5/23/02

Alex is almost 20 lbs. and sitting up without support - often tipping over as well - which means that he has outgrown his infant seat and a couple of his toys. Grandma & Grandpa (my parents) bought him a new one so that he can stay rear-facing longer until he's old enough for the one that his other Grandma & Grandpa (Jeremy's parents) bought for him for my baby shower. He's gotten used to it fairly quickly, but Mom's still reeling from the new inconvenience of strapping and unstrapping him and waking him up for every errand I have to run and trying to get a baby who has just learned to sit up to stay upright in a shopping cart or a high chair. Thank goodness for the stroller, which gives me somewhere to put him to free up my arms in some establishments.

He loves "real" food such as baby oatmeal and pureed fruits and vegetables. He tried graham crackers last night and did quite well with them. Poor Mom feels left behind in the dust again! Next is Cheerios, meats, and water and juices in a sippy cup, which he's just beginning to understand.

His favorite toys are balls, books, baby videos, anything that makes sounds, and his Megasaucer (the most expensive one - thank goodness he likes it!); and his favorite animals are cats and fish. He enjoys practicing standing, is very vocal, and loves his bath. :) :)

6/4/02

The appearance of two little white teeth on the bottom in front during Memorial Day weekend has ushered in a whole new era in the relationship between my son and me. It wasn't immediately apparent, but within a week, sure enough, he started nipping me during his meals. I was prepared for this; the proper reaction is apparently to end the nursing session immediately so that he learns that if he bites, he won't get to nurse. It's been a war ever since.

I thought I was winning this weekend when he stopped nipping me for a while, but as it turns out that was just one battle out of many. It remains to be seen whether he'll learn to not bite me or just end up weaning himself. If it's the latter, I can tell you that I'm not ready.

He does very well with rice cakes and Cheerios, although he's not adept at getting them to his mouth himself yet. He's had strained chicken, which he loves. Sippy cups are still a ways in the future for us though.

His most recent verbal achievement was learning to say "dada," followed quickly by "blah blah" and "bub bub bub." The trick is to coach him to say "mama," to which he responds with a vehement, "dadada!" He's mocking me!

He's gone swimming twice now. He never gets tired of being in the water, and he loves to splash. My little sea otter. :)

6/16/02 - Father's Day

Alex has officially passed the 20-lb. mark (20 lbs. 2 oz. on 6/9), and those diapers are really starting to STINK. He's basically stopped biting me, with occasional exceptions, which is very good since lately he's wanted to nurse ALL NIGHT LONG. He's going through a separation anxiety phase right now, so he cries when I so much as turn my back on him - not the best timing since I'll be busy with our move for the next couple of weeks. We've made some progress on the eating front though: He can pick up a Cheerio between his thumb and index finger - a significant achievement - but then he seems to forget that he's holding it, and while he's looking for it, he drops it on the floor. Oh well. :)

He says "baba" more frequently these days, usually directed towards the cat. I have no idea what he's trying to say. She, on the other hand, usually keeps her distance from his eager, fur-pulling hands. I know that she still loves him too, though, because she still grooms him by licking his hairy head while he's going to sleep. Aww.

8/31/02

It's been months since I've taken the time to update his web page, which wouldn't be a lot with an older child, but Alex is practically a different person than he was back in June. I feel it's become more of a challenge to be a parent as he's gotten a little older, especially since I'm doing it by myself. I do feel as though he's finally adjusted to our new home now that we've been here a couple of months. Sleep is still an issue, but we're making slow progress, with him learning to get himself to sleep or back to sleep sometimes and even sleeping through the night on occasion. Eating has become an issue as well now. He started refusing the bottle when we switched day care facilities at the end of July, and he's never taken to the sippy cup. He will drink a little from a regular cup, with help, and while spilling the rest down his shirt, of course. And then about a week ago he started refusing food - sometimes everything but Cheerios and Gerber Fruit or Vegetable Wagon Wheels (They look like big Honeycombs) that he can feed himself. In the end he gets most of his nutrition from breastfeeding several times at the end of the day, which doesn't leave me much time to do anything else. This is all normal for his age, though, and he's certainly not suffering. He weighed in at 22 lbs. 1 oz. at his doctor's appointment two days ago - his first one with his new doctor, located close to our new home - and measured 28 1/2 inches long. No shots this time. :)

He does seem happy at the new day care anyway, although he cries when I leave, which he's never really done in the past. That's probably because they're usually too busy to pick him up and comfort and distract him right away like Karen, his last provider, was able to do, though. It's really only ME who's had a hard time adjusting to this change.

Alex is crawling now, and pretty quickly, with the right motivation. He can pull himself at least halfway up on stationary objects and hold himself in a standing position for a long time once you help him get there, and today I saw him get from his tummy to a sitting position for the first time. He claps his hands and waves when he feels inclined to do so, usually not connected with any social situation calling for such behavior, i.e. arriving or leaving, either, although I think he may understand the word "bye." He definitely knows that "I'll be right back" means that I'm about to leave the room because I say that all the time, but whether he actually understands what I mean is anyone's guess. The only word that he says and knows what it means is "Ma." :) He has four teeth, two on the top and two on the bottom, with more apparently coming soon, as evidenced by the bruise on my right shoulder where he bit me through my shirt the other day and still managed to break the skin. He doesn't bite me while nursing, however, unless he's startled, which is good, 'cause those teeth are SHARP.

He loves riding in his stroller and in shopping carts as long as I keep them moving. His favorite toys are balloons and Mommy's video rewinder - open, shut, open, shut, open, shut, etc. He's also amusingly compulsive about removing the rings from his stacker and the lid from his shape sorter as soon as I put them back together. Everything else he usually just throws. He loves giving hugs around the neck now more than ever, and he still loves playing in water.

