Wednesday, February 29, 2012

My Little Comedian

I don't know if I have said it enough, but Jack is funny. For the past two days, he has slept late for his naps. I heard him stirring, in the form of him kicking the wall. When I got upstairs, he was awake, standing on the floor between the very small space between his bed and the wall. I could only see him from the waist up. He looked down, looked at me and said, "I don't have any legs! They're all gone!"

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Me: What letter do we have this week at school?

Jack: The letter O

Me: Man, what do we have that starts with O?

Jack: We have an orangutan. (Thinks a bit.) We don't have a organgutan.

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Jack: I fart.

Me: Oh.

Jack: I stink.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Conversations

Every week at school, Jack has to bring in something that starts with a letter of the alphabet for Show-And-Tell. I think it's a great idea and we go all around the house discussing different items and what they start with. When we finally find a few items that start with the actual letter, Jack chooses and excitedly puts it in his backpack for the next day. This past week, the letter was M.

Me: What letter does this week start with, Jack?

Jack: M!!!

Me: Hmmmmm. I wonder what we have that starts with M??

Jack: Mommy, EVERYTHING starts with M: monkey, man....

Who knew?


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So many of my posts on here involve funny things that Jack says or does. Since Dani really doesn't talk much, I feel that the poor kid gets the shaft on the blog sometimes. I promise to make her conversations part of this blog too when she can have them. And if they're funny.

Anyway, she is picking up words all the time, though she doesn't have the huge interest in language and learning new words that Jack did. But, the more I see Jack, I realize that he is a verbal freak. But Dani has started to really use more words lately. She's got "water" and can now point to each family member and name them: "zhgah" (Jack), "ma" (Mommy), "da" (Daddy), "guma" (Grandma). Today, she started yelling "Go!" and then running into the arms of various people. It's pretty adorable. Looking forward to hearing more from this crazy, sweet girl!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Family Fun Night

The school that we work at has a Family Fun Night once a sports season in which they invite staff and their families and have all sorts of activities planned. It's really nice and fun and we try to always go. It is getting more fun as the kids get older and can actually engage in the activities.

A couple of weeks ago, we attended the Family Fun basketball game. Prior to the game they had opened up the cafeteria, which was filled with food and kid activities. Jack once again proved that preschool was the right decision. The shy, timid little boy who, just one year ago would have been tethered to my leg and in tears, boldly ran over to the other kids playing kickball and got in line. Though he didn't really get the concept, he was happy running amongst the kids all night.

Dani didn't miss a beat and acted, as usual, like she owned the joint, running into the fray and happily squealing. She was so excited to be there and run around that she wasn't even interested in eating, which is saying A LOT! She would run around and then return for a scrap of food, expecting to be fed like a baby bird.

When the game was about to start, I thought Jack might like to see it. Paul stayed in the cafeteria with a deliriously happy Dani who was far more content flitting about the cafeteria than she would have been sitting still in the bleachers. Jack was very interested in sitting in the bleachers and was also quite interested in the band. He couldn't see the players warming up very well but got to sneak in a few peeks. I informed him that they would be singing a pretty song (National Anthem) and that he would have to quitely stand and listen. I also showed him how to put his hand over his heart. Before the Anthem, he told me, "We gonna hear a pretty song and there's gonna be basketball."

When the Anthem began, he did exactly what I told him to. He stood up and was quiet the entire time. I looked down and my heart melted to see this sweet little boy, quietly standing with his hand resting over his heart. It reminded me of little JFK Jr. saluting his father's casket, except there were people playing basketball at the funeral and there was no dead president. After we sat down, Jack turned to me and announced, "I'm done." "What?" I asked him. He repeated, "I'm done. I'm done with basketball."

So as per Jack's request and the late hour, we headed home. It was a perfect evening and I just couldn't have been prouder of my amazing kids.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

More from the Jack-meister

On Saturday, we were eating breakfast and Jack pointed out a school bus that was printed on the back of the cereal box.

Me: Jack, do you want to go on a school bus?

Jack: Yes, I DO!

Me: Okay, baby. Someday soon.

Jack: I gotta get some friends.

At least he is planning ahead.

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This potty training of for the birds. The kid is terrified to poop on the potty. He's a pee expert but poop is apparently much scarier than pee. For me too, when I have to change his diaper.

Jack (excitedly, while sitting on the potty): When I go poo-poo I'm gonna get jelly beans!

Me: Yes. You're gonna get a LOT of jelly beans.

Jack (thinks for a moment then looks down disappointed): I'm not gonna have any jelly beans.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Potty Chronicles #2 (literally)

Okay, I think I can officially say that Jack is a Pee-pee on the Potty Expert. Not so much the other end. However, he did it successfully tonight and was so proud of himself. (Amazing how our moments of pride as adults are so vastly different from our moments as a toddler. And then how, I presume, that sense of pride regarding toilet issues likely returns when we are super old and back in diapers. Lovely. Can't wait for that one.)

Anyway, the bad news is that Jack is still a little scared to go #2 on the potty. The good news is that it is fairly easy to tell when he has to go. He runs around yelling, "I'm not gonna wear underwear anymore! I don't wanna wear underwear anymore!"

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Blah-blah-blah

Dani isn't as verbal as Jack was at this age. At least not in the full words department. But in the babbling department, she has him beat by a mile. She is a MAJOR babbler and loves to hear herself "talk". This is likely going to be the source of many headaches in the future, with two chatty kids trying to outtalk each other but right now, Jack's got the words covered, Dani's got the shrieking, yelling, gurgling, babbling, and snorting.

However, she is grasping things quicker all the time and is acquring both new words and ways to express what she wants without using words. Notice I said "express", not "get". When she doesn't get what she wants she REALLY expresses, crying as though she has been slapped and getting into this weird tripod position (head touching the floor looking through her legs) before crumbling in a broken mess on the floor.

Yesterday, she apparently wanted to go outside. Instead of saying, "Grandma, I would like to venture outdoors," she banged the front door and repeatedly said, "bye-bye". When that didn't do it, she went to the hall closet and banged on the door until Carmen opened it. Once she did, Dani pointed at her coat. Carmen handed it to her and she promptly threw it to the floor and pointed at Jack's coat.

But she does have some words. She knows "bye-bye", her own form of thank you that sounds like (dehhhhhhh!), "kitty", "nose", "water/agua" (can't tell which since it sounds like awaawaa), car (caaaahhh), book (boooooo). She repeats just about anything if she feels like it. If she doesn't, you can ask her until you pass out and you get nothing. She can also identify and say some letters: A, B, D, E, L, M, O, W. Perhaps she is trying to tell us something like some sort of Baby Ouiji board but the best I can come up with is "womb lead" which doesn't make much sense. l