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.
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[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.