32 Months

1)  Fuzz seems a little unclear on how to use certain words.  For example, he feels that saying "already" once is insufficient, and insists on appending it at both the beginning and end of each statement.  For example:

Me: It's time to brush your teeth.
Fuzzy:  I already did dat already.

Me: Do you need to go potty?
Fuzzy: No! I already went potty already!

2)  Fuzzy has been pretty into hearing stories this month, ever since we regaled him with Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears on a long car ride.  The other day, he asked to be told Jack and the Beanstalk several times in a row, and when I tried to speed up one version by omitting the giant, I was thoroughly chastised: "MAMA, you forgot da giant.  Say it again."  I tried to start at the point where the giant would normally enter the story, but he insisted I start over from the beginning.

After the last retelling, Fuzzy settled himself more comfortably on my lap, and relayed his own version of events:  "When I older, I will get beans and throw dem out da window.  And I will watch da beanstalk get tall and taller like a mountain, and den I will climb up.  Den I will go to market and buy a cow, and I will have golden beans."

3)  Fuzzy has also figured out the general format for a story, and, when asked to create an original version, will center his plots on whatever actions he's taken that day.  Here are a few recent examples when I asked him to tell me a story:

"Once der was a little boy named Fizz, he went to a birthday party, and den he came home and saw his daddy cookin' dinner."

"Once der was a little boy.  He went to the neighbors and gave 'em some boonana bread."

Each of these stories is followed by preening and the clear expectation that he will praised for his excellent story-telling skills.

4)  When he wants something, the kid wants it, and he isn't above using a command voice to get it.  Generally speaking, his tantrums start like this:

Me: "Time to eat some lunch Fuzz."
Fuzzy:  "No! I want to keep playin'!"
Me:  "We can play more after lunch, now it's time to eat."
Fuzzy:  "NO!" Stomps one foot in anger, pouts lower lip.  "I want to play wight NOW!" Stomps foot again, glares at me significantly.  "WIGHT NOW MAMA!"

He resembles nothing so much as a tiny Napoleon, clearly expecting everyone to fall in line and obey orders.

5)  The child has the rudiments of swearing down, but is a little confused about the details.  Upon breaking his crane the other morning, I heard him say, firmly but quietly under his breath, "Fook it me."  When he tried and couldn't open the bathroom room, he murmured "Dammit me."

6)  The concept of time is still quite blurry for Fuzzy, but he's taken to describing all events from the past as happening yesterday, or, as he puts it, 'yesarday.'  

9 Months

1) Over the last month Sprout's balance has really improved, and he can now stand by himself for almost 10 seconds, and walks relatively well if held by the hands or using his walker.

2)  My favorite of Sprout's activities is probably his dancing.  If he hears music, he gets on all fours and sways backward and forward gently, while giving everyone around delighted grins.

3)  Based on Fuzzy's interests, we have a preponderance of four-wheeled toys: cars, trucks, tractors, more trucks, etc.  Sprout has been relatively disinterested in this bounty of vehicles until recently, when he found one oversize car at his grandma's house over the holidays, and played with is as nature intended.  This caused great consternation on Fuzzy's part, as it was the first time that Sprout really wanted a toy meant for Fuzzy.

4)  In the bath the other day, Sprout grabbed the washcloth away from me, and, after first stuffing it in his mouth and sucking it relatively dry, he reached over and slapped it carefully against my face, clearly trying to reciprocate my attention.

5)  Much like his brother at this age, Sprout will now look up as you desperately yell his name or scream the word "no."  He does not, alas, in any way respond to the intent of the screaming, and after carefully glancing back at you, will continue with whatever dangerous activity he was previously engaged in.

31 Months

1)  This month brought a new adventure for Fuzzy.  He spent two weeks in California alternating between grandmothers, with Mama and Daddy back in Virginia.  Although he was generally well-behaved, and had awesome enriching experiences (see various new settings in pictures below), he apparently clung to my mother like a barnacle, to the point that she couldn't get a decent shower the entire time he was with her.  A couple of times a day, he also turned to her solemnly, and said, "Mama is goin' to come soon and take me hooooooome."

