Hello again!
Time is flying by, and we've all been too sleep deprived to write any blog posts. The good news is that almost three months after returning from Italy, I just started to (sometimes) sleep through the night. Keep your fingers crossed that it continues, as my parents are finally feeling human again, after a looong period of living like zombies. It's not been easy to say the least. Luckily, I'm mostly a pretty happy guy during the day (fooling everyone around me) - it's only during the wee hours of the night (12:00-4:00am) that I transform into a gremlin. Haha. (My parents just gave me the "it's not funny" look.)
If you don't mind, I'm going to skip Italy for a moment and update you on my development these past three months, or else I'll fall even farther behind. (I will come back with a post on Italy, I promise!)
------
Just when you thought I couldn't get more chatty…my language is really taking off. I'm now talking in increasingly longer sentences, and getting a little bit "furbo" or "clever" as well. I'm also getting more confident on the playground equipment, and am starting to climb, hang, and go down big slides by myself (on my tummy). I'm still very passionate when I speak (my body shakes with joy as I see and then yell, "AMBULANCE!" "TRAIN!" "GARBAGE TRUCK!!) and I still love all modes of transportation, including most recently, tow trucks. I'm always playing with my new train set and mini race cars, rolling over bridges, through railroad crossings, across miles and miles of tracks (ok, ok, we only have a few feet of track). My mom is also letting me watch a bit of TV now (I knew she couldn't hold out forever!) and my favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. (Which, truth be told, is the only show she lets me watch.) I find "Goofy" particularly funny, and will spontaneously start giggling whenever I think of him.
To make this go faster, here are some quotes and memories from the past few months…
20 MONTHS:
- Telling my dad who was trying to put me to sleep, "All done, daddy,"and grabbing mommy instead. My dad felt bad and said I fired him.
- Finishing dinner and asking, "Caffe?"
- When my mom asked, "Who threw the fork on the ground?" I answered all innocently, "Vittoria." (A babysitter.)
- "Whoa, wow! Che bella barca!" (What a beautiful boat!)
- "Wow! Big boat, grande boat, I like a boat!"
- "Bella barca!"
- "Oh my goodness, a barca!"
(Can you tell I like boats?)
- "Yum! Che buono brodo!" (Yum, what good broth!)
- "Read the book."
- "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," followed by a quick, "Yeah, ok," when my mom finally gives me an option I like. (Like offering me grapes, instead of peas.)
- "Dov'e bella backhoe? Non c'e." (Translation: Where is the beautiful backhoe? It's not here.") (p.s. A backhoe is a type of construction equipment, for those who don't know.)
- "Forklift Nonno." (Inside joke, it'll make sense when I post about Italy.)
- "Thank you mommy."
- "Hai visto plane?" (Have you seen the plane?)
- Remembering and saying lines from books I hadn't read in months, and saying "trumpet" (a word from a baby book) when I heard a horn in the background of a song.
- Cuddling and giving a big kiss to my dad's photo ID card
- Having girls surround me at our Iacomini family reunion (mostly female cousins aged 5-11)
- Started to make up silly word games. For example, instead of singing, "Tanti auguri a te…" (Happy birthday to you…) I would say, "Pantaloni a te…" (Pants to you…) and start laughing. Or, "Tanti anguria a te…" (Happy watermelon to you…) Or, in place of the name of various family members, I'd start singing, "Happy birthday to crawler backhoe…" and other random objects.
- Becoming aware of size, and classifying objects as either "grande" or "piccolo" (big or small)
- When my mom once asked, "What do you want for lunch?" I answered, "Gelato."
- My new favorite book is Cat in the Hat (77 pages long, and yes, I make my parents read it to me all the time).
- Being REALLY loud and exuberant when I'm excited about anything, like seeing friends at the park. Sometimes I scare kids away because I'm so loud…an older boy actually covered his ears while I was joyfully counting (shouting) numbers on the play structure. (My parents now call me, Our Little Sicilian.)
- And to top off this month, just thought I'd keep it real and add that after coming home from Italy, I had ongoing behavioral meltdowns, caught a virus, developed intense separation anxiety, and had severe sleep regression. During one miserable night, I was actually demanding that my dad "hop like a duck" around the bedroom. He refused.