10/17/02

Alex and I were at my parents’ house this weekend, where my cat now lives, since pets aren’t allowed in Family Housing. It’s probably better for her to be there anyway right now, though, since if she were with us Alex would be after the poor thing all the time. It’s better for me too because I don’t have to be vigilant about keeping certain things out of the access of two small creatures instead of just one. Sometimes I miss her like crazy though, especially when I’ve just come home from a visit.

I know that Alex has learned the word "gentle" from all the times I’ve used it while trying to show him how to behave properly toward Sophie because the one time that she actually let him approach her and didn’t immediately run away when he touched her, I said "Gentle, gentle!" and he was, even though you could see that he was insanely excited to be petting the cat. Nothing can get him moving faster than a sight of her.

We went up there on Thursday this time because it was my mom’s birthday that day, and that morning at First Steps I had noticed that two more teeth had finally poked through on top – we’ve been expecting these for weeks – so I decided that we’ll call them "Grandma’s teeth," and I was so excited that I wanted to show her them that day.

When we came home I knew that this is truly "home" now for Alex because he immediately relaxed as he looked around at the familiar surroundings and began to entertain himself with his toys. That realization made me feel simultaneously really good that we’ve finally settled somewhere for a long enough period of time that it’s OK for him to become attached to the place and that the place itself is so safe and quiet and healthy, with grass and trees and animals and swings and other children around, and really concerned and protective of him since his time amongst familiar people and places is somewhat threatened right now. But I don’t want to spend any more time thinking about that subject these days.

Alex likes nothing better than standing these days, and this weekend he started doing it without hanging on for more than a few seconds. He’s gotten very good at the hands-and-knees crawl and has completely abandoned the military-style "low crawl" that he had learned first. He’s also started trying to crawl on all fours, with his legs straight and his bottom sticking up in the air, so I know that he’ll start walking soon. That milestone will create new unforeseen problems, I’m sure, but it will be a relief in some ways as well, since then simply standing won’t be such a novelty and hopefully it will be easier to dress him and bathe him and get him into his high chair again.

We (my parents and I) also began to suspect this weekend that he has a new word: "ite," for "light." He’s always loved looking up at the sky or the ceiling and checking out lights, which has caused us some trouble with floor lamps in the past, although they’re no longer accessible to him now in my apartment, so we just have to pay attention to them at my parents’ house. My newest focus is helping him with his words, since he doesn’t have quite as many as he should at this age. My mom just brought him "Baby Einstein" on her last visit, and even though I was inclined to dislike it since I have real problems with the idea of "baby geniuses" who can read and count and speak in foreign languages at very early ages, the alliteration and rhymes in the speech on the video get him babbling, so I’m happy.

His favorite toys are his books right now – he’s usually not interested in anything else these days – and he’s started enjoying deliberately putting toys into containers instead of just dumping them out. My boy is so smart! :)

4/11/03

As of this past Monday, Alex weighs a solid 27 lbs. 3 oz. He has twelve teeth, including four molars, but is still nursing quite determinedly and (for the most part) gently. He wants to have the freedom to walk around and climb all the time these days. (He started walking six days before his birthday, one week earlier than I did myself as a child.) For the most part he only eats what he can feed himself, which is primarily finger food, but he can also use a spoon correctly when he really wants to. I had to put him on the lunch program at day care because he started refusing the slightly healthier food that I was sending for him when he saw that most of the other children in his room (the Toddler 1 room now) were getting something else. He does love his milk, though, and he prefers crackers over anything else, including sweets, any day of the week, so it appears that his natural tendencies toward food are headed in the right direction.

He’s really into books these days. Today we went to a puppet show at the local branch of the library, and afterward Alex entertained himself amongst the books for a full half-hour. He surprised his mommy when he climbed up onto an adult-size chair, sat down, and started flipping through the books on the table in front of him. I had to drag him away kicking and screaming. We are well into the temper tantrum stage. Some days are worse than others, though, but they always end quickly and Alex becomes his happy, exuberant self again.

His favorite video these days is the Monsters Inc. DVD that I gave him for Christmas, although beyond the bright colors I can’t really tell you why since there’s no music in it. Upstairs he mostly plays with the Chicco Bear City Activity Center that I got him from Discovery Toys for his first birthday. He’s almost able to work a shape sorter by himself. He also likes his Fisher Price Sparkling Symphony Rock and Play Piano, which was a first birthday gift from the staff of the Grove Rd. Citizens Bank where I used to work. As with everything that Alex does, he takes himself very seriously, sitting on the little bench and banging rhythmically with both hands while staring very intently at what he is doing on the keyboard. He’s also quite a dancer, moving to anything with rhythm, from a nursery rhyme to the songs on his children’s tapes to the classical music on his Baby Einstein videos (he has the entire collection). I’ve noticed a preference for hard rock and R&B lately, though, while flipping channels on the radio in the car. He’s actually learned how to operate the stereo system in our home himself – he loves my Alicia Keys CD – and how to turn on the radio on my alarm clock in my bedroom. Of course he’s got the TV and the VCR mastered too, so next we’re going to work on the computer: as I write this, there is already toddler software in the mail.