2)  Fuzzy's comfort elephants have been renamed again - the favorite one covered in dots is still Dot Baby, but the identical one with guitars on its shirt is now Daddy Baby.  Reflecting a recent trend where The Pitt has to come comfort Fuzzy in the middle of the night, Dot Baby does not like to sleep without Daddy Baby nearby.  However, only Daddy Baby requires a blanket covering at night, as Dot Baby is generally clenched tightly in Fuzzy's fist.

3)  Fuzzy is convinced he knows how to sing the ABC song.  However, his version generally goes like this: "ABCDEFGHIJKL...QRSTUVWXY and Z.  Now I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing wit me."

4)  The kid's language skills are really progressing, and he's beginning to understand the rudiments of turning nouns into words.  For example, he other day he was telling us about an elevator: "Da elevator...{pause for thought and word selection}...elves up, the elevator elves down."  Eventually, and completely on his own accord, he changed 'elves' to 'elevates,' and then impressed everyone at a Christmas party, when he said a car that went flying was 'elevating.'  He meant that it was moving like an elevator, of course, but the other guests all decided his vocabulary was genius-level.

5)  I'm sad to say I was the only witness to this incident, because it may be my favorite moment of Fuzzy's ever.  He was pretending to be an airplane, running around the room with his arms out like wings while narrating events for my benefit:

"Mama, Mama, I'm a biplane!  Whoooosh...I flyin!"  Then he paused, stopped, and announced, "Mama, my gears are broken."   I told him to fix them, thinking he was going to ask me to be the mechanic.  Instead, he said 'okay,' pulled down his pants, and began adjusting his..err...well, let's say dangly bits.  After a few seconds, he looked up at me, grinned happily, and exclaimed, "My gears are all fixed now!"  Whooshhhhh!"

In retrospect, I'm glad he didn't ask me to be the mechanic.

8 Months

1)  Sprout continued his domination of gross motor development this month, learning to pull himself to a standing position on virtually any surface, crawling up the stairs, and *finally* mastering sitting.  He can now even stand for approximately one second completely unsupported.

2)  The baby is putting all his motor skills to good use...when Fuzzy starts getting rough, Sprout now eyes him askance, starts whimpering, and then quickly crawls to me to get away from his brother.

3)  In a surprising development, Sprout's eyes appear to be changing color.  When his eyes stayed blue all through his 6th month, I figured that was just going to be his final color, and was pleased that one child had inherited my coloring.  But in the last month, he's lost most of the blue and gained a little green, leaving his eyes a sort of blueish, greenish, grayish color not easily described to others.  We'll just have to wait and see if they stay this way, or shift all the way to brown eventually, as The Pitt insists will happen.

4)  About a week ago, Sprout started to really babble.  His first consonant is definitely 'b' - he says either "blah blah blah" or "ba ba ba" or "bum bum bum" depending on his mood.  It may be wishful thinking, but I believe I've also heard a "ma ma ma" noise, although this is far less frequent and I can't get him to repeat it ever.

5)  It's not a new development, but I'm not sure I've written about Sprout's love of smooches before.  He loves it when we hold him and kiss him, especially when the kisses are accompanied by loud smooching noises.  He will always react with a smile when that happens, and if he's in an especially agreeable mood, smooches can sometimes elicit peels of laughter.

30 Months

1)  Fuzzy is getting better and better at telling stories.  He has a microwavable bunny, intended to keep him warm at night.  Unfortunately, after repeated use last winter, the bunny has acquired a distinct and not particularly pleasant smell.  I brought it into his room the other day, and Fuzz demanded to know where the smell was coming from.  When I explained about the bunny, Fuzzy launched into quite a long spiel:

"Da smell is going to go up da tree, and the birds in the nest will wake up and say 'oh no!'  Then the smell will go down, down, down, into a hole.  Da squirrel dug da hole, and da smell will go in it wit da acorn!"

