog

More AJ Updates

You are still loving books. In fact, when you aren't ready to go sleep, I can hear you in your room getting out books to read in your bed.

You are way more aware of body parts than I realised. I hadn't really been harping on those too much, but when I asked you a couple months ago where everything was, you could point to them. You don't really say the body parts though. You'll copy it if I say it, but if I ask you, what's this, you don't usually tell me.
You can point to yours or my...
ears
hair
eyes
mouth
teeth
tongue
arms
hands
neck
tummy
toes
feet
bum
and probably more!!

You love to count. I start and say 1 and you'll say 2, then I say 3, 4, and you'll say 5, and I'll say 6, and you'll say 7, 8, 9, 10 (but not usually all four of those in a row). You'll say the last ones after I say a number. Like you'll say 7 and I'll say 8 and you'll say 9, etc or the opposite.

You are a super duper fork and spoon efficiando. If you'd only open your mouth a little more! Then you'd be perfect!

You love Mummy's carrot strawberry shakes for breakfast on daycare days!

You got to have a fun visit at Koko's playplace to see Aili and her sister.

If I ask who's in Mummy's tummy, you say, "Dexter". You will also point to the crib if I ask where baby-Dexter will sleep.

You had a great time at the PNE at the beginning of September. You were a champ even though you didn't have a nap all day!

You are back at daycare at Dia's and loving it. You also go with Auntie Erica and Jack once and twice a week. You love that too.

You're still using the potty, but it's impossible to fully potty train you since you aren't home 2 to 3 days a week.

You are saying and signing 'thank you' much better now without me having to prompt you. That's been really sweet.

You walked right into Mill Lake on one of our walks. YUCK!

You LOVE to colour. You are a pro at holding your crayons and felts and you love to actaully colour things, not just scribble the whole page. You will colour a hat, then hands, etc. It's still scribble, of course, but strategic scribble.

You love to pant like a dog.

You love to say mmmmmmhmmmmm, for yes.

You love to say 'oops'.

And I venture to say that you can't wait to move into your new room. You just love the trucks on the walls.

You can point to some of the colours and say the colour, particularly purple, yellow, and blue, but unless it's purple, you aren't right all the time.

We didn't get to go camping this summer, but you enjoyed a trampoline and campfire night at Gram's.

We may go camping for Thanksgiving.

You also got your bottom two eye teeth, so the tooth count is now 16.

I went on a girls' weekend to Kelowna and you got to stay home with Daddy. You had a good time.

That's all I can think of right now.

Mini Update

You are now signing 'no' when you say 'no'.

You are saying 'sassy' and 'marvin', but I think you're still copying us, and not saying it on your own.

You are saying 'night night' to Daddy.

Whoa, What a July! Motor-Mouth!

Well, I've filled in the new words I've mentioned in the last few entries, and I'm adding your new ones from the past two weeks. Then I'll tell you about the 'holiday' we took.

You will copy any words that we want you to say, so it's impossible to write all those down. However, I've almost been able to keep track of the words that you are saying and signing.
Here are the words you say now (or at least as many as I can remember). Now, I'm not saying that you pronounce all these perfectly or anything.

New in the past two weeks or so.
chicken
balloon
Toboo (It sounds more like boot-boo. It's pretty darn cute.)
bike
lion
fish
got it
hello (you already said and signed 'hi', but you've started saying 'hello' on your phone)
stroller (many details to follow on that)
bathtub
all done (like when a DVD is over or a book ends)

Older Words, or ones I've already mentioned in the last few entries.
colours (crayons)
no
bum
poo poo
bird
train
marble
buttons
up/down (for the teeter totter and 'the kids on the bus')
baby
flower
book
game
play
apple
orange
shoes
toast
help
Paul
bye bye
hi Daddy
bye daddy
cookie
car
that's all
truck
good bye (really you say 'good good')
thank you (sounds more like kay-q)
Papa (for Grandpa - Ken)
Gampa (for Grand-Dan)
garbage
hat
ball
buh bye
hi
up
down
bubbles
Mum ana Mamaaaaa (very Italian-like)
Dada
Jack
cat
bath
toothbrush
cracker
tractor