I’m working on his language comprehension right now, starting with body parts. He points to his head and nose on command, but he also responds to other phrases like "Give it to Mommy" and "No" and "Look!" and "Stop it" and "Put it in your mouth" (referring to food) and "Shh" and "Bye" and "No touchies, just look." I’m trying to get him to recognize shapes and colors too, and sometimes he identifies the color red or the shape of a circle when I ask, but other times he doesn’t, so I’m not really sure whether he’s just being independent or truly doesn’t know. I’m certainly aware of his ability to ignore me when he chooses. :)

His favorite phrase to speak himself is "Uh oh," which he uses profusely. Otherwise he’s stopped saying most of the words that he learned before, like light and clock, instead using "ba BA" to indicate his wants, making a kind of short "eh?" sound when he wants me to identify something, and occasionally whining "mama." Everything else that he has said lately has just been imitation, so far including red, blue, purple, doggie, and train. Again, I’m not really sure if he knows the MEANING of these words or not though.

This year we started a parent-child swimming class, which he loves and which is actually working, since he’s begun to stop being as clingy toward me while we’re in the water together as he was at first. We’re trying a lot of other new activities lately too: egg-coloring and play-doh last week, of both of which he surprised me by the extent of his enjoyment, and an egg hunt tomorrow morning.

His relationship with his mommy is as strong as ever, so hopefully he (and I) will derive enough strength from that to get through our first night away from each other, which by order of the court is taking place this weekend. He is a very sweet and loving little boy – he hugs his animals and kisses his mommy – with a solid sense of self. I must take comfort in that as evidence that I have done a good job with him so far and hope that, no matter what, I will continue to be able to provide a positive influence in his life into the future.

7/1/03

Alex is just shy of 30 pounds and probably still a couple of inches below three feet (I haven’t had a chance to measure him lately) and as of a few days ago has all 16 front teeth. He’s still breast-fed but nevertheless is doing a little better at sleeping for longer stretches by himself, although not when he’s just returned home from an overnight visit with his dad. I’m considering switching him to a toddler bed soon, which could be a good way to introduce new nighttime rules that I haven’t been enforcing with the crib.

Alex is big into art these days: crayons, chalk, pencils, glue, paint…. His favorite toys are anything with wheels, which he likes to spin endlessly with his fingers or push along the ground while saying “vroom” [he learned that from me, pushing him in shopping carts at the grocery store :)]. He can finally propel himself forward on riding toys, which seems to be quite gratifying for him, since up until about a week ago he was only going backwards. He’s really enjoying operating his Jackrabbit-in-a-box by himself as well.

I also finally got him a See‘n’Say, which he has always loved, and which, in combination with his Fisher Price Animal Sounds Farm and some of his books and videos, is helping me teach him animal names and sounds, which he loves to imitate – especially the elephant, frog, and dinosaur sounds. He can say “dog” and occasionally “duck,” although he leaves off the final consonants on both so it’s not always easy to distinguish them. (Likewise, he pronounces “fish” without the “f.”) He still loves stacking and sorting toys, and his skill with them is increasing significantly. He loves his books more than ever, but he only wants to “read” them to himself right now. He’s also going through a “Baby Mozart” jag. He’s got about twenty videos, but he always asks to watch that one first. And he loves his Reader Rabbit Toddler computer software, which is actually helping him to learn to manipulate the mouse (as well as animal names and sounds and colors and shapes and basic stuff like that).

He loves sandboxes, slides, swings, and just being outdoors. When he sees a dandelion he picks it and tries to blow the seeds off. He runs, climbs, and still dances, but only to certain kinds of music – usually baby songs, rock music, or some classical tunes that he recognizes. When I play a brief tune on the piano, he immediately picks out the note that I played most frequently. I believe that he may be gifted and plan to start him on piano lessons when he is 3. (I’m saving my pennies!)

He still enjoys playing in the water, but he’s not enjoying his (somewhat) structured activities like swim class and First Steps as much anymore, mostly BECAUSE they are structured. I’m trying to decide whether to continue them to help him learn to deal with structure in his life or to take a break from them for a little while and try again when he’s a little older.

He also loves placing things JUST SO – puzzle pieces, videos, small toys, woodchips…. He’s learning about putting things back from his day care center though. I’m very happy with them these days, and they tell me that so far he’s never been a problem, i.e. biting, pushing other children, etc. (knock on wood).

Many kinds of fruit, especially dried, and green vegetables like beans, peas, and broccoli, are the winners on the table these days, although he prefers canned to fresh or frozen. He’s gotten pretty good at feeding himself thicker foods with a spoon or fork and is improving at drinking from a cup (without a lid), although he usually ends up dumping a lot of it down his shirt in the end.

He hates diaper changes beyond anything else and usually yells and writhes like you wouldn’t believe when you try to lay him down for one. Next in line is getting his ears checked at the doctor’s office, which actually makes him cry harder and longer than getting shots (with which he is finally done until he turns 4, by the way – yippee!). He’s on Zyrtec now to try to reduce the incidence of ear infections by lessening his runny nose, which for the most part is working so far.

He calls me “Amma” a lot these days, which many of the neighbors find amusing since it is so similar to what Korean children call their mothers: “Oma.” He also says “uh oh,” “all done,” “wow,” “on,” “off,” “up,” “out” (the last four without the consonants), “teeth,” “hooray,” “toot toot” whenever he sees a train or hears a song about a train, and, most recently, “no,” and – get this! – he can identify the letter “O” on sight.

He’s good at waving good-bye and still occasionally blows kisses like I taught him. More often he prefers giving me open-mouthed drooly kisses, particularly when he’s just been away from me longer than usual, which is the case whenever he’s with his dad. If nothing else, he seems to be much more appreciative of me shortly after his father has had parenting time with him than he is the rest of the time. He’s so cute when he gives his stuffed animals hugs too. His favorite ones are the ones that make noise, like the dancing, singing gopher and the talking Pooh from his father; the singing wolverine and the singing Easter bunny from my parents; the lamb with wings that sings “Jesus Loves Me” from Karen, his first day care provider; the praying teddy bear from my Aunt Sherrie; and the Tickle Me Cookie Monster from a U of M police officer.