2)  In addition to the smelly bunny, Fuzzy is also the proud owner of a towel with a hood on it.  However, he refuses to use the towel for it's intended purpose, and instead calls it his 'hooded blanket.'  When he gets upset, he sometimes demands to be wrapped in his blanket, and he always wants it to cover him at night.  One evening after I covered him with it and said 'good night,' he told me the following:

"Mama, you no have a hooded blanket!  Next time we go to store, we buy you a hooded blanket.  And next time we go to the bunny store, we buy a bunny fo' Sprout, so we can be nice and warm together!"

3)  In anticipation of a visit by The Pitt's father, Fuzzy told me the following:  "Gandpa Pitt is on a train.  Choo choo!  He's going through da tunnel and down the tracks and to my hoooooome!"

4)  Mid-way through the month, we experienced a series of unfortunate events - one evening Fuzzy demanded to be picked up while I was heading upstairs with an armload of stuff, and when I tried to scoop him up, he ended up flipping over my arm and falling back to the hardwood floor, right onto his head.  That night he woke up and threw up twice, so I thought he might be coming down with a stomach bug.  But in the morning, he was fine, so we went down to the playground.  There, after playing happily for a few minutes, Fuzzy saw one of his friends approaching, and ran to greet him.  The boys ended up hugging on the sidewalk, and then promptly got into a shoving match and fell over.  At 25 pounds, Fuzzy ended up on bottom, smacking his head hard against the cement.

Usually Fuzzy shakes off injuries pretty fast, but after this bump, it took me almost ten minutes to calm him down.  Then he threw up all over both of us.  After I got him changed he started whimpering again, so I sat on the swing and rocked him, at which point he fell asleep.  Around this time it occurred to me that kids throw up after concussions, not just with stomach bugs, and we called the pediatrician, who asked us to come in.   By the time we actually got to the doctor's office, Fuzzy was his usual cheerful, babbling self, and he aced all the neurological tests.

Unfortunately, the repeated vomiting after hitting his head had the pediatrician rather concerned, so she sent us to the ER for more observation.  There we sat for a few hours before seeing a doctor, who asked Fuzzy what happened.  "I bumped my head on da' cement!" This doctor went through the same neuro tests as the pediatrician, and then sent us home with a concussion diagnosis.  Except two-year olds can't really be treated for concussion, so the only advice we got was "try to avoid him hitting his head again!"

We did our best, but now whenever Fuzzy is feeling a little sick, he tells us that we need to take him to the hospital.

5)  Fuzz is now asking 'why' questions instead of 'what' questions, and also talking nonstop.  He also sometimes talks in his sleep about the events of the day, and occasionally wakes up at night wanting to chat.

6)  Fuzzy has gotten wise to the fact that visitors bring him presents.  For example, we were driving to preschool when we had the following exchange:

"Mama, mama, der no mo' pumpkins - Hawoween is almost here!"
"Err, no, when there are no more pumpkins, that means that Halloween is over.   But Thanksgiving is almost here.  Do you know who's coming to visit us for Thanksgiving?"
"BABA!"
"No, I wish Baba was coming too, but Dina and Noam are coming!"
"OH!" Considering pause, then, "Will dey bwing me a surpise?!"
"I think so baby."
Very wistfully "...maybe it will be a cane tuck."

Luckily for him, Dina and Noam indeed brought him a crane truck, and there was much rejoicing.

7)  After a month of hating preschool, Fuzzy made a friend, and now likes going again.  "Is Andoo at pweeschool?  I want to see Andoo!"

7 Months

1)  As predicted, this month was indeed all about movement.  Once Sprout learned to lift his body up, he spent a little while using a unique and painful method to get around:  he would get up on all fours, and then fall forward onto his face.  Then he would get up on all fours again, and fall forward a few more inches...and so on.  After a few days of this, he started Army crawling a little bit - sort of slithering around on the floor without lifting himself much.  Then a few days later, he began combining the two movements:  he started getting a few forward movements on all fours, and then would plop back down and Army crawl.

