Late post again, but this time I really mean it when I say work is crazy busy. So much so that white hairs seem to be growing in daily and my wrists actually throb with pain from so much typing. No good. But despite being strapped for time, I get really anxious when I let these blogs slide for too long because I feel like the memories may slip away. I know that's dramatic, but there is so much I feel like I forget these days that this is one way to make me feel better. Plus, it's fun to focus on the kiddos and how much they seem to change on a daily basis.
This has been fun autumn season so far, complete with the typical trips to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard. Josiah, in particular, is at an age where he really enjoys these outings and can really participate. And Samantha just loves the new sights and sounds and curiously goes along with it. And she needs to touch everything!And speaking of the sibs, they seem to be at that convergent point where they can do more things together, which means more fun as well as conflict. As a result, Josiah's gotten more sneaky and jealous, and Sammy's gotten more indignant and bratty. Anything Josiah has, Sammy has her eye on and screams to have one. When she plays with his toys (like his Octonauts characters), she seems to know it will anger him and she will try, often successfully, to bite or scratch him if he comes close. And if we tell him to leave her alone, she'll play with it with a goading smile and put it in her mouth. If we tell her stop, she'll scream and throw it on the ground in protest. She can out-scream anyone. Seemingly to avoid all this, Josiah's been hiding things in his buckets or sneakily making trades unbeknownst to her. This seems to be working. On the flip side of things, if Josiah sees us laughing at something Samantha is doing, Josiah will try to outdo her or even imitate her in a babyish way. And this goes on and on. Although on rare occasion, they can actually be found playing and laughing together.
Speaking of which, Josiah and Sammy were in a wedding last month (Hejin & Eric's) and they both had a blast. It was Josiah's second and Sammy's first time. Josiah walked the aisle like a catwalk, but unfortunately left his sister behind. Sammy just seemed enamored by the whole thing. By the end of the ceremony, they had traded props: Josiah loved the flower petals ("biscuits") and Sammy loved the pillow. And during the reception, they both were among the first to jump on the dance floor. And boy, does Josiah have some weird leg and head moves! While it was so cute to see Sammy running around the dance floor, it was times like these that I missed her not being mobile since we were constantly trying to grab her.
SAMANTHA - 18 month update
She continues to pick up more words here and there, but doesn't really string them into any phrases except for "want more?" when she is asking for something. She says "chair" and tugs on it when she's hungry. She says "my" for mommy, "tuh" for tummy, "enn" for belly button, "men" for amen, "mow" for Mickey Mouse, "bow" (for bath - her favorite pastime), "done", and "down" (during Ring around the Rosie). And she sometimes says "sha sha" or "siya" for Josiah. Overall, she's very direct and seems to be a girl of few words, mainly to tell us to give her something. And she continues to tell us "no no no" when she doesn't like our singing...which unfortunately happens to me a lot. But when she does like it, she sometimes joins in (in an alto voice) and will surprise us with the one or two random words that we had no idea she had picked up! Of course, this annoys Josiah like crazy because he claims it's his song.
Sammy also has a funny sense of humor and will randomly yell "BAHHH" with a scary face or shout "BOO". She also will snort and make faces - where did she learn that? She is always wandering around the apartment, grabbing the broom, pulling out wipes from the container, playing with shoes, taking shirts out of drawers, etc. Lately, she's been observing Josiah's potty and even used it the other day! She said "poo" so our nanny took her to the potty and she did her business with a book in hand!
She still has her trademark three-fingers-in-mouth habit and it's gotten so bad that she's developed rashes around her mouth from the saliva. She's gotten used to us pulling out her hands and saying "no hand in mouth" that she thinks it's a game and will even tease us. But it's served us well as a self-soothing sleeping tactic, so we don't mind too much.
I am constantly fascinated by my little girl and a bit envious about her fearlessness and directness. Who knows what personality traits she will manifest as she's older, but I like where she's going so far!
JOSIAH - 39.5 month update
I am proud to say that Josiah started sleeping alone again this week! Fellow parents know how big of a deal this is. And I have to credit Shaggy for the brilliant transition. We had become so accustomed to sleeping with him for so long that I'd begun to just assume this was the way it was going to be. But as Shaggy was putting him to bed this week, he firmly said that he would need to sleep alone. Josiah said he was scared and that he thought we would be gone. Shaggy said we would be right there and to say "Dear God" as he fell asleep and "Amen" in the morning. I guess it worked because it's been a full week and BOOM, we have our evenings back! And every morning, he's been running out into the living room bragging "I not cry!"
That's just one example of how his comprehension skills seem to be expanding these days. Although he still can get fussy and pouty, he seems to be more open to reasoning. And while he still is a scaredy-cat, he's been able to overcome some of his fears with some encouragement, like going down the slide, walking in the garage without being freaked out by cars, sitting through a haircut, etc. Still no progress on the potty-training front. His school has been trying a bit, but he's been coming home in different clothes nearly every day from "accidents" :( Even though he's on the late side, I'm going to let it go until end of year.
His conversational style is so quirky and funny. He's says new things like "I forgive you", "sooner or later", "so much to do today" and "the TV is not working so let's do Xbox"". And whenever Sammy mumbles, he likes to tease her and say "what do you mean?!?" And he's still an entertainer and loves to make us laugh. He's even picked up this flourish/bow move (where does he get it from?). His laugh is like a hyena and will cackle from silly things like mixing up our names or repeating back things he hears on TV like "boom boom chicken". He still pretty much plays with himself or adults, so he needs to branch out and make more consistent friends. He apparently has some at school but complains that they chase him around. And most of his friends tend to be girls since he doesn't really like rough-housing and prefers to role-play with characters or build things...into cakes =P I wonder if his obsession with cooking will continue into the future. I would love to have a chef in the family!
No comments:
Post a Comment