But today is the first day of a new year, and so I'm going to get started again! My last post (on the other blog....http://web.me.com/greenleafsandwich1/Site/Welcome_.html) was on Dec. 1st. And as you can imagine, so much has happened since then. I've decided to simply make an entry for today, and then post a bunch of pictures to try to catch you all up!
Koen started the new year off with a new stutter. Yep, he literally woke up this morning with a strange and painful stutter. Clay and I have been listening to him all day, exchanging concerned glances, and hoping that it is merely temporary. I read somewhere that kids will go through short phases of stuttering as they learn their language. Boy I hope this is true. Sweet little guy. For a little person who talks so much, he's sure had a rough time getting his point across today.
Speaking of talking a lot, he really has been. In fact, over the past week, I've started wondering if he'll ever stop. If he's not singing a favorite song (Jingle Bells, Happy Birthday, Ring Around the Rosies, Twinkle Twinkle, or Mary Had a Little Lamb), then he's talking to himself or role playing with a stuffed animal or other toy. And when he can't think of anything to say on his own, then he just follows us around, repeating everything we say! It's is pretty darn cute, I must say.
He's also been doing quite a bit of this role playing lately. I love it! I see his creative nature coming through suddenly. The other day, he was helping his little tiny teddy bear wave "Hello" and clap his hands. He has also started playing with his food in interesting ways. His half eaten PB & J became a truck the other day, and he drove it all around his tray making truck noises. My other favorite thing he's been doing...he'll take a couple of baby carrots off his lunch plate and punch them down into his sandwich bread, making "birthday candles" on a "cake". He proceeds to sing the birthday song and then holds the sandwich and carrot candles up to his mouth to "blow them out". Always, he finishes with a "Yay!"
When he plays with his new train set (from Santa), he pushes the little locomotive all around the track making train noises and throwing in a "choo-choo" every now and then. He's such a boy lately!
And this morning, as I was getting him dressed, he insisted that I dress Scruffy, the soft, flat, snuggle dog with a stuffed head. He wanted him to wear one of his red shirts and a pair of socks. I obliged. And Scruffy has been sporting this outfit all day long.
A word about vocabulary....all parents think that their kids are little geniuses in one way or another, right? I guess I'm no different, and I have to record this fact about Koen and it may as well be here. The other day, a friend came home from her son's 2 year pediatrician visit with a pamphlet about 2 year old milestones. It stated that between the ages of 2 and 3, our toddlers should have a vocabulary of roughly 100-200 words. What!??? We all (the PEPS group moms) found this surprising, as our little ones talk so much. So I grew curious, and started keeping a spreadsheet of Koen's words and phrases over the past 3 weeks. This kid has reach 600 words and counting (I gave up the chase...too many...he talks a lot). So he's 2 years and 2 months and he says over 600 words. I'd like to think this is advanced, but I really don't know. Many of the other kids in our group talk as much as he does. And I must add that I only wrote down the words that I know he truly comprehends. Anyway, pretty cool, I think. Maybe I'll catch him on video soon so I can post some proof!
Some of the funny little things he says, that must be mentioned are:
"change eh poops" (when he needs his poopy diaper changed)
"buff a teef" (brush your teeth)
"frosting" (flossing...we've started to add this into our nightly routine and he loves it!)
"fweep" (sweep, but this is the word he uses instead of 'broom')
"I am goodness" (Oh my goodness)
"ocean" (lotion...he says this every time I put some on)
"oh-phunt" (elephant)
"Christmas treat" (Christmas tree....now every sort of evergreen tree he sees, decorated or not, is a Christmas tree)
"Daddy says that" or "Makes Daddy laugh" (he says these two all the time, whenever he says or thinks about something that Clay says or laughs at)
"What up, honkie!" (?? Clay taught him this, and this falls under the category above...things that make Daddy laugh....really hard)
"Oh no!" (This is my latest favorite. He says it one of two ways, either with much emphasis on the Oh, or he'll drag out the 'n' sound and then really give exclamation at the end)
He also sings Twinkle Twinkle in his own special way by replacing "up above the world so high" with "ub bub bub uh wirl so high". And lastly, not really something that he says, but does...he loves cod liver oil. I'm sure this was my doing. When I first started giving it to him along with a vitamin D drop at bedtime, I referred to it as an "oil treat". Now he runs around requesting it before bedtime..."want a drop and oil treat". He also used to insist that Clay have an "oil treat" along with him, which was much more amusing for me than for Clay.
So on to some photos taken throughout the month of December. This is simply one I couldn't resist taking when I discovered him sleeping with his legs up the wall (one of my favorite yoga poses).
Here is one of the fabulous gingerbread houses on display in downtown Seattle this season.
Look closely. Koen's artistry that unfortunately took place on each piece of the sofa, chair and ottoman using a gel ink pen. Awesome.
This was our PEPS 2 year old birthday party at Gymboree. The kids had so much fun, and it happened to occur on my actual birthday, so I had fun too!
We visited the Bellevue Botanical Gardens for their annual light display. This was also on my birthday, and therefore my choice of activities. It was fun, and only started sprinkling rain as we were about to leave.
Here we are at the miniature Christmas village and train display at the Seattle Center. Later, we met some friends downstairs at the Children's Museum. We are loving our new annual pass!
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