This opened up all sorts of new vistas for him, and whenever he spotted a previously un-tasted object, he would get a gleam in his eye and scuttle to it as fast as possible.  In this manner he tasted a plastic bag, a wide variety of discarded tissues, and multiple pairs of shoes before we wised up.  Somewhere in all this motor movement, he also figured out how to get to a sitting position by himself.

2)  By the beginning of November, about two weeks after his first attempts, the baby was legit crawling.  Apparently he's an overachiever though, because as soon as he got crawling mostly down, he started trying to stand by pushing his arms against the floor and doing a sort of downward-facing dog yoga pose.  Within a week, he managed to pull himself up to a standing position in the crib, and is now working on other, more slippery surfaces.  It should be noted that even at this stage, he still hasn't fully mastered sitting - he periodically just tips over and bumps his head for no apparent reason.

3)  In other developments, Sprout also enjoys kissing his Mama.  Unfortunately, this is a rather rough form of affection - he grabs at the hair on either side of my face, and jerks my head forward until he can slobber on my cheek.  His excited, huge grin makes this experience worth the lost hair I then have to pick out of his chubby clenched fists.

4)  Sprout was never particularly cooperative with diaper changes, but this month he's taken the wiggling to a new level.  It now requires either two people to hold him still, or one person with a dazzling new toy or inventive noise.  Otherwise, forget it, the kid twists and turns and twists and turns, making a five minute diaper change last about six times longer than necessary.

5)  Fuzzy has been bringing home cold after cold from preschool, and then giving said cold to Sprout.  This is bad on a lot of levels, not the least of which is that the child struggles like a feral animal whenever a tissue comes near his nose.  Paradoxically, tissues also happen to be his favorite snack - if a box is left unattended somewhere in Sprout's reach, he will lunge toward it, grab a tissue, and quickly stuff it in his mouth while chewing energetically.

6)  We've been slowly introducing Sprout to solid foods, prompted by an interest on his part: when he sees us eating now, he will smack his lips like an old man missing his dentures, while pointedly staring at whatever delectable object we are putting in our mouths.  So far, he's liked almost every baby food we tried, although, par for the course, he quickly grows bored and refuses to eat more than an ounce or so.

29 Months

1.  Potty training progressed well this month - when nobody is paying attention, Fuzzy now moves his potty to the middle of the room, pulls down his pants/underwear, does his business, and then stands up and starts tugging his clothes on again.  At this step he usually runs into trouble and starts calling for us, at which point we also decide if wiping is necessary.

2.  In another independent move, the kid has figured out how to open his bedroom door.  I was sitting at the dining room table working on the laptop during one of his naps, and glanced up to see him standing next to me quietly, clutching Dot Baby and watching me with wide eyes.

3.  We were invited to a birthday party for one of Fuzzy's classmates, and Fuzzy could not have been more excited.  All the way to the party, this is what I heard from the backseat: "Maybe Max will have cake?  Let's go see!  Maybe it will be chocolate cake?  I like chocolate cake!"

Then, when we arrived, Fuzzy glanced with disinterest at the pile of presents, turned to me, and said, "Where is da cake?"  When I told him that we had to wait, he said, "Okay, I have to be patient!"  I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the interrogation was over.  However, apparently Fuzzy and I have very different definitions of the word 'patient.'  Based on the evidence, Fuzzy thinks waiting for less than a minute qualifies, because after 30 seconds, he turned to me and the whole "Where is da cake?  Is it chocolate cake?" line of questioning was repeated.  Fortunately, we discovered a trampoline in the birthday boy's backyard, and cake was shortly thereafter forgotten.

However, the party clearly made a lasting impressing.  Weeks later, whenever we get in the car, he asks if we are going to Max's birthday party again.  Thus far, explanations of 'only once a year' have made no noticeable impact.

