3 Years 4 Months

1) Recently I've noticed Fuzzy really picking up idioms and expressions.  Looking at a bug in the yard, he turned to me and said, "What that little guy doing?"  The use of 'little guy' wasn't something I've ever heard from him before.

Then, he heard our nanny say "Home sweet home" after they got back from the park.  That afternoon, returning Sprout's toy to his crib, Fuzzy repeated with genuine joy, "Home sweet home!"

2) I shouldn't laugh when Fuzzy throws a tantrum, but sometimes it's really hard.  After a late night and associated misbehavior, he started throwing a tantrum after bath time because I told him he couldn't watch Reading Rainbow.  He was going crazy in the bathroom, stomping his feet and flinging his towel around.  "NOOOO, I want to watch Reading Rainbow!!! NOO!"  Then he paused, and went in an unexpected direction.  "I want to fweak out up here with you!!"

I had to clarify.  "You want to freak out?"

"YES! With you! Hold me!"

3)  Lately the kid has been having fun pretending to be a cat.  Typical interactions go something like this: "Mama, I a kitty."
"Oh, does the kitty want some berries?"
"Meow. That means 'yes'!"

Another time I found him splayed out on the stairs.  "Fuzzy, what's going on?"
"I dead Mama.  The kitty is dead."
"Oh no, can the kitty get up?"
For this inane comment, I received a well-deserved withering look. "No, because the kitty is dead!"

In yet another incident, he was sitting on the couch with a bowl of Cheerios.  He got down and tried to lick them like a cat, scattering Cheerios in all directions.
"Can you eat those like a person instead of a kitty?"
"No Mama, kitties eat like this {demonstrates}.  And I a kitty, so I have to eat like this.  Not like a person."  It was hard to argue with that logic.

4)  Fuzz goes to a Jewish preschool, and the other day came home with a burning desire to tell me something about Rosh Hashanah.  "We had Rosh Hashanah at pweeschool, let me talk about that.  Um...we had muuuffffiiins, and piwate booty.  Annnnd - that's all I know."  The muffins were apparently apple and honey, so that makes sense, but I'm still not sure what pirate booty had to do with anything.

5)  One of the kid's favorite expressions is "oh man!"  Except it's Fuzzy, so he stretches that out to something like "oh mannnnnn." And now Sprout is copying him, stretching the word out even longer - "mannnnnnnnnnn!"

17 Months

1)  Loads of new words this month:
appa = apple (or any other apple-shaped fruit, really)
all done = all done
bubba = bubbles
baoon = balloon.  It is now it's own distinct word, easily distinguishable from ball.
naaaaa mmmm mmmm = no
baby = baby
ommm = home
up = up
um = um
eee = tree
bik = bike
doe = door
weeng = swing
mou = mouth
wun = run
dadul= turtle
wa dat = what that?
weah dada = where daddy?  He never really asks about anyone else.

2)  Walking past a picture of himself, Sprout says "Mine!"  At first I thought he was pointing at himself, but gradually, I came to understand that this is what he calls his brother.  You can draw your own conclusions about how often Fuzzy says this around Sprout to make Sprout think it is his name.

3)  The night of 8/27-8/28 was a momentous occasion - Sprout slept through the night in his own crib for first time.  Sadly, this was not the start of a trend.

4)  Another night this month was more typical.  The baby woke up freaking out and making "ooh oooh oooh" noises at 2 AM.  It turned out he wanted his huge, clanking, totally unwieldy monkey on a stick toy (see picture below).  I tried to give him a small, soft monkey toy instead, but he yelled "NAAAA" over and over, and then when I set him down and handed him the soft monkey anyway, he grabbed it, opened the kitchen cabinet where we keep the trash can, and threw the monkey inside, all while giving me an extremely significant look.  He ended up falling asleep with the stick toy, which I then gingerly removed from his grasp before falling back asleep myself - at 4 AM.

5)  Sprout is an amazing climber.  The other day we watched half in horror and half in admiration as he climbed to the top of ladders meant for much older kids at the playground.

6)  In addition to his athletic prowess, the kid is also a neat freak - he insists on always putting his books back where they belong and his blocks in the basket, and is thrilled when given the opportunity to throw something in the trash.

7)  Sprout is actually kissing people upon request  Previously when asked to give somebody a kiss, he would just present *his* cheek to be kissed.  I've even witnessed the baby giving a few spontaneous kisses, the cutest of which was one for his brother after Fuzzy spent a weekend away with grandma.