Here are the animal sounds you currently say.
Cow - brooo
Cat - mow
Dog - woof woof
Monkey - uh uh (instead of ooh ooh)
Elephant - pfhhh (like a trunk noise, hard to explain)
Chicken - cluck cluck (you actually click your tongue)
Sheep - baaa
Rooster - cock doo
Bear - Raa
Lion - Raa
Rabbit - it's like a kissing/eating sound KWIM?
***you refuse to say quack or oink****

You are signing lots more now too. You are also stringing signs together like 'more milk please'. You think this is pretty neato. You'll copy a whole bunch of the signs of the signing DVDs when the kids are doing them, but here are some of the ones you'll initiate and do on your own.

Newer Signs in the last two weeks or so
cracker
bike
potty
tickle (you made this one up)
-A bunch of others you've made up to try and tell me specifically which DVD you'd like, but darned if I can figure them out. This is frustrating.

Older Signs, or signs I've already mentioned in the last few posts.
bird
train
sorry
want
baby
ball
game
play
flower
book
finished
fruit
cereal
dvd / sign
monkey
play
help
bib (made this one up yourself)
thank you
cookie
cereal
bath
sleep
mum
Dad
hat
Hi
Bubbles
Please/like
More
Finished
Gone
Milk
Water
Eat
Change (you'll sign change if you're poopy or just on the change table if I ask you to)
Dog

More AJ Updates

You are enjoying your books even more than before. You like to point at different items and name them whether I'm with you or not. You also like to point to things when I ask you something like "Where are the eyes?" or "Where are the socks?"

Last weekend we went to Penticton and Kelowna. Penticton was for Daddy's work, and Kelowna was because the car didn't want to come home on the Coquilhala. You caught a cold. You got to go to the beach. You are tanning very nicely. You had some good naps in the car. You got to stay up late on Friday night. You DID NOT want to sleep in your playpen, so you slept on the couch the first night and on the big queen size bed the second night. You naughty thing. I think we need to buy a portable DVD player for long car rides.

You like to talk on the phone by wedging it between your ear and your shoulder.

Okay, so for quite some time you've been saying this word in reference to cars/trucks/vans, etc. "Goyuhhhhhh". Well, I finally figured it out. You are calling them all 'strollers'. Here's the breakdown....
two wheels = bike
more than two wheels = stroller (but you can say car and truck, and will repeat 'van')
more than four wheels or very long like a big rig = train

Oh, you were really testing me with that one!

My Boy, Reading a Book! Well, Not Really.

A Proud Mommy moment...
-Tonight, after your normal bedtime stories, you brought me one of your mini-colour-board-books. This one was "Green". We've probably read it once a day this particular week.
-Anyhow, I turn to the first page and say, "What's that?"
You say, "Appo" (that wasn't the impressive part because you say "appo" all the time.)
I say, "Yes, it's a green apple!"
I turn to the next page and say, "What's that?"
You say, "Coluuur".
I say, "Yes, it's colours! It's green crayons!"
Next page.
You say, "Maa bow".
I say, "Yes, it's green marbles!"
Next page.
You say, "bupbuh".
I say, "Yes, it's buttons!"
You didn't say, "socks" on the next page though.

I'm just impressed that you learned those words from me naming them a few times this week. It makes me feel like I should be reading to you even more. Uggg, I should get off the computer more.

Not sure if I mentioned in the last post, but you also say, "Shoe" now.

AJ Meets Charlie!

Yesterday, we went to see Auntie Ryan and her new baby daughter, Charlie. You loved the baby. You were beaming. The smiles wouldn't stop! You thought baby Charlie was very neat.

