3 Years 6 Months

1)  At the playground on the day of Halloween, Fuzzy was super excited about eating candy later that night.  The community center nearby then had some sort of daytime event, the result of which was a bunch of teenagers wandering around littering candy wrappers.  I found Fuzzy with a wrapper in his mouth, which he had clearly picked up off the ground.  "Fuzzy, don't eat that, that's gross!"

The child looked wounded.  "It's not poop!"

2)  After going trick or treating, I let Fuzz have several pieces of candy.  After I forbade any more, he snuck one in, and I took it away from him.  The Pit was away on a business trip, and Fuzzy requested that I call him, because Fuzzy wanted to tell him something.

"What do you want to tell Daddy?" I asked.

"That I didn't get any lollipops, and that I was eating that candy, and you took it away and then I cried.  But it's okay, when Daddy comes back, he will put on his magic pants, and he will give me a lollipop from his pocket."

This exchange might be clearer if you knew that a couple of days before he left, The Pit convinced Fuzz that one of his pockets gives out lollipops to good boys.

3)  Fuzzy is still unclear on the concept of jokes.  A recent example went like so:
Fuzzy: "How does the bucket get filled up with water?"
Me:  "How?"
Fuzzy: "By getting water!"

Also:
Me: "Knock knock."
Fuzzy:  Silence.
Me: "You have to say 'who's there?'"
Fuzzy:  "MAMA!"  Laughs hysterically.

4)  Alas, my child has begun to demonstrate anti-girl sentiments.  He was jumping on an extra mattress we put on his floor.  "Mama, this exercise is for booys, not gurls!"  When I pointed out that girls are equally capable: "But MAMA, this would take a lot of practice and skills for gurls!"

5)  A few days ago, when I accompanied Fuzzy to the bathroom, he announced that he wanted "not company" on the potty.  "Oh, you want privacy?" I asked.  Fuzzy confirmed, so I went downstairs and told him to call me when he was done.

I heard him yelling several minutes later and went upstairs, only to be informed that, "I still want not company, Mama!"

"You called me up here to tell me that you don't want me here?"

"Yes, close the door."

6)  In a note home from Fuzzy's preschool, I read that that they were doing thankful journals for Thanksgiving.  I asked Fuzzy what he was thankful for.  "Nothing!"

This is his standard answer when I ask about anything school-related, so I was not too wounded.  But I proceeded to tell him I was thankful for him and Sprout and Daddy, and then left the topic alone.  Out of nowhere several hours later, while Fuzzy was helping me sort laundry, the kid came to a decision.  "Mama, I know what I'm thankful for."

"Oh, what?"

"You and Daddy and Sprout."  Awwww, just a long thinker, and not a sociopath after all!

5)  Sometimes the kids play well together, and sometimes we get scenes like this:
Fuzzy: "Sprout, hurry, we have to spring into action!  There's monsters!"
Sprout: Unimpressed, continues to play with his toy.
Fuzzy: "No, Sprout! Spring into action!"  Starts pulling on the baby's arm.
Sprout: Wails and then hits Fuzzy.

6)  I usually give the kids some kind of berries or fruit while they are in the tub.  One day, Fuzzy invented a new game, wherein he decided to stuff all his blueberries in the bathtub spout.

"Fuzzy, stop that!"

"But Mama, it's available for blueberries!"

Hard to argue with logic like that, especially when he uses his big vocabulary words.  We were all very excited when the blueberries came back out after I turned on the water.  Sprout continued to try to stuff various other things in the spout for weeks and weeks after.

19 Months

1)  New words this month:
et = eat
eck = egg
Haha = Sasha (my dad, his grandpa)
diwi = kiwi
hap = help
yick/dick = stick
dump = jump
hock = sock
dowel = towel
ningo = flamingo
beak = big
howie = heavy
werk = work (he says this when he sees Daddy getting ready to go to work)
Elmo = Elmo

2)  Sprout wanted to be turned upside down, but didn't know how to say that.  He kept muttering "don" for down as he climbed up me.  Then I said, "But you're going up!" and he threw his head backward and said "don" until Mama figured it out.  I felt a little slow on the uptake.

3)  We tried sleep training for the second time in Sprout's life this month.  The first time was around 11 months, resulted in two solid hours of crying, and was abandoned after one attempt.  This go-around was infinitely more painful, but sadly no more successful.

The first night the kid puked after 15 minutes, and finally succumbed about 1 hour and 45 minutes after we left his room (with all the puke clean up, this probably meant about 45 minutes of crying).

On the second night there were 15 minutes of crying, a minor throw up, and then 30 more minutes of crying before he fell asleep - followed by another 40-minute struggle in the middle of the night (though thankfully no throw-up, just what The Pit called a 'resistance poop').

The third night was slightly better, with only 30 minutes of crying in the evening, and only 5 minutes in the middle of the night .  No puke, and we breathed a sigh of relief that the worst was behind us.  Silly parents.

The fourth night was a disaster - puke even before we left his room in the evening, then an hour and 15 minutes of crying, followed by another hour and twenty minutes of crying in the middle of the night.

On the fifth day, Sprout puked twice in middle of day, and we realized we were terrible people and the baby had been coming down with a stomach bug the entire time.  Sleep training was terminated, and we have yet to resume.

3) Sprout recently developed a fear of slides - he sits on top, says "boom," points down, and then stands up and climbs back down the stairs.  However, he also does not want other children to either approach him or go down his slide.  He will stand at the top and put his hand up in a 'stop' gesture if anybody else comes up.  If the kid keeps approaching, Sprout will firmly push him/her away.

4) Sprout started calling his Elmo doll by its rightful name this month, and also began feeding Elmo his water.  This is quite sweet, especially on the day he was feeling sick and miserable.

5)  The kid is interested in counting, but in a very particular way.  He wants us to count things in books.  He will grab my finger, poke it at the picture, and say, "One!"  If I don't follow up with "two," "three," and so on, he will insistently keep poking my finger at the book and repeating "One!"  All attempts to get him to count by himself have been firmly rebuffed.

6)  A recent interaction I witnessed in the kitchen.  Sprout: "Wan diwi!" {grabs towel} "Hap! Hap Baba!"  He not only wanted to eat the kiwi, I guess he wanted to help Baba wash it.

7)  Sprout has started asking "Why?" after every interaction we have with him.  For example, I point out a dog in the street.  Sprout: "Why?"

I figured out that this isn't so much him understanding what the word "why" means, as it is the kid recognizing that if he asks "why," he will get additional details about the scene in question.  For example, after he queries "why" about the dog, I will explain that dogs like to go on walks, or that dogs go to the bathroom outside, or whatever.  It's actually quite clever of the little guy.