Conversations With G, 2 Years, 9 Months

Mr. M has been hogging the blog lately, so it's G's turn. G has been amazing us lately with his conversation skills and growing vocabulary. At dinner recently, he exclaimed, "Fascinating!" He likes hearing and telling stories, and he's still obsessed with animals. I often overhear him having conversations with his toy animals ("Let's go potty. Not right now. Maybe later" -- Can you guess what we've been doing lately?). Other times I'll hear him singing entire songs to himself.

Here's the transcript of a recent conversation while having a snack:

Me: Did you have a fun weekend with Grandma and Grandpa? What did we do?

G:  I went to the zoo. I went on the potty. I took a nap. I had a great nap.

Me: The zoo was my favorite part. What did you see at the zoo?

G: [Gasps.] Lions. Um, I didn’t see the sea lions this time.

Me: Not this time. Maybe next time. What do lions say?

G: Maybe roar. What do polar bears say?

Me: I don’t know. What do polar bears say?

G: Maybe growl.

Me: What does a deer say?

G: Maybe it’s a quiet animal. I’m not going to school today. Maybe tomorrow.

Me: Not tomorrow. On Wednesday. That’s in two days.

G: Two days. Remember when George [the Cat] ate the flowers? We say "George, don't eat the flowers." George is going to get sick. Remember when Daddy made a mess? It was everywhere. On the wall. On the floor. We say "Dad, don't make a mess."

Me: Dad is pretty messy. 

G: Da da da da. [sings and bangs his plate on the table] 

Me: What are you doing?

G: Playing the drums. I want an orange. I don't eat that part. It's the peel.

6 Month Baby M

How has it been six months already? This month Baby M weighs 15 pounds, 7 ounces (13th percentile), and is 27 inches tall (68th percentile). It feels like so much has changed in the past month:

• He can sit up on his own.
• At night, after laying him down on his back, he rolls over onto his tummy and sleeps on his stomach. {But he's still getting up once or twice a night to nurse.}
• He recently has been getting up on all fours as if he's going to crawl. {And I'm literally begging him not to crawl. Not yet.}
• He's been tasting solid foods. So far he's had pureed apple, banana, avocado, sweet potato, butternut squash, zucchini and pear.
• He loves bathtime with his brother. We put the baby bathtub in the tub with G, and M concentrates as hard as he can on kicking and splashing.
• He's becoming more vocal. We're so used to hearing G talk and talk and talk, and all of a sudden, M is making more sounds of his own. 
• He's more aware of familiar faces, and more wary of strangers.
• He's getting more hair. It looks like it's mostly blond like his brother, though he has a shock of brown on top. His hair was brown when he was born.
• He's obsessed with George the Cat. Whenever he is in the room, M follows him with his gaze, giggling, smiling and cooing at him.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Because what conveys love more than a baby sleeping in your arms?

He Gets Around

I laid M down for a nap the other day, only to find him on his tummy facing the opposite direction when I picked him up. This boy is on the move:

Time lapse: about 3 minutes.

{Also, he's crawling backwards. We are so not ready for this.}

New Skill

This week Baby M is sitting unassisted.

{Until a certain someone gives him a little nudge, that is, and he topples over. Brothers.}

Meet Frosty

 

It snowed all day on Saturday--heavy, wet snow perfect for building a snowman. G and Kent spent the morning outside working on this guy, while the neighbor kids pulled G around on their sled.

On a related note, this is how G sings "Frosty the Snowman": "Frosty the Snowman is a joggy backwards snow."

What We've Been Up to Lately

Playing outside: G is learning about wintertime in school, but the snowflakes are long gone. It was 60 degrees on Monday. We are loving being able to play outside in January.

 Painting: G got some paintbrushes for Christmas, and has been enjoying creating pictures and messes.

Dancing: G has developed some sweet moves. He begs us to play music so he can dance around the kitchen in his underwear. Which brings us to the big thing we've been up to lately....

Potty training: I'll spare you the pictures. It's been fun and frustrating all at once. This week we've had more successes than accidents, so we're feeling pretty good about that.