You are also saying, "Shoe".

And the word 'no' is really starting to get on my nerves.

No No No No No More Starbucks!!!

Well, there was some new word you were saying and for the life of me, I can't remember. Oh well. I've been having a really good time taking you to the park lately and watching you play at Toddler Town. You can go up and down the steps by yourself and down the slides by yourself. You like to go down on your butt now instead of your tummy.

You've been using your pretend baby bottles to feed 'baby' and Monkey. It's pretty cute.

You are stringing signs together over this past week and a bit. You will sign things like...
more, milk, please
or
please, more, DVD

Also, you say, "bum". You spank the bum of the character in one of your potty books and say, "Bum!!!!"

Here's the big news though...

You finally say, "No!"

Not that I've been looking forward to you saying this, but more like, waiting. You say it now, and it is the cutest sounding thing you say. It's even cuter than when you sign and say, "Help".

Auntie Jen and I are slowly realising that we just can't take you and Makenna to Starbucks anymore. You two are just way too loud and excited. We just feel too badly for all the people who are in there trying to 'get away from it all'. I wish there was a baby-friendly coffee shop.

You are back into driving your ride on cars around the house. You just go all over the place and have a great time. Also, you've finally discovered your bouncing zebra. You had a blast on it yesterday.

ACK! More Signing!

When are you going to stop!? Today at the park, you signed 'bird' for the geese, and you used the 'train' sign when you saw a big rig B train!

Also, you turfed back up Monkey (Trunk Monkey) out of the stroller! He's lost!

And, you're sleeping in your big boy bed for your nap today!

Another Night in the Big Boy Bed!

Well, last night, I didn't even get to ask you if you'd rather sleep in your crib or your big boy bed. You right away pointed to your big boy bed and giggled.

You went to bed at 7:40pm, like usual, and fell asleep about 10 minutes later. But this time, instead of sleeping your normal 11 hours, you slept for 12! You don't normally do that. We'll see if your nap is shorter because of that. Hmmmm.

I think I already mentioned in the last post that you say 'auntie' now and you say and sign 'train', but just in case I didn't, I thought I should write it again.

Another Word or Two!

After a fun overnight trip to Gram and Papa's house with Auntie Kim and Uncle Paul too, you came back being able to say, "Auntie"


You also can say and sign, 'train'.

Sonja C

Just a Mini Update

You can now also sign 'sorry' and 'want'. You are also saying 'poo poo' and 'bum' (from potty training).

Last night you slept in your big boy bed all night.

I Can't Keep Up With All Of Your Words! And Some Big Brother News!

I literally can't keep up anymore!

You will copy any words that we want you to say, so it's impossible to write all those down. However, I've almost been able to keep track of the words that you are saying and signing.
Here are the words you say now (or at least as many as I can remember).

Newer Words
baby
flower
book
game
play
apple
orange
shoes
toast
help
Paul
bye bye
hi Daddy
bye daddy
cookie
car
that's all
truck

Old Words
good bye (really you say 'good good')
thank you (sounds more like kay-q)
Papa (for Grandpa - Ken)
Gampa (for Grand-Dan)
garbage
hat
ball
buh bye
hi
up
down
bubbles
Mum
Dada
Jack
cat
bath
toothbrush
cracker
tractor

Here are the animal sounds you currently say.
Cow - brooo
Cat - mow
Dog - woof woof
Monkey - uh uh (instead of ooh ooh)
Elephant - pfhhh (like a trunk noise, hard to explain)
Chicken - cluck cluck (you actually click your tongue)
Sheep - baaa
Rooster - cock doo
Bear - Raa

You are signing lots more now too. You'll copy a whole bunch of the signs of the signing DVDs when the kids are doing them, but here are some of the ones you'll initiate and do on your own.