7/3/03

I never got around to writing about our trip to Florida at the end of April, so I'll do that briefly now.

We only had five days between the end of my winter classes and the beginning of spring term, so we made use of every minute. First we spent two days at Disney World - Alex's first time, of course. One of our favorite attractions was the Country Bear Jamboree. Alex loved moving to the music with the singing and dancing bears and other stuffed animals in the show. Another highlight was the character lunch, in a restaurant with a fancy upscale buffet and four characters that visit with the customers during the meal. As it happened, we were there right at the end of the lunch shift, so we got to meet Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore, and then we were still there when most of the other customers had left and the replacement actors came in. Alex got to have the attention of four fresh all to himself! He LOVED it.

Then we drove to Daytona Beach where a lot of my family on my dad's side live. The first night we got to have a nice dinner at the Olive Garden with two of my uncles. Alex got another cup to add to his collection. (This trip was the first time that I ever got him to drink through a straw, which has made ordering drinks in restaurants a lot easier.) The next day they had a little get-together planned at a local park, just like they did when we last came to visit in December 2001 - but Alex was walking this time! He loved watching the adults play horseshoes and playing with a toy horseshoe set with my cousin's daughter Jewels.

We had a little bit of time to play on the beach before we left. Alex loved the waves and kept wanting to go further and further into the water - but he always made sure that Mommy had her hands on his tummy so that he wouldn't fall down from the pressure.

Alex is still a good little traveler, and we had a wonderful time.

See pictures here!

7/12/03

Another highlight of Disney World were the live shows - not as many as I remember from going there as a kid, but probably individually more spectacular. The first one that we saw was on the stage in front of Cinderella's castle and starred all of the Disney movie and cartoon characters. My mom was eager to point out that Alex was the only kid there who was dancing, and he danced throughout the show in perfect time with the music.

We saw two parades at Disney World too, one during the day and one at night. The nighttime parade was spectacular: Every float was illuminated by thousands of lights. Alex kept wanting Mommy to put him on her shoulders. :)

We stopped over in Cleveland on the way down to Florida and back, and the amenities for families at that airport are impressive. My parents and I enjoyed taking turns relaxing in the rocking chairs in the toddler play area while Alex burned some energy climbing on the play structures.

8/12/03

To my great excitement, Alex has finally reached his so-called "language explosion." He says several new words every day (today, "pig" and "nose") and has started putting them together as well ("the red car," for example, in reference to my dad’s vehicle last week). He has also finally surpassed the 50-words mark, which is the goal for children his age. My current catalog of his vocabulary is as follows: Alex, all done, alright, back, ball, bed, bee, bird, bite, bus, butterflies, bye, car, clock ("sah"), dog, door, down, eight, eyes, fish ("ish"), grandpa ("da da"), hi, horses, ma, moon, mouth, night, no, nose, the letter "O," off, oh no, OK, on, open, outside, pig, red, seven ("sev"), sun, teeth, thank you ("da do"), the, tickle, two, uh oh, up, water ("wa wa"), wow, yeah ("dah"), animal sounds (bird, cow, dog, frog, horse, pig, sheep, duck, and elephant, the last two always accompanied by his imitations of flapping wings and raised trunk, respectively), and sound effects (grunt, "mmm," "ooh," scream, train whistle, "vroom vroom," etc.). There are probably actually more that I either can’t remember now or haven’t recognized yet, but you get the idea. :)

Alex has gotten another two molars in the last month, which brings him up to 18 teeth. I officially began weaning him today, and it’s already going more smoothly than I expected. I was waiting for him to adjust a little more to the last change in the parenting time schedule, which took nearly four months – twice as long as last time – and since the next change, if any, probably won’t take place until the end of October at the earliest, there may not be a better time than the present. Plus I finally truly feel ready myself. (I’m also planning to switch him from his crib to a toddler bed and from his highchair to a booster seat, neither of which I expect to present much of a problem, but I’m going to hold off on those changes for at least a couple of weeks to see how the weaning process goes.)

His runny nose completely disappeared, so I took him off the Zyrtec, which was making him more susceptible to sunburn (he’s had two or three this summer). I started second-guessing myself when he got a runny nose again a week and a half ago, but it went away on its own, so it must have just been a virus.

He’s doing a lot more cute stuff these days, as usual. He picks flowers for me from in front of our home – NO idea where he learned that – and gives me lots of hugs and kisses and cuddles. He has a little best friend at day care (who of course is leaving by the end of this month) with whom he is always hugging and dancing, which is just adorable. He is also affectionate with his stuffed animals, particularly the tiger in his crib that’s as big as he is (a gift from my mom). He "asks" me to get it out so that he can give it hugs and carry it around with him and pet it – honestly! Then he says "back" so that I will put it back in the crib when he’s done. :)

His new favorite movie is "Hercules," which we’ve seen at least a couple times a week for the past few weeks. He also vastly enjoys "Zoe’s Dance Moves," from Sesame Street – they are so great for promoting tolerance – featuring Paula Abdul. He likes dancing with the ballet, African music, and hip hop parts the best.

He’s going through a not-hungry phase right now: Only truly beloved foods like pasta (and French fries, apparently, although he has never gotten those from me) will get him to really eat. Then again, I’m going through a not-hungry phase myself, so I’m not really worried about it. He is finally beginning to thin down, though. His weight has remained steady for more than a month.