4.  In other news, despite the excellent birthday party, Fuzzy suddenly hates preschool, and insists he has no friends there.  His attempts to get out of going to school are pretty inventive and hilarious however.  He began our conversation thusly:

"I don't want to go to pweeschool, I want to to go play at the park wit Maya."  When that didn't work, he turned on the tears, and through his sobs, wailed:
"I want to sleep! In my crib! Not later, now!"  When that didn't work, he tried a different tactic:
"Mama," He said, "You tired.  You take off that firt and put on you nightgown and go sleep in you bed....and me too!"

5.  After nightly struggles for several weeks, Fuzzy relented and allowed me to brush his teeth without any issues.  I tried positive reinforcement: "You made Mama so happy! Thank you baby!"  He glanced up at me, and primly said, "You vewe welcome."

6.  Maya collected a box of acorns for Fuzzy to play with outside.  When we poured out the acorns, we discovered a couple of little grubs in the bottom of the box.  Fuzzy put one of the grubs in an acorn top, and held it up, admiring his work.  "He vewe happy in his new hoooome!"

7.  Fuzzy was sitting in the tub one night, and in between playing with his bath toys, glanced up at me, and said:
"Mama, yous eyes are red!"  I explained it was probably because I was tired.
"Oh, I will be a doctah and fix them!"
"How are you going to do that?"
"I will poke dem...it will be a...SURPRISE!"

I declined his kind offer, but really, all things considered, it would have been surprising indeed.

6 Months

1)  Sprout has a new fun idiosyncrasy this month - as we hold or rock him in the few minutes before he falls asleep, he starts making this strange moaning noise.  It sounds pretty terrible, but I don't think it's a sign of distress - my mom described as singing himself to sleep, which it may be.  If that's the case though, it's the worst singing I've heard.

2)  Whenever the baby is done eating now, he will not just turn his face away, but without any warning, try to escape with his whole body.  Since usually he is precariously balanced on a nursing pillow at the time, his sudden twisting and lunging is a little disconcerting, as I have to be ready to catch him before he hits the floor.

3)  Another fun game Sprout has invented involves him grabbing his hands together, and then shaking them back and forth in front of his face...this is all very fun for a minute or two, and then he gets overly enthusiastic and wallops himself in the nose.  Then he is less amused.

4)  Motor development has been interesting this month - he started off the month sort of sitting upright if he was placed in that position by an adult.  Once left to his own devices though, he would eventually tilt to the side and fall over.

Undeterred by his lack of mastery of this basic skill, Sprout nonetheless decided he was ready for more advanced action - he started trying to crawl.  Trying was the operative word though, as he didn't initially have much success.  He would lay on the floor with his face down, and lift up his butt like he was doing the butterfly swim...and then stop, utterly confused about the next step.  By the end of the month, he got to the point where he could lift up his body on his hands and knees, but this was quickly followed by a fall on his face.

Next month though, I think we'll see some fairly rapid progress on the movement front, as this child *really* doesn't like to sit still.

28 Months

1)  The preschool had an open house to get the kids used to their classroom.  We went, and while his compatriots were all crying and clinging to their mommies, Fuzzy confidently marched into his classroom, found a box of toys, picked out a digger, and began playing with it.  When I pointed out his cubby, he said "Oh, dis my box?"  Then he collected all the dinosaurs from around the room and deposited them inside.  I took him to the bathroom, and he surveyed the Sesame Street toilet seat.  "Dis nice potty," he pronounced.

On the actual first day of school, he was pretty excited as I got him dressed, put on his backpack, and handed him his lunchbox.  As I got him all positioned for a picture on the front steps, he was hopping from foot to foot with impatience.  I begged him to smile, and was rewarded with the following: "'No Mama, no pikur, we have to go to pwee-school!  My little digga is waitin fo' me!  WAIT DIGGA, WAIT!  I COMIN!!"