Newer Signs
baby
ball
game
play
flower
book
finished (you already knew this one, but now, you're way more consistent)
fruit
cereal
dvd / sign
monkey
play
help
bib
thank you
cookie
cereal

Old Signs
Bath
sleep
mum
Dad
hat
Hi
Bubbles
Please/like
More
Finished
Gone
Milk
Water
Eat
Change (you'll sign change if you're poopy or just on the change table if I ask you to)
Dog

Other AJ Updates

You are nodding your head 'yes' and 'no' and you'll say no, but only if I'm asking you 'yes' or 'no', not to tell me 'no' to something, thank goodness.

You like to copy me when we count. We count things a lot. For instance, we count the items that you didn't eat as we throw them in the garbage. By the way, you are very good at throwing things in the garbage, if only I could get you to stop throwing your cup in there too! You help me clean up!

You think you are very funny!

Oh, yes, back to the counting thing. So you say 'two' along with me, and sometimes 'three', but then you don't say anything until I get to around 'seven'. At this point, you'll repeat all the numbers after I say them. It's so cute. You are very good at saying 'eighteen', but 'fifteen' sounds hilarious.

My favourite 'sign' that you do is 'help'. You get so frustrated with some of you moving toys when they get stuck on doorways. You'll yell out. I always say, "Do you need help?" and, of course, I sign it when I say it. Well, you've been saying, "help" for a while now, and it sounds more like 'hup'. But now you are signing it too and it's soooooo cute.

You are quite obsessed with your DVD's, namely your signing ones, which is the ony reason why it doesn't bother me so much. At least you're learning something, right?

You are absolutely LOVING our pool, thanks to Uncle Tarrie and Auntie Christine. You can actually stand up in it. You love to walk around and throw your ball. You love playing with your outdoor toys too. If only we had a fence. At least you aren't trying to leave the yard. Luckily, you don't really like our prickly grass too much! Finally, not mowing and watering has a good side!

Today, we went to Aldergrove Lake with Auntie Erica, Jack, Auntie Jen, Makenna, Dionne, Owen, Nadia, and Angela. You had a blast in the water getting me to lift you up and down to 'The Wheels on the Bus'. You also walked around a bit, and you tried Makenna's boat. You were making motor sounds and really enjoyed it. I let you drink juice today. Not watered down juice, but a WHOLE drink box. Not to mention, you shared my fries with me. Mmmmmmm. You were such a good boy even though I messed up your naps. It was all in the name of fun, though, so it was okay!

Mommy has a baby in her tummy again. Thank goodness! You have a little brother or sister on the way for January 23rd. I've been trying to teach you that there's a baby in my tummy. Now that you're signing 'baby', you'll use it for that soon.

You will still go to daycare at Dia's, but only once a week in September because Auntie Erica will watch you on Mondays now, and still every second Wednesday. I will watch Jack every second Wednesday, and every Friday. You love playing with Jack. Sometimes you cry when he leaves. He's your good buddy.

Potty training. Well, this is a story and a half....
I don't regret starting the 'early-start-potty-training' at 9 months because I like the the potty is an every day part of life and you don't hate it. Like before, you are almost consistently peeing in the potty after your nap and before your bath or shower. However, with not being able to take you to the potty while you were at daycare on my workdays, the consistency wasn't there. Now that work is over for me, I thought, 'Great! I can get back on top of this.' The problem now is that you know what pee and poop are all about. You are cheeky too. You've been holding it until I take you off the potty, and then you go in your diaper. Or you tap your potty to tell me to change you. Or you sign 'potty' to get me to change you. On one hand, I'm happy you know what's going on. On the other, I'm sick of you peeing in my bathroom doorway after you sign that you are 'finished' on the potty. You little buttmunch!!!

Well, I think that's about it. You are at a super-fun age right now. I can't believe I'm going to have another one running around a year and a half from now. Crazy! I think you're going to be a good big brother. You are very well behaved. I hope that doesn't mean that your brother or sister will be the opposite!

Two babies!!! Whoa!!!

A Few More Signs...

Okay, so you are also signing....
"Fruit" and also, possibly, "Cereal", I'll have to test that out later.
You also sign "signs". It appears to be your way of telling me you'd like to watch the signing DVD.

May's Many Milestones

Oh my goodness, I haven't updated in so long! In some ways, I've thought you've just been mosying along, but really, you've been doing lots!

You're practically running. You love going up and down curbs and doorways. You love walking. You barely crawl at all except at daycare. You've been walking for about a month and a half and you've been getting up to standing almost as long.

Since the last post, you have been sick, teething, and had an ear infection. That really threw off your balance for a while there.

You've been getting better, slowly, at solving your own problems instead of just screaming. And our tactic of teaching you 'uh oh' when you fall instead of running to pick you up so that you cry for attention has been working really well. You aren't crying about little things half as much. A couple kids at music grabbed at you a bit, and you hardly flinched. It's so great. Of course, if you are actually injured, I still run and give you kisses and hugs. Your becoming a lot more independent.

Your music classes and swimming lessons have been wonderful. I liked the new swim teacher. She has you gliding/swimming to me in the water! Under water! The music classes have both been so great for you. You're singing back to 'sol mi' and you love to copy 'ba ba ba ba' to a beat slapping your lap. You love the hello song where we do different things with the egg shakers and you can even do the things the beg kids are doing with the eggs (roll them, tap them, tap your head, tap your knees, shake them) except usually, you're about one behind. Silly.

Today you got to use your bubble mower outside when Daddy mowed the lawn too. Uncle Tarrie came and set up a big pool for you. You also got to hang out in your little wading pool for a couple hours while I weeded. You've been such a good player.

Here are the words you say now (or at least as many as I can remember). I seem to think you've been saying lots, but I can't think of them. And you pretty much will try to copy any words we say.
new - good bye (really you say 'good good')
new - thank you (sounds more like kay-q)
new - Papa (for Grandpa - Ken)
new - Gampa (for Grand-Dan)
new - garbage
newer - hat
ball
buh bye
hi
up
down
bubbles
Mum
Dada
Jack
cat
bath
toothbrush
cracker
tractor

Here are the animal sounds you currently say.
Cow - brooo
Cat - mow
Dog - woof woof
Monkey - uh uh (instead of ooh ooh)
Elephant - pfhhh (like a trunk noise, hard to explain)
Chicken - cluck cluck (you actually click your tongue)
Sheep - baaa
Rooster - cock doo
Bear - Raa

You are signing lots more now too. You'll copy a whole bunch of the signs of the signing DVDs when the kids are doing them, but here are some of the ones you'll initiate and do on your own.
new - Bath
new - sleep
new - mum (since yesterday)
newer - Dad (for about 3 or so weeks) You kind of hit your head
new - hat
Hi (not new, but I never wrote it in before)
Bubbles
Please/like
More
Finished
Gone
Milk
Water
Eat
Change (you'll sign change if you're poopy or just on the change table if I ask you to)
Dog

That's all I can think of right now!

AJ's April

Well you've been taking steps for while now, but Tuesday night (April 24th) was the first time you left one place and got to another by means of walking! By the next day, you were walking all over the place when I took you and Jack to a playgroup. The next two days at music, you were walking right across the room. Auntie Kimmy and I even let you walk around at the mall.