21 MONTHS:
- Correcting my mom when she misspoke while reading a book, "No, not blue - black feet."
- "Treno! Hai visto treno?!" (Train, did you see the train?!)
- Continued making up word games, i.e. instead of "Batte batte le manine" (Clap clap your hands), I'd say, "Pasta pasta le manine…"
- My separation anxiety from mamma got worse, especially at night
- Waking up in the middle of the night and calmly asking to eat a hot dog
- Making up new words for my book, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" Saying instead, "Concrete mixer, concrete mixer, what do you see?" or "Partira, partira, what do you see?" (Partira refers to one of my favorite Italian songs, Partira, la nave partira…) (The boat is departing…)
- Opening the refrigerator and demanding, "Pasta fresca!" (Fresh pasta!)
- Developing empathy and social awareness, saying, "Piange bambina." (The baby girl is crying), or "Attento!" (be careful!) to the dinosaur in my book who was jumping on his bed, or "No! Machine!" (No, cars!) when I saw a little girl at the park who was running toward the street, or asking another little girl, "Are you ok?" after she sneezed. (Yes, she answered, prompting a, "He's sweet" from the girl's grandmother.)
- Telling my mom, "Be nice!" when she was trying to change my diaper but I wanted to play with a puzzle instead.
- The director of my little preschool informally assessed my "temperament": activity level = 9/10, intensity level = 8/10, adaptability = 5/10, general mood = very positive. She also thinks I'm really cute. :)
22 MONTHS:
- My verbal skills are really coming along this month.
- "Hi, how are you? I'm good. I'm sleepy."
- "Hi, how are you? I'm good. I'm sleepy."
- Wrapping my mom's scarf around me and saying, "This is so nice and warm."
- Made up my first poem: "Lady bug, lady bug, I love you. Lady bug, lady bug, I see you."
- Asking people, "Hi, how are you? Are you sitting?" or fill in the blank…"Are you standing? Are you sleeping?…"
- When offered something I don't like (i.e. water), I respond, "How about...?" (fill in the blank, i.e. latte/milk, grapes, juice, etc.
- When being put to sleep in my crib at night, I ask for my parents' "hand." It's very sweet.
- Started asking, "Why?"
- Of all the days to catch up on my sleep deficit...I slept 14 hours straight one day (not even waking up to eat), and missed Halloween! (I was going to be Super Elmo, and go trick or treating for the first time.)
- Sat in the driver's seat of mamma's car (motor off), shouting in joy, "Vroom vroom! I'm in a police car!"
- First thing nearly every morning, asking my mom for "Pictures of tow trucks on the computer." (Or on her telephone.)
- Singing the alphabet song correctly, from A to Z
- Finally calling out from my crib, "Mamma, all wet!" instead of just crying, and also being more understanding when she leaves the room at night, i.e. when I cry "No! no! no! no! no!" she says, "I'm just going to the bathroom," so I reply, "Okay!" (Then I fall asleep before she returns. I think it's a trick on her part.)
- I'm remembering the safety instructions mamma has been giving me for months, i.e. like recently when she warned me, "Stay on the sidewalk..." I finished the sentence with, "...or mamma picks you up."
- Using lines from my books (somewhat) appropriately in real life, like when I shouted to my dad while he was trying to change my dirty diaper, "Stop, stop! Stop on the spot!" (This quote is from my Thomas the Train book, Stop Train Stop.)
- Asking my parents all the time, "Can you jump?" "Can you jump high?!" "Can you sleep?!"
- Lots more talking as the days go on..."I want to play." "I can't reach it." "Mamma, dadda, and bubu, sitting at the table." "We are a family."
- Asking a random woman at the children's museum, "Hi, how are you, are you sitting?"
- Being asked by a grandmother at my gym class if I was almost four years old. (!) (p.s. I started a toddler gym class and love it.)
And finally, on the first day of MONTH 23…
- I learned how to climb out of my crib. Watch out world!
Yours truly,
Baby "G"rowing Up Fast
More pictures to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment