June 25, 2008: Things I should've written months ago
Where do I start? This kid's personality has exploded, literally. He is so different than Veronika was at this stage, he completely surprises me. Ever since he decided to talk (a few weeks before his second birthday) he has been building his vocabulary at an incredible speed. He talks and talks and talks. He repeats himself a lot, granted, but his mouth is his number one organ at this point. Unlike Veronika he mispronounces a lot, meaning he talks like you imagine a two-year-old would. Rs and Ls are Ys and he skips consonants because they are hard to say. For basket ball he'll say something that sounds like "back-a-ball". When you tell him "backaball" back he looks at you all serious and says: "NO. NOT backaball, BACK A BALL!" It's hilarious. Speaking of laughing, Ivan loves to make jokes. He is too young to really set it up very well, but he knows when to say something that totally doesn't fit and then starts to giggle... as if to say, I made a joke, did you notice? And after he's done giggling, he makes this smiley nostalgic face and says "Ivan funny!". As if to say: "Oh yes, I remember good old Ivan and his excellent sense of humor!"
He loves to say "no way!" and "oh my gosh" - which he recently changed from "oh my god". I don't know where he picked up either and also who taught him the PG version of OMG, I'm suspecting the babysitter, but really who knows with Ivan? Another important thing is "by self!" (by myself), which is the standard phrase for two-year-olds and he uses it abundantly, so much that Veronika has occasionally picked it up herself. Ivan will also pick up phrases from his TV shows and use them randomly, just trying it out to see if something funny could come of it.
Unchanged is still his sweetness and need to hug and kiss and give sweet and touching looks. If I sit next to him during dinner, we have to interrupt the meal several times for "big huggy" where we spend a few seconds locked in an embrace. Just so. I also still put him down for a nap this way. We read a book, he drinks his milk and then he falls asleep facing me, with his face literally half an inch away from mine, and his left arm on my shoulder and my right arm on his shoulder. Every day, without fail. Big huggy. Veronika would've never in a million years fallen asleep like this. It would've been too distracting. I'm probably more like her in that respect. I couldn't even sleep with teddy bears (although I tried repeatedly as a child, it just seemed like such a nice thing to do). It was too much to think about, I never knew what to do with this bear, holding it was keeping me awake. Not much has changed, but now I have a live little bear to hold while HE falls asleep. Much better version of the arrangement, trust me.
I've also noticed him to be less stubborn than his sister and I'm not qualifying this as good or bad, but I've just noticed that usually I can take disciplinary measures down a notch, because he will give in much faster than she used to. I don't mind this, especially because his personality at the same time does not seem less forceful than hers. Tantrums are getting more frequent which is to be expected at this age and he can compete with the best as far as volume and strength is concerned.
He is still hopelessly in love with balls and the respective sports. Baseball seems to be a tad more important than the rest. When we go outside he loves to kick the ball and he is really good at it for a two-year-old. He never misses and 90% of the time the ball goes exactly where he wanted it to go. Once he gets tired of this he will go look for something that qualifies as a bat (if there is no "real" bat available) and attempt to play baseball with the soccerball. Occasionally he will carry a ball or two around just for fun (or comfort). Those are his favorite items. He is still hardly interested in vehicles of any kind.
Ivan also loves to dance. He has his own special (hilarious) moves, that are not very graceful, but he performs them with such passion that you will be amazed regardless. There is lots of kicking and turning and the occasionaly pose copied from Veronika's skilled ballet interpretations. The most imporant part is still his focused and serious expression, which stays on until the end of the performance.
Potty training has been going very well. He insists on stripping from the waist down every time, which is terribly annoying as I either had the pregnant belly or now a baby in a carrier attached to me. If I try to dissuade him, he screams and this is a battle I'm not willing to fight right now. He is still reluctant to poop and prefers to wait until he has diapers on for that (nap and nighttime). I'm not sure what the problem is, although I know it's normal behavior for a toddler. Well, what is NOT normal for a toddler? I guess he'll get there on his own time.
Ivan absolutely adores Nikola. He always wants to see him and lie by him and is in his face all the time. Literally in his face. We'll be lucky if the baby doesn't end up cross-eyed. He calls him "Nikiya" - with this super high sweet voice. It's very endearing. Especially knowing that at some point he will probably smack him with the same gusto. It's what brothers have to do, I'm told.
I'm still a little nervous about raising boys, but so far Ivan has been by far better than any possible version of "having a son" I could've come up with. I can't wait for things to come.
Posted by mama at 11:02 AM