This month has just been another BOOM in achievements. You understand so much of what we say. You'll go get things if we ask for them. You'll follow an instruction. Words are rolling out of you like nobody's business. You'll copy any words we say, but here's just a sample of some of the words you'll say on your own...
ball
buh bye
hi
up
down
bubbles
Mum
Dada
Jack
cat
bath (started really pronouncing the 'th' sound a couple of days ago, maybe on the 25th or 26th)
toothbrush (said for the first time on the 15th)
cracker (said at the end of last month, I believe)

You added the chicken sound 'cluck' and the cat sound 'meow' to your repetoire of animal noises on the 7th April. Here are the animal sounds you currently say.
Cow - brooo
Cat - mow
Dog - woof woof
Monkey - uh uh (instead of ooh ooh)
Elephant - pfhhh (like a trunk noise, hard to explain)
Chicken - cluck cluck (you actually click your tongue)
Sheep - baaa
Rooster - cock doo
Bear - Raa

You are signing lots more now too. You'll copy a whole bunch of the signs of the signing DVDs when the kids are doing them, but here are some of the ones you'll initiate and do on your own.
Bubbles
Please/like
More
Finished
Gone
Milk
Water
Eat
Change (you'll sign change if you're poopy)
Dog

Potty training has really gone in the pooper, pun intended. Ever since you got sick, you just aren't peeing in the potty like you used to. Part of it, is that I'm not on the ball enough and I miss your cues. Not to mention that I have you out of the house a lot, and miss the chances to take you.

You're on one nap now, no matter what time you get up in the morning and it's working really well. On average, you are sleeping 12:30-2:30, a short time after your lunch.

We went to the Island to see Grannie and Papa on the weekend of the 14th before they headed to Nova Scotia. The ferry ride was a blast. We fed you an early dinner before we left, and just took some snacks and your bedtime bottle. We sat up front near the kids play area. At first you were weary of all the kids, but soon you warmed up. You played throw and catch with one girl, and you played on the slide with a whole bunch of kids. You went up the stairs and down the slide, up and down, up and down. On the way back, you didn't take any time to warm up at all, you just ran/crawled right to the slide and went for it! You had a good time at Granny and Papa's.

You've been super picky with your food since turning one and since being sick. It's been a struggle trying to figure out what to feed you. I finally figured out that you'll eat any veggies cut up super small and mixed wit a little bit of ranch dip.

You love your slide. We put it in the playroom next to your tent and tunnel. You climb up one side and you slide down the other on your tummy just like we showed you on the ferry.

That's all I can think of. There's more words and more signs, I'm sure, but I can't think of them right now.

Oh wait, no, you have 12 teeth now because the one year molars on your right came in too!

Another Month of Many Many Milestones

Yet another month has passed! You are just learning more and more every day!

March 8th
-On your real birthday, Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Kim, and Uncle Paul came by with a birthday gift (magnetix) and a cake! You gobbled up the whole piece! You loved it!

March 9th
-We start to realise your facination with towels on people's heads after a shower.

March 10th or so
-I was washing you on the change table, washing your nether-regions, and you signed 'more' over and over again! You naughty boy!

March 11th
-Today was your 'family birthday' and Grandma's. She put on a wonderful party for you. Lots of aunties, uncles, grandparents, cousins, etc. So many wonderful, thoughtful gifts!

March 12th-16th
-You got your bottom left molar and you start pretending to do your hair with me when I do my hair.

March 18th
-Today was your BIG birthday pool party! It was soooo fun! So many friends and famiy! You had so much fun swimming and eating cake! You were a good boy!

March 19th-23rd
-I tried you on one nap over Spring Break since you did so well with one nap at daycare, but to avail. You will not sleep more than an hour for me in the afternoon if you haven't had a morning nap. ARG! But then again, I like you having two naps, so thanks!
-Top left molar comes in and your bottom left lateral incisor.
-You have around 10 teeth now!

March 25th
-You are saying and signing "hi" all the time now. You touch your hand to your head. You say 'hi' when we arrive at the house.

March 27th
-You are FINALLY blowing bubbles in the bathtub.
-When Daddy says "Hiiiieeeeyaaa" in the cathtub, you kick your leg out a bunch of times! So cute!

March 29th
-We had lunch with Silas and Allison!

March 30th
-You are very facinated by my Eeyore pajamas. You think the picture is very neat.
-You are climbing on the couch! Oh no! And you climbed onto Daddy's laptop desk on the end table. ARG!!!!!

