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