One more month before the big T-W-O! Whee!
[[image:2013_1129_rafe23.jpg:Slightly amused at all the fuss:center:0]]
* Mouse over the pictures for captions
I don’t know how we got here, but here we are a month before Adik’s second birthday. The child is growing like a little weed! He has continued his obsession with the alphabet, and these days he not only wants to read them but he wants to write them. He loves to (attempt to) write letters using crayons and pens, and he loves the alphabet tracing app on the big thing. He seems to want to read right to left (time to introduce arabic letters?) but other than that, his progress is amazing. And to those out there yelling out the tiger mom-ness of it all, this is all Adik-fueled. He wants to do it and forces us to help him achieve his goals. So there! 🙂
Speech status: he is definitely getting better at putting together words to make sentences. They are becoming more complex compared to last month. He has been known to say “Mama sit here” and pat the spot he wants me to sit. Or “Fowwow me” (follow me) and “I jumping” (I’m jumping). And more commonly, we hear this yelled “No Yaya! Stop Yaya!!!” while he kicks or pushes his sister away. And of course the ever popular “My big thing!!!!” as he and Yaya are in a tug of war for the iPad. There are other examples that I just can’t think of right now, but Adik is constantly surprising us with his vocabulary. If you take the time to listen to him, he is usually saying something concrete. He does still have trouble with pronouncing some letters correctly (e.g., Lily is still “YeeYee”, chocolate = “choc-yate”) – especially the Ls, and Rs, but that just makes his speech that much cuter. I don’t quite know where an almost-two-year-old’s speech is supposed to be, but he is definitely much further along than Yaya was at this age.
We were away at work for a lot of this past month, but Adik does not complain about being in the hotel. He finds a lot to amuse himself with there. And we do have lots of fun on the road as well as at home. But in the meantime, since I am quite late at writing this entry, I am going to cut the chatter and go straight to the pictures of how Adik spent his 23 month birthday.
Oh – one note before we begin, his 23 month birthday was the Friday after Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving afternoon while I was in the kitchen (slaving away) – I was using my hands to squish stuff in the bowl to make the crumble for the apple crumble. The kids were giggling and laughing, chasing each other around the house. I hear a big THUNK, and Adik starts crying. Vin rescues him and I wash my hands of the butter and whatnot, and go over to him. Adik has had a great fall (Yaya apparently reached out and covered his eyes as she chased him), and he hit his head against the coffee table edge. We were about ready to rush him to the ER (no playing around with head injuries!) but he stopped crying after a couple of minutes, and although his eye looked swollen, he was alert, speaking, and coordinated. I was ready to check his eyes for pupil dilation (again!) but he seemed to be fine. So we decided if he had trouble overnight, then the next day (on his 23 month birthday) we would take him to the doctor. But he was luckily quite fine, with the exception of a spectacular black eye. He was kind of mad at Yaya and refused to let her come and apologize and kiss him for a couple of hours after it happened, but I think that’s pretty understandable. So, you can definitely see the black eye in the pictures. It was quite spectacular at the 36 hour mark, but on this day, you can see it only a little bit. But the poor child… Here we go:
[[image:2013_1129_rafe01.jpg:Adik shows off his black eye, and he is a grumpy gus:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe03.jpg:More grumpy gussery from Adik:center:0]]
But he starts to cheer up and becomes his usual fun-loving, easy-going self.
[[image:2013_1129_rafe02.jpg:Finally giggling in Papa’s arms:center:0]]
Now for some time on the sofa (still somewhat grumpy I think). Poor kid probably had a massive headache from the fall the evening before:
[[image:2013_1129_rafe04.jpg:Sitting on the sofa:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe05.jpg:Are you still taking my picture?:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe06.jpg:OK then, get this side so you don’t show my shiner:center:0]]
Adik works on writing and drawing (yes he loves to draw on the piano bench itself), and amuses himself rolling crayons off the bench.
[[image:2013_1129_rafe07.jpg:I’m still not that cheerful so let me roll these crayons and make a mess:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe08.jpg:I’m kidding! I feel OK!:center:0]]
So then he starts cheering up and running around with the bottle of Advil. He runs into the office, closes both doors and giggles at me through them.
[[image:2013_1129_rafe09.jpg:Got you!!!!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe10.jpg:Haha!! I closed the door on you!!!:center:0]]
And then Adik has fun on Mama’s chair in the office. As it was the Friday after Thanksgiving, I didn’t have to work so Adik could play on the chair as much as he wanted!
[[image:2013_1129_rafe11.jpg:I’m just sitting nicely. What’s the big deal?:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe12.jpg:Laughing and getting silly on Mama’s chair:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe13.jpg:So he really is enjoying this:center:0]]
Adik believes that since Yaya has done bodily harm to him, that he should get the iPad.
[[image:2013_1129_rafe14.jpg:Yaya! My big thing!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe15.jpg:Yaya helps adik with the coloring book app:center:0]]
Yaya decided to give Adik the stool for him to use since she is tall enough to reach most things without it now. Adik loves the stool (so much so, that we have actually keep it in the garage, away from him and give it to him only at appropriate times).
[[image:2013_1129_rafe16.jpg:Trying to get toys out of the play pen:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe17.jpg:Let’s play ball!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe18.jpg:The children launch an attack on Papa!:center:0]]
We get ready to go to our neightbor’s 60th birthday party and retirement party.
[[image:2013_1129_rafe20.jpg:Hanging out on the sofa, waiting for it to be time to go:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe21.jpg:Dressed to go to the party, but killing a bit of time:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe19.jpg:And now it is time to go!! Wheee!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe32.jpg:Yaya and Adik loved the DJ and the twin turntables (vinyl!) at the party. And balloons of course.:center:0]]
We return home and have a late dinner.
[[image:2013_1129_rafe22.jpg:Toast! Toast in my mouth!:center:0]]
Then our little hero wants to try on Yaya’s pink boots.
[[image:2013_1129_rafe24.jpg:Boots are fun!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe25.jpg:Vin makes Adik laugh about the boots:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe26.jpg:Still laughing at Papa:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe27.jpg:Laughing flat out!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe28.jpg:Tickled by Papa!!:center:0]]
Now for a period of calming down.
[[image:2013_1129_rafe29.jpg:Happy but not hysterically laughing anymore, in Papa’s arms:center:0]]
Adik winds down for the evening by practicing to write using the alphabet tracing app on the big thing.
[[image:2013_1129_rafe30.jpg:F!:center:0]]
[[image:2013_1129_rafe31.jpg:Q!:center:0]]
These he did all by himself with no help from Mama, Papa or Yaya! And then it was bedtime for little boys, their sisters, and their parents. Happy 23-month birthday, baby boy! We love you!
[[image:2013_1129_rafe33.jpg:Joyful at Alan’s party:center:0]]