March 31st
-Today Daddy wanted to take you to the aquarium. I thought that you would like it, but I had no idea that you would LOVE it!!!!
-You were banging on the beluga tank and yelling at them. You loved the shark tank. Things surprise you when they came by out of nowhere. You were scared of the 'ugly' fish. I thought that was neat that you knew what 'ugly' was.

April 5th and 6th
-Now you are signing 'please/like' as well. I think there's more things you are signing, but I can't remember.
-You've been throwing a ball now!!! Yay!
-You can say, "Buh Bye".
-When Daddy comes in the door, you say, "Hi"
-When we ask you... "What does a ____ say?", you say...
brooo for a cow
raaa for a bear
cack-doo for a rooster
ooh ohh for a monkey
pppphhhhh for an elephant

YAY FOR AJ BECOMING A BIG BOY!

"A Whole Month of So Many Milestones"

Well, it's been way too long since I updated this, and it's really too bad because you have been REALLY busy!

You say "Mum" more than ever.
You tip your sippy cup to drink from it perfectly all the time.
You are really getting a kick out of using your spoon. I can't wait until you can scoop stuff.
You say, "Uh oh" all the time.
You like to fling Monkey OG, and Monkey 2 out of the crib and yell, "Uh oh".
You cruise all over the place.
You stand alone for a few seconds without really realising it. For example, when you pick up your drink with two hands.
You are using more signs, but not many are consistent. You sign
mommy
hi
dirty
bubbles
eat
more
You are back in your music classes again. Soon you will be in swimming again.
You had your first Valentine's Day.
Today is your birthday! Happy First Birthday my baby, I mean big boy! We'll celebrate on the 11th at Grandma's house, and on the 18th at the pool!
You've tried walnuts.
Sometimes, you like to jump up and down while you're holding furniture.
You like to push your push toys sometimes, and sometimes you just sit down.
You are great at walking while holding our hands.
You really stood alone on the 22nd of Feb.
You signed 'hi' on the 23rd of Feb.
On the 25th of Feb., your bottom right lateral incisor came through and Daddy thinks your top left canine is coming in. We'll see.
Your routine has not been quite as consistent as before. You only take one nap at daycare, you were having longer awake times, and then went back to short ones again.
You had your first haircut on March 1st. I trimmed the back with the electric razor and 'tickle tickled you'.
You found out you aren't going to be a big brother yet anymore, and you thought to yourself, "Well that's okay, that means more mommy-time just for me!"

Phew, you've been busy! You are so smart my little special-bum-cheeky-monkey!

"Big Brother in Training, Dancing, Signing, and More"

Well you found out last week that you're going to become a big brother in and around October. You're taking the news very well. In fact, it's as though life hasn't changed for you at all!

You have been dancing up a storm these past few weeks. More and more every day. You will turn on the radio on your learning home, just so you can dance to the music!

Although it is not new for you to sign 'more', you are really using it now. You 'whip' this out for foods that you REALLY love like Mum Mums and Minigo. You kind of clap your hands together, but not to make noise. Your fingers are bent.

You are walking a lot better when we hold your hands and you are starting to 'cruise' a bit more.

"Uh oh, Closed, Dog, Walking, Mommy, More Waving, Carrot Cake"

Over the course of the 18th, 19th, and 20th.....

So, you are saying, "Uh oh" all the time now since Grandma taught you that. When we went for lunch at Milestone's you said it a couple times when you dropped your cracker a couple of times. Speaking of lunch at Milestone's, you kept dropping toys on the ground and waiting for Auntie Jen to pick them up for you.

Auntie Erica says she swears you said, "Dog" over at her house on Wednesday. She watch you even though you were sick, and now Jack has your fever and cough. You two just keep handing your illnesses back and forth and back and forth.

You will now push your activity table around walking behind it, slowly, but surely.

You signed 'Mommy' while watching the Signing Time DVD.

You wave good-bye intermittently. Yesterday you waved good-bye.

You tried carrot cake at Grandma's. You liked it a lot. This also means that you've tried coconut.

"Kisses and Hugs from my Special Bum Cheeky Monkey"

Oh yes, and I almost forgot to say, if I haven't already, that for a week or two you've been giving hugs and kisses. The kisses you've done off and on for a while, but are more consistent when I do the sign for 'kiss'. Hugs started with your potty book. At the end it says, "Then cuddle up for a big hug!" and we hug. Well, you anticipate it, and whenever I just say 'then cuddle up for a big hug' you reach for a hug and say, "ya ya ya" with me.

"Over the Tummy Virus, Now a Bad Cough, Salmon, Spoon, Words, Egg Whites"

Well, you got over that tummy virus that knocked Daddy off his feet. Everyone got it except Auntie Jen and Mommy.

Now you have this horrible cough that includes a runny nose as of yesterday. Of course, our crappy clinic down the road prescribed a puffer. We're not doing that. We're watching to make sure you don't have pneumonia because a girl from daycare has pneumonia.

I really fell off the 'food introduction boat'. Finally, I hopped back on this week. You've had salmon now and loved it, but you're still not a big fan of white fish. You've also had egg whites now, so you can have whole egg omlettes. You enjoyed your eggs two days ago.

Grandma watched you yesterday because you were too sick for daycare and Daddy wanted to take you to the doctor. Now mommy is off today because she was literally getting 'worried sick' about the possibly snowy driving conditions and your cough.

You've been copying lots of words. You like to close the bathroom door and say, "Closed", but it sounds more liked "Kroah". You like to try to copy us saying, "Cat". Grandma taught you to say, "Uh oh".

Also, you've been using a spoon. You don't scoop things up with the spoon, but I load it, you pick it up, and you put it in your mouth the right way.

Too cute!

"Dry Skin, So Sickly, New Year's Eve, Signing Update, and Potty Training Update"

Well, it started out that you had dry skin. You had a patch or two quite some time ago. The doctor said it was from the winter. I started to wonder if it was from allergies, like to oranges.

I had been giving you diluted orange juice while you had that second really bad cold. I stopped giving you the orange juice. We started putting cortizone cream on the skin. It got better, but it's not gone yet.

You were really sick the day before yesterday. You vomited 4 times and then have had diarrhea ever since. Daddy also got sick. Dave, Ryan, Wes, and Jack did too. What we originally thought was food poisoning from Japanese New Year or from New Year's Eve instead seems to be a really bad stomach bug that Auntie Erica's parents had. Whew, it was a doozy. Dave even had to go to the hospital!

We did have a wonderful New Year's Eve. We went to Auntie Erica's. You went to bed shortly after we arrived. Like usual, at Auntie Erica's, you fell asleep like a good boy, and stayed asleep. You let us sleep in the next morning, thank goodness because we didn't get to sleep until about 3:30am.

The next day, we went to Japanese New Year at Kaela's. It was so delicious, but you stayed home with Auntie Kim and Uncle Paul.

Auntie Kim and Uncle Paul also watched you on Wednesday when I had to go get some stuff done at work.

You've had a rough, fussy, sick week.

You are starting to be more consistent with using signs. You still sign 'dirty', but that one is inconsistent. Perhaps this is because you aren't really 'dirty' as often now that you use the potty more and seem to be regulating yourself more. You sign 'water' now, 'more', and 'finished'. You've been doing these for a few weeks off and on, but they are very definite now. I can ask you if you're finished on the potty or at the high chair and you will shake your hands. Who knows if you actually know what it means, but you know when it's used. It was kind of funny at lunch today when I went to move your tray. I guess you thought I was taking it away and that we were done and you started signing 'finished'. When I moved the tray and kept it on, you got a little upset with me. Oops! Sorry!