He did much better at his last swim class, so I’m going to sign him up in the fall again, if I can find one that will fit our schedule. (It’s free anyway, thanks to an Ann Arbor Public Schools Parks & Recreation scholarship.) We’re already signed up for First Steps again – the least structured class that they offer – which is a good thing because the Healthy Families program in which we participate through Catholic Social Services has become a victim of budget cutbacks, so we won’t be getting as many home visits from them anymore. (So has First Steps, incidentally, but between the two of them hopefully it will balance out.) We’re also getting visits from the Huron Valley Child Guidance Clinic, which will hopefully help me out with the extra challenges that I am facing with Alex due to the lack of consistency and routine in his life at such an already trying age. Lately I have also been attending some weekly single parenting workshops, but most of the other parents in that class seem to be in far more need of the guidance than I am – almost all of the information that is being shared is already familiar to me anyway – so I probably won’t make much of an effort to continue that after school starts up again in the fall. I may not be able to attend anyway, depending on how my class schedule turns out. (I have changed my career goals back and forth again this summer, so I’m still ironing out the details for the fall term.)

9/19/03

Alex knows more words than I can remember now. He repeats just about everything that I say and is starting to be able to sing along with his favorite car songs like “B-I-N-G-O” and “Hole in the Bucket.” He can count all the way to twelve by himself – his love of clocks helped him with that – and is now, of his own volition, learning colors, shapes, and the letters of the alphabet. He knows circles and A and O for sure. He says “Aww” every time he gives someone/something a hug and “Kiss” before he gives kisses, which in that particular manifestation I think he learned from his paternal grandmother. And he’s finally started calling me “Mommy” sometimes instead of “Ma.” He had his first real telephone conversation – that is, the first one in which he actually participated – a couple of weeks ago. He also had his first pony ride at the Michigan Renaissance Festival last month, which he immediately knew to call a “ride.” His newest pleasure is finding bars from which to swing by his hands while shouting, “Whee!” He also likes playing with his basketball hoop or practicing throwing and kicking. (We’re still working on catching.)

The transition to nursing only during the night has gone beautifully, so during a lull in his overnight visits with his father earlier this month, my mom and I took apart his crib and replaced it with a toddler bed, which he absolutely loves. Now he doesn’t want to sleep with me in my room anymore, he wants me to sleep with him in his! We’ve definitely made progress, though. He’s also starting to demonstrate some attachment to his toys and stuffed animals, insisting on bringing one to day care with him almost every day to make saying good-bye to me a little more palatable, although the last week has been very difficult for him. He seems to be either coming down with a cold or getting new teeth (or both) right now, though, so that could account for some of his clinginess anyway.

His new favorite stuffed animal is a soft pink pig that I got him from Kohl’s. His favorite book right now is “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” a gift from my mom which he requests by name (“Brown Bear”). He also asks for “Hercules” and “Zoe’s Dance Moves” by name (“Hercules,” “Zoe,” or “Elmo”).

First Steps started up again a couple of weeks ago, and so far it’s going really well. He loves “Ring Around the Rosie” right now, so that helps him make the transition from free-play to Circle Time. This week the kids got to have bubbles AND a parachute during Circle Time, which caused these children to start running around with such pure joy that Alex and another boy had a head-on collision, just like the baby monsters in “Monsters Inc.” The other boy, who is actually about a year older than Alex, was pretty upset and had to be taken out of the action, but as soon as I reminded Alex that a parachute was at stake here, he was back in the game and showing as little control over his pure joy as usual, so I can’t help but smile in retrospect. It’s nice when it’s pure joy rather than pure frustration over which my little almost-two-year-old is having trouble exerting control....

11/16/03

Alex turned 2 yesterday. He is exactly 35 inches tall, so that means that he should grow to be 5'10" as an adult, which I think is perfect. We had his friend Alston and his parents from across the parking lot over the night before to help him open half his gifts and eat his cake, since he loses interest in unwrapping presents quickly and does not like a lot of sweets (neither of which is really a bad thing). The boys had a great time together. We're really going to miss them after we move. My parents came over with the other half of the gifts the morning of his actual birthday, and of course Alex had a great time with them too. The cake was decorated with a picture of Thomas the Tank Engine - a new favorite of Alex's, although he's only familiar with him from his pillowcase and some of his books, as he's never seen the TV show. In fact, I have successfully managed to cut back on Alex's video and TV time lately. (I go through phases with that issue.) His latest favorite movie anyway is "Aristocats," Disney's "Lady & the Tramp"/"101 Dalmations" flick for cat lovers. He also seems to like "Lilo & Stitch," even though I find it to be a little strange.

We moved him up to the Toddler 2 room at his day care center a couple of months ago. He's doing very well there. He is one of the youngest children in his room, but he loves running around with the other kids - almost all boys - most of whom he has known since we came to this center in July 2002. He also has access to different toys on the playground now, of which he particularly enjoys the big tricycles. He is doing very well with spoons and lidless cups and following directions, and he rarely has a temper tantrum (as far as I know anyway).

Alex's language skills are continuing to progress rapidly. He knows the names of most of the animals, toys, foods, clothing, and other objects with which he comes in contact. He knows many body parts and some colors and shapes. He knows most of the letters of his name (all of "Alex" and much of "Alexander"), thanks to a puzzle that my mom bought for him this fall, and continues to show a great deal of interest in numbers and the alphabet. He has a few complete sentences that he uses regularly, such as "Where'd the [insert name of toy here] go?" and he understands just about everything that is said to him. He doesn't seem to be very good with names, however - perhaps he got that from me :( - because he refers to all his grandparents, individually and collectively, as "papa," and he never calls other kids by their names, even though they can all do so with him.

His favorite activities right now are playing with vehicles and reading books. He loves cars, trucks, vans, fire engines, buses, trains, airplanes, and boats; their parts; and anything related to them, such as dolls that can ride in them, puzzles that depict them, and books that feature them (i.e. "The Duck in the Truck" and "Zoom City"). He also loves books with short rhyming phrases and big, bright-colored illustrations on each page, and he knows by heart many of the words in his ten or so favorites.

Alex has still not seemed to discover fear. I have still not seen anything frighten him, except of course the idea of mommy-abandonment, particularly during the night. He actually enjoys being startled in fun, and he loves to do all sorts of dangerous acrobatic things like somersaults and flips and jumps. He insists on jumping into the pool at his swim class while holding just my hands while the other kids refuse to do it at all. I could be in for a lot of trouble with this one.... :)

Monday, January 19, 2004

Our move went fairly well. I’m still not settled in yet, but Alex is having a blast getting to see Grandma and Grandpa every day, while Mommy has been mostly relegated to meal and bedtime duties.

He also loves his new day care arrangement. I put him in a home setting again this time so that he could have more regularity and attention, and he took to it immediately. He eats and sleeps well there and comes home with lots of artwork. These days, markers are his medium of choice, probably because they easily produce such vivid results. He also loves the large assortment of dinosaurs that she has, especially since Mommy took him to a dinosaur exhibit at a University museum before we left Ann Arbor and then gave him his first tub of dinosaurs, complete with plastic rocks and trees and a play mat, for Christmas. My one-credit dinosaur course in my final term of college definitely paid off when I was able to get my son to begin differentiating between the herbivores and the ones who “eat meat,” as he puts it.

Alex’s language skills are fantastic now. He almost always uses real, coherent words, and very often he can assemble them correctly into sentences as well. He even inserts adjectives while maintaining proper sentence structure. It’s an English major’s dream, I assure you. He can also count to at least fourteen, and he knows several songs, including “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and a couple from his favorite videos (Barney’s imaginary circus, “Elmo’s World,” and Little People, starring claymation versions of the Fisher-Price Little People toys, many of which Alex has). Alex is a big “Sesame Street” fan, especially when Elmo, Big Bird, the Count, and/or Cookie Monster are in the scene. He also loves “If You’re Happy and You Know It” – Mommy sings, he dances – and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” – Mommy sings and tickles while he giggles.

Grandpa is still “Papa” these days, while Grandma is now called “Ma-muck,” and his new day care provider is sometimes “Ma-mop,” for some inexplicable reason. All cats are “Sophie,” who has herself become much more tolerant of him with a little time. He thinks she’s hilarious, but he’s never interested in petting her – perhaps because he knows that he would have to be “gentle,” heaven forbid.

Alex apparently had the unwrapping-gifts thing figured out after his birthday, so Christmas was a blast this year. Two of his favorite presents were plastic dollhouse furniture with two plastic dolls – a brown-haired brown-eyed Mommy and a baby – and a wood table-and-chairs set that he uses for his snacks. He also inherited the lovely wood dollhouse that my maternal grandfather built for me and one of the beautiful wood stables that my father built for me, along with several of my less-collectible horse models, around the same time.

In return for all this bounty, Alex tries to be very helpful around the house, assisting with laundry, dishes, and general clean-up. We’re also making much progress with fork and cup use. He still frequently fights diaper changes to the death, though, and he’s not sleeping alone, dressing or undressing himself, or cooperating with potty-training as he should be at this point. Until next time, then…

Saturday, January 24, 2004

A couple of nights ago, Alex started singing in bed. He surprised me with solo performances of, in succession, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” “The ABCs,” and “Old McDonald.” The next night he added, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” I was quite impressed. I haven’t gotten him to perform for anyone else yet though – not even his beloved Grandma and Grandpa.

Alex still loves pasta and all kinds of breads and fruits and vegetables, but he refuses to eat anything from the Dairy group besides milk or from the Meat & Protein group besides nuts, sausage, and anything that can be passed off as nuts or sausage.

Saturday, March 13, 2004

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the newest star in the Circus of Jessica's Life - he sings, he dances, he talks constantly - the one and only Alex!

Alex is still loving our temporary living arrangements, as well as all of the adventures that they have afforded, including a circus, Sesame Street Live, two trips to the Flint Children's Museum, the second of which (this morning) he requested by name after seeing some footage of the museum - unidentified, mind you - between shows on PBS earlier this week, and, tomorrow, a Flint Generals hockey game - Alex's first ever live hockey experience, as far as I know. We're also planning to take him bowling soon, again by request, as apparently he's gone with his dad pretty frequently and enjoys it immensely, since lately he's been asking to go bowling with me as well.

He's also still enjoying day care, where he has a little buddy his age named Donovan (Alex calls him "Donnut"). They kiss and hug every day before they go home. Courtney, the day care provider, has, among other things, a dry-erase-board wall and some Mr. Potato Head toys (Mr. Potato Head is Alex's new hero: At home he has a Mr. Potato Head computer game that Mommy has to play with him every single day).

He also loves paper shredders. Ridiculous amount of toys around here, and Alex just wants to watch TV, play computer games, shred paper, open and close the garage door, ring the doorbell, flush the toilet, and shove magnets under the pantry door. :P

Alex almost always talks in complete sentences these days, although he still does not use articles ("a," "the") or prepositions ("with," "to") or, very often, even subjects [Hey, he's two: It should be assumed that he's usually talking about himself ;)]. One of Alex's cutest mispronunciations: "minnymore" for "anymore." I've gotta dig out his baby book for that one, and I've just gotta get my video camera up and running soon too.

