September 15, 2008: Two point five
Ah, Ivan. Wo soll ich anfangen? Two is such a wonderful age, with all the changes and communication and personality. Here are but a few of the changes since Mama's last post:
- A few months ago, his favorite phrase was "me too," in response to whatever Veronika was going to do. When she was sick one day and told us as much, Ivan chimed in "Me too sick!" His big sister is his hero and he wants to be included in everything she does, which is great when they play together nicely (more often than expected), difficult when they fight (increasingly in the last few months), and heartbreaking when he's not big enough (soccer lessons).
- Ivan loves his baka and her visits. They wake up early and read books, do puzzles, and make cocoa until the rest of the family wakes up after sunrise. They joke around, they hug. He is smitten.
- Ivan is completely potty trained and even, as of a few nights ago, off diapers at night. Compared to Veronika, this transition was a total breeze for him. He started in the little kids potty but lately he prefers to climb on the toilet with the help of his step-stool. He's especially excelling in the post-potty training accidents department—where that dragged on for months for his sister, Ivan always realizes that he has to go in time and will usually agree to go when asked (before car trips, etc.).
- The obsession with sports continues. His favorite sport is baseball (probably because it's summer now) but he'll play anything with a ball. His favorite books from the library are instructional books about sports. When he sits down to read them to himself, it goes like this: "Baseball... is... FUN! Soccer... is... FUN!" He loves the Mets; yesterday's Mr. Met Dash, in which he got to run the bases at Shea Stadium after the game and meet Mr. Met, may have been the event of the summer for him. He even likes watching sports on TV, much to my surprise. On a recent Saturday, we sat down and flipped between college football, the U.S. Open (tennis), golf, women's basketball and the Cubs/Phillies game (baseball).
- The vocabulary is coming along. He repeats a lot of words, whether he can come close to pronouncing them or not. He's also picked up a few things from us, as in when he recently scolded Noni: "Noni! (mumble, mumble) Serious! Never... go... park... again!" He pretends to spell like her too but still needs a little work: "O...X...C...Y. Ball!" You can hear him singing his ABCs here. He understands a lot of German but only speaks a little (wie Papa!). His attempts are usually German-English hybrids, such as when he said he was going to put something "a-weg" or, when asking for more, "I want noch."
- Ivan's request for a recent breakfast: bacon and lollipops. He's actually not a bad eater but has a special place in his stomach for pork. He loves lots of kinds of meat, including steak, but pork is where it's at—pork roast, bacon, sausage, salami, ham. He is his father's son.
- Now, the bad news: Ivan has officially entered the tantrum phase. He can wind himself up and cry himself into a stupor, sometimes for more than a half-hour. He especially likes to fight with Mama around bedtime and naptime.
- But let's end on a positive note. Ivan remains a very sweet child. Even though he's sleeping on his own now, he often needs one of us to sleep with him when he wakes up in the middle of the night. He always looks for opportunities to gives hugs and kisses. One time he wanted Mama to come sit by him on the sofa and hug, so he said "Let's have a nice time." He's a snuggler, what can you do?
Ivan, I love you. You are so sweet and lots of fun, but please stay in bed at night, sleep past 6:00 a.m., and take it easy on your Mama, ok? Let's go Mets!
Posted by papa at 09:14 PM
August 16, 2008: Fulfilling his duties as the annoying younger brother
This is a daily conversation at lunch. Daily, without fail.
(Lunch is almost over)
Ivan looks at Veronika and says: I! Have! A tummyHACHE!
Veronika: No, it's tummy ACHE, not H-ache.
Ivan: Tummy... HACHE!
Veronika: No, tummy ACHE
Ivan: TummyHACHE, HACHE, HACHE!
Veronika: Ivan! Who's right, me or you?
Ivan: ME!
Veronika: NO! Me!
Ivan: Me!
Veronika: No! Me!
etc....
Posted by mama at 11:08 AM
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
April 18, 2008: PEE IN THE POTTY!
First day of random potty training resulted in... four successful liquid desposits! FOUR. I credit Ivan's enthusiastic personality and his love for M&Ms. More information in a few weeks, when I'll be able to tell if this was a fluke or the beginning of end of diapers.
Posted by mama at 09:02 PM
March 3, 2008: On the Brink of Two
As he approaches his second birthday, Ivan is changing at an accelerating pace and my memories of his previous phases are quickly deteriorating. Before I forget his second year entirely, here's what's been going on:
- About six months ago, Ivan was really into puzzles and reading, to the point that he would want to play/read for over an hour and "express his disappointment" if you didn't have the patience or stamina to keep up. He didn't respond or interact that much but looking back on it now, it seems like he was thirsty for information to absorb and process but held back until he he was better equipped to respond.
- Ivan loves his private parts! He discovered them about four months ago and learned their names ("Pee-PEE! Po-PO!") and how to point them out. After that he also enjoyed spending more time running around naked and for a while there, every diaper change was an enthusiastic presentation of his anatomy.
- Around the 22-month mark, Ivan began to communicate in earnest and has been a blast ever since. He had a vocabulary of about five words for months but in the last few weeks it has been increasing exponentially. New favorite words include suppe (for his favorite food), kakao (for his favorite drink), Elmo ("EH-mo," for his favorite Sesame Street resident) and bitte. His demeanor seems to have adapted to his newfound means of expression, so generally he's more outgoing, curious and willing to try new things than ever before. When he doesn't know how to express something, he'll try anyway, with a combination of a few words, hand gestures, facial expressions and a lot of enthusiasm.
For example, after he went sledding for the first time two weeks ago (which he loved, even/especially the wipeouts), he regaled us with minute-long accounts of our adventures, going something like this:
(pointing out the window to the sledding hill, nodding head) "Nana (his word for Ivan), Papa....Nana, Papa, Noni....Nana, Noni, Papa...."
(making a sled with his hand and simulating it going down a hill with sound effects) "Brrrrrrrrrrrrr..... (crash noise)"
(again, to reiterate, nodding head) "Nana, Papa....gaga, gaga, gaga... Nana, Papa"
Another of his communication combinations that we're less thrilled to see is his signal for a full diaper: (patting butt, grossed-out look on his face) "Blechhhh...."
- Ivan loves to do things now and tries to do everything by himself. He will also volunteer to do anything if you ask right. "Who wants to take a bath?" "Meeeee!!" "Who wants to clean out the garage?" "Meeee!!" This response is always accompanied by a wide smile and a raised hand, a response undoubtedly learned from his faithful teacher Veronika. He also knows his routines and is excited when he knows what to do next and how he can help, by fetching a stool (to make cocoa or brush his teeth) or turning out the lights (for the clean-up time song).
- Ivan is great at pretending now, including endless pretend scenarios with his sister such as being babies (needing milk, pretend crying while rubbing his eyes), cats (lots of meowing) and dogs (barking, fetching a ball in his mouth). He's also becoming quite the joker and enjoys telling me "Nooooo" when I'm pulling his leg.
In summary, Ivan is exploding into a totally awesome toddler, engaged with everything around him, learning in leaps and bounds, and willing to try anything. It's so much fun to be with him at this age and it's exciting to think about what's next.
Posted by papa at 11:45 PM