And now the boy is twenty-six months old!
[[image:2014-adik26month-23.jpg:Happily gnoming on goldfish crackers:center:0]]
* Mouse over the pictures for captions
Speech status: as with last month, Adik is very verbal and loves to use his words. Here are some of his (and my) favorite phrases this past month
* I don’t KNOW!!!
* Oh my goodness!
He has also been obsessed with Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” which he sings to (with or without piano accompaniment, youtube or mikes). He listened to this song enough times that he knows most of the words to it (which is more than I can say for myself). He also loves “Hey Soul Sister” by Train. It is very funny when he breaks into song apropo of nothing. The boy loves his youtube music videos. He has also taken a shine to classic rock – AC/DC and Queen. It’s really funny to see him dance and sing along to TNT and We Will Rock You.
Bedtimes have been fun. Sometimes we sing the Beatles’ All My Lovin’. Sometimes we sing the ABC Song (Adik calls it the ABCD song), and sometimes it is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star while Kitty Flash the Hello Kitty Dreamlite is on, and Shine-Flash the Turtle is on. Sometimes we tell stories (usually Yaya wants these). But it is always fun and we always say goodnight with kisses and hugs all around. It is getting a little frustrating that he takes forever to fall asleep. Adik is usually the last one up after Yaya (and Vin) has fallen fast asleep. Since I’m still nursing him at bedtime, it does mean that I have to stick around and cuddle him and try to convince him to drop off. So really, the only person frustrated is me. I worry about when the time changes and Spring Forward occurs – suddenly Adik is falling asleep at midnight instead of 11 o’clock?
Bathtimes are much improved. We rarely have the crying and screaming but we cannot get him to go back in the big tub with Yaya. So he remains in his little cramped blue baby tub. I just try to get him clean as quickly as I can and if he wants to stay and play, we let him do that. But if he cries “Need a towel!” then it’s time to go.
Adik’s physical coordination is getting quite good. He can now get on and off Rocky the Rocking Giraffe and bounce around on Benny the Bull without too many accidents. It is really terribly funny to see him and Yaya bouncing around the house, Adik on Benny the Bull and Yaya on her Peppa Pig Ball. Adik has designs on the Peppa Pig Ball but he really is a little too small to get on it and bounce around safely. Other than that, Adik is running, jumping, climbing, and dancing. He does love to narrate his actions – e.g., “I’m wunning!!” as he runs up and down the hallway. “I’m jumping” as he jumps down the stage steps.
Adik’s obsession with the alphabet – so last month he realized that B-E-N-N-Y spelled Benny on the Bull. This month we realized that Adik recognizes a few simple words. We have these plastic magnetic letters that we use on the easel. We discovered that Adik knows some words! Here are some of the words that he recognizes:
* CAT
* DOG
* ADIK
* ZOO
* BOY
It totally blew us away and amazed us. It’s not like we sit around teaching him stuff, but he apparently is absorbing this information in all the ways that he’s exposed to it, whether or not anyone is sitting with him. I asked Yaya if she taught Adik these words, but she denies it. So. We have a self-taught Adik? Where do we go from here?
Anyway, we had another break from traveling this month, so it was nice to be home during the worst winter ever. I stayed indoors for weeks on end (no joke!). Adik loves going outside to play with Yaya and Papa. I just look out the sliding doors to watch them in the snow. I am definitely a tropical girl, through and through.
Let’s get on with the photos of how the boy spent his 26-month birthday. We did take pictures, but he was obsessed with painting on the day so there are a lot of photos of him doing just that:
[[image:2014-adik26month-01.jpg:I’m painting!:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-02.jpg:Do you like my circles and scribbles?:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-03.jpg:In deep concentration:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-04.jpg:Singing and painting!:center:0]]
Speaking of singing, here we go. Adik is singing along to music with his toy microphone:
[[image:2014-adik26month-05.jpg:Singing and drumming:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-06.jpg:Belting it!:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-07.jpg:More singing:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-08.jpg:Bob Dylan impression? Harmonica and mike:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-09.jpg:Show’s over, folks! Move along!:center:0]]
Some random shots of the baby:
[[image:2014-adik26month-10.jpg:Happy Adik!:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-12.jpg:Stackables!:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-13.jpg:Magnetic letters and simple words!:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-14.jpg:Spin me, Mama!:center:0]]
And then some more painting. This time Yaya joins in too:
[[image:2014-adik26month-15.jpg:Artists at work:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-16.jpg:I have a smock on!:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-17.jpg:Focus! More Blue!:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-18.jpg:Tongue sticking out in concentration:center:0]]
By the way, I stalked the boy and took a LOT of photos trying to get a good one with his tongue sticking out. 🙂
[[image:2014-adik26month-19.jpg:Paint, paint!:center:0]]
Adik loves his Reese’s peanut butter cups:
[[image:2014-adik26month-20.jpg:I want chocwat!:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-21.jpg:Aumm! Yummyyyyy:center:0]]
[[image:2014-adik26month-22.jpg:Eating and playing on the (turned off) keyboard:center:0]]
After getting into his ‘jamas and supposedly ready to go up to bed, Adik takes a detour to ride Rocky the Rocking Giraffe:
[[image:2014-adik26month-24.jpg:Wheee:center:0]]
Happy 26-month birthday, baby boy! We love you!!!
[[image:2014-adik26month-11.jpg:Cheeeeese!:center:0]]