Another song in his repetoire: "Baa Baa Black Sheep."

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

I forgot to mention that Alex now knows most of the letters of the alphabet on sight. Everywhere we go he's identifying letters that he sees. He's also become obsessed with Mickey Mouse, especially the song. (Thank goodness Disney is not as violent as Warner Bros.)

His latest phrase is "Show me," which actually means, "I want to show you something" (to which we respond with "You want to show me something?" so now you understand how this happened). Clearly I need to find a way of explaining pronouns to him.

Alex had a great time at the hockey game, cheering and banging on the glass (we sat in the front row) and eating the arena food and everything, despite the fact that we had to go back the next night to see the last half of it due to a problem with the ice the first day. One of the players gave him a puck, which he then slept with for a couple of nights until Mommy got clocked with it a few times and put a stop to that. He's still talking about the experience: He says "Thank you, hockey game" or "Thank you, guys" while holding the puck; this comes from Mommy's spectator refrain, "Come on, guys." He also talks about how the lights in the center of the arena flash when the "Junnunnals" (Generals) get a goal, although he doesn't seem to understand that we want them to get a goal ... but he does like the lights to flash. He has been asking to go to another hockey game every time I say to him, "What do you want to do today, Alex?" Unfortunately, the season is over for this year, so we won't be going to another hockey game together for a good while.

Saturday, April 3, 2004

Thanks to his favorite computer game, "Mr. Potato Head" (actually for ages 3 and up), Alex is using the mouse all on his own. He is the only two-year-old at his day care center who plays on the computer. In the technology-centered world of today and tomorrow, I have no doubt that his precociousness in this will serve him well.

And his manners too: How can you refuse a cute little boy who says "More strawberries please" and then "Tank you strawberries Mommy"? ;)

Friday, August 13, 2004

Alex has developed so much since my last journal entry. He is just over three feet tall and around 35 pounds. He talks in complete sentences that are mostly grammatically correct, with the exception of some confusion between pronouns ("My want Goldfish") and verb tenses. We're also working on differentiating between "he" and "she" and "him" and "her," as he tends to use masculine pronouns for everyone. He talks a LOT, though, so he has plenty of opportunities to learn and to practice. :)

A few months ago my dad bought Alex an old Thomas the Tank Engine video for fifty cents from a garage sale, and ever since then it has been his favorite movie, and all train-related stories have been his favorite books, and all things that are or can be imagined to be trains have been his favorite toys. We dug out the lovely wood train that my parents bought for Alex at the 2003 Ann Arbor Art Fairs and gave to him last Christmas but which hadn't really insterested him much until then. Now he can play with it for hours on end. He calls it - guess what? - Thomas. :)

My mom gave him another new video about construction trucks, which have always fascinated him, shortly before our move, so that has infiltrated the movie rotation now. Alex's memory is actually quite fabulous: He remembers the words from his favorite movies and books and recites them perfectly all the time. He also knows a lot of songs, which he apparently sings in the bathroom at his new day care center. They've got him using the potty sometimes, which is the all-important first step toward using the potty every time, so I'm very pleased about that. However, I myself haven't had much time to devote to potty-training Alex with all of the logistical issues that are monopolizing my attention right now, so making the transition to using the potty at home as well may prove to be an extra hurdle. He has wanted to learn to use the potty for a couple of months, though.

Alex loves his new day care, and apparently they love him already too, as they apparently gave him the "Most Lovable" award at their Teddy Bear Picnic this morning for being so cuddly. He's one of the youngest in his room because it's actually a preschool room for 3-5 y.o., but he seems to be adjusting very well and has even gotten his appetite back. (He wasn't eating much during our first week and a half or so down here.) He is also doing better at sleeping by himself in his own bed at night, although he still needs me to lay down with him in order for him to fall asleep in the first place. Perhaps after I have settled in a little more I can motivate myself to develop more of a before-bed routine for us to make bedtimes easier.

Saturday, September 18, 2004

On Wednesday, September 15, 2004, when he was exactly thirty-four months old, Alex went all day in a pair of big boy underwear without a single accident. He is very proud of himself. He also goes to sleep by himself almost every single night.

Monday, November 15, 2004

Alex is three years old today! We mostly celebrated yesterday, having cake and opening presents with his friend Anthony who lives upstairs. I had put him in a Thomas the Tank Engine T-shirt that his dad gave him when he was with him in Orlando last month. I ended up getting Alex an ice cream cake, which was what he said that he wanted when I gave him the choice in the store. It was a chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream, white icing, and frozen cherries and chocolate pieces on top, and Alex actually ate a piece this year - the first time that he's EVER eaten ANY of his own birthday cake. Anthony was feeling shy, however, and didn't want any at first, and Alex was so excited to open all of his presents that he stopped eating his cake halfway through, so I put it back into the freezer for later.

He wanted to open the presents from me first. I got him a construction truck set with signs and cones and barrels and a remote control truck that wasn't working well at first, but it made a loud noise trying, which the boys loved. Four pieces of it have broken already - one because i stepped on it, but the others due to the boys' rambunctiousness. It was daunting to sit back and watch them playing together. They had so much energy, jumping around and throwing things, and everything, instinctively, it seems, looked to them like a weapon. Plus, maybe six months ago Alex was still engaging in parallel play, and now he's interacting creatively with other children - even discussing how they are going to go about their play. Alex and Anthony actually had one LOUD argument, about whether one particular truck was a backhoe - honest to God. I ended up looking up pictures on the computer. (Alex was right; it was a backhoe.) He has grown up so fast.

I also gave him a few books, but he was too excited to pay much attention to them yesterday. He flipped through the Blues Clues one today.

Next he wanted to open the "big box" from my folks. They sent a lot of stuff: a big foam Thomas alphabet floor puzzle; some clothes; a cute pair of dolphin rain boots; a couple of books, one of which, about sheep in a Jeep that got stuck in the mud, I read to the boys right away; and four very cool Tonka construction trucks with working parts. They also sent a Barney card with stickers in it and space for coloring on the back that went over well. They started playing with the trucks and the puzzle right away, of course.

Then he opened the packages from his dad's parents. They sent him a toy race car, a little wooden construction truck, a little wooden Thomas, and also a Percy, along with a couple of Imaginarium freight cars and a floor mat on which to play with them all. He LOVED that, of course. He's obsessed with Thomas and construction trucks right now.

Finally, it was time for Alex to open the box that a friend of mine had sent for him, which was challenging because he'd opened so much stuff that he wanted to play with already that it was hard to convince him to bother. These presents were in bags instead of wrapped boxes, and Alex was clearly not familiar with opening bagged presents because he insisted on shredding each piece of tissue paper upon removal and then didn't bother to look in the bottoms of the bags for the presents. It was hilarious. Anyway, when I finally did get him to understand that there was more than tissue paper there for him, he got a submarine for the bathtub - apparently it will dive and then resurface, so he will love that - and a kite, which he evidently does not even understand, since when i told him what it was he merely said "why?" and went back to playing with Thomas.

Then Anthony's mom - a single mom named Jessica, just like me - and I got on the computer while the boys played to look at the other Thomas stuff that is available from Toys 'R' Us on Amazon.com. I ended up adding a whole bunch of stuff to our wish list for Christmas.

By this point Anthony was feeling more comfortable and sat down for some cake - actually all that he ate was the ice cream part of it - and Alex finished his at the same time. It was fun. :)

I brought mini orange-and-black cupcakes to Baby Gator for Alex's birthday today. He wore his tie-died smiley face T-shirt that my mom bought him at the Ann Arbor Art Fairs a year and a half ago. The teachers made Alex a crown and took pictures of the little celebration for me and then sent him home with a card that they all signed. One of his best friends at day care is a little boy in his group named Alex D. who told him Happy Birthday probably six times in the first five minutes after we arrived this morning. Alex was excited to no end.

I'll post pictures in the next couple of weeks.

Love and blessings,

Jessica and Alex

Friday, December 24, 2004

Alex and I had our official Christmas celebration with my parents today since he goes with his dad tomorrow afternoon for a week and we wanted to give him some time to play with his presents before he leaves.

He actually started getting gifts a couple of weeks ago. A friend of mine from school (who is studying Children's Literature, incidentally) gave him THE LORAX by Dr. Seuss. Another friend of mine gave him a fireman dress-up set; a set of two freight cars, a passenger car, a handcar, and a black engine; Diesel the big mean diesel engine; and a metal carrying case for his Thomas trains.

I gave him a toy Craftsman tool bench, a Monsters Inc. puzzle, some books, and some art supplies, including a very cute red plastic smock. In his stocking he got a Bob the Builder video, a Sesame Street video ("Elmo Visits the Firehouse"), three computer games, four Matchbox vehicles, a few other small toys, a Mickey Mouse toothbrush, and lots of candy.

My parents gave him a My First LeapPad with seven books and a carrying bag, three DVDs ("Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas," "Thomas' Snowy Surprise," and "Aladdin"), some clothes (including a Michigan Wolverines Rose Bowl shirt), several books, a few Christmas tree ornaments, a Wiggles matching game, Brain Quest for Threes and Fours, some little toy dinosaurs, and a snow-covered Christmas car for his train collection.

My Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Ken sent him some shirts and a scrapbook, my Aunt Judy and Uncle Dale sent him a book, and my mom's friend gave him ANOTHER freight car for his train collection.

Alex gave me a trio of necklaces from Pacific Sunwear and some vanilla body lotion that my mom helped him wrap last night. We gave my parents a basket containing a Christmas tree ornament with Alex's picture on it that he'd decorated at day care, two photo holders that read "Grandma" and "Grandpa," some nice candy, and four pounds each of Florida oranges and tangelos. (I also gave my mom a book and my dad a neck pillow that can be heated in the microwave.)

My mom's friend and her grandson came over for lunch (pancakes, sausage, and fruit) and playtime after we finished opening everything, but they had to leave when Alex started having meltdowns every five minutes. He's sleeping now. We should have done this two days ago, though: There is NO WAY that he's going to get to play with everything before he leaves tomorrow. :)

We managed to get together with a couple of other friends of mine and their children this week too. On Monday we went over to my high school friend Dawn's house to meet her new husband and baby and to let her four-year-old daughter and Alex play together for the evening. In practically no time Alex had become her shadow, repeating everything that she said and copying everything that she did. She didn't seem to mind; they played house, watched the beginning of "The Land Before Time," ran around growling, and avoided dinner together.

Then, yesterday, Alex and I visited my friend Andrea and her two boys, ages 5 and 3 1/2, at her house in Flint. The boys played with cars and Power Rangers action figures while she and I talked for a couple of hours. I left with a tired, happy child from her house too. It was so nice to get to spend some time with old friends while Alex enjoyed the company of their children during our cold little visit to Michigan this holiday season.

(C) 1997 Jessica B. Burstrem