As I dropped him off, I expected a few tears, maybe some confusion - after all, we have never before left him with anyone other than family or his familiar nanny.  However, he was so excited to be reunited with his digger that he completely ignored me when we got inside the class.  I literally had to get down on my hands and knees, wave my hand into his face, and tell him I was leaving.  "I'll be back to pick you up after lunch!"  He glanced at me briefly with absolute disinterest - "Okay."

2)  Fuzzy continues to say amusing things at home.

Exhibit A:
"Mama, I couldn't get my shoes on by myself...I twied and I twied and I twied! I had a wittle twouble."

Exhibit B:
Me: "Do you want to read a story?"
Him: "No, not wight now."
Me: "Okay, when?"
Him: "On the weekend!"

Exhibit C:
We're rocking in his room prior to bedtime, and a thunderstorm starts.  Crash!  "What dat?"  I explain that it was thunder.  Fuzzy is not convinced.  "No, it dinosaur."  I decide to play along - "The dinosaur was stomping?"  "Yah, it stompin up mountain...it stompin up Fizzy's house...it stompin up Fizzy's woof!"  "Oh really?"  "Yah, I tink it T-Wex!"

Exhibit D:
As I'm carrying Fuzzy to bed, I kick over a glass of water The Pit has placed next to his chair in the living room.  Fuzzy is instantly hyper-alert, "What happened??"  Then he explains the situation to himself and me:  "Mama kicked glass, and all DAT water went on floor.  It's okay, Daddy will clean it. It okay Mama, she didn't mean it.  Have to walk slower Mama, yous walkin too fast!"

Exhibit E:
He's sitting in his high chair, and is clearly done with his blueberries.  He takes them one by one, squishes them with the bottom of his bowl, and then throws them to the ground.  "Don't throw those berries!" I yell as I step on one.  "I have to Mama, it fun!" replies the child.

Exhibit F:
We're walking onto the playground, where Fuzz ran his head straight into a metal pole the previous day (because he was running forward while looking over his shoulder at one of his friends).  "I won't do dat again." he says.  "Do what?" I ask, wondering if he's remembering the pole incident.  "Wun into pole...I be mo' careful!"

3)  While Fuzzy hasn't quite mastered putting on his own clothes yet, he's getting better and better at taking them off.  I was in the shower the other day when he ran into the bathroom.  Before I knew it, he had stripped naked and decided to join me.

4)  Fuzzy was being rough with Sprout one day while I was watching both of them and trying to get dressed for work in the morning.  After several warnings to be nice, I pulled him off the baby and sort of flung him onto the other side of the bed.  He immediately burst into tears, and in between loud sobs wailed, "Don't do dat Mama, dat not vewy nice!"

5)  In his bath, he's invented a new game to avoid having to brush his teeth.  As I get out the toothbrush, Fuzz now turns to the faucet and pretends to turn a steering wheel.  "I drivin' to ice ceam store.  Wait here, I be wight back!"  Then he waves his finger at me admonishingly as I ineffectually wave the toothbrush.  "Wait Mama, I bwing you ice ceam!  You wait at my hooome."

6)  As I was singing him his bedtime song in the rocking chair, Fuzzy kept sticking his finger in my mouth.  I told him to stop it, and when he wouldn't, I put him to bed rather firmly.  He started crying.  Then, after about 30 seconds, he perked up.   "Can I poke you arm?"  He asked.  "I suppose so," I said dubiously.  Then I felt his little figure poking at my elbow, followed by a disappointed, "But there no hole in you arm!"

5 Months

1)  Sprout discovered feet this month, but unlike his older brother, he is not particularly interested in them.  After finding his feet as a baby, Fuzzy would not let go them, keeping 'em in his mouth for weeks and looking like a little rolly-polly bug.  In contrast, Spout desultorily picked at his toes and tasted them a total of once.  Periodically, he will notice his socks and try to either eat them or pull them off, but that is the sum total of interest he has in his lower appendages.

2)  This month the baby rolled from his back to stomach, and can now propel himself in a full 360 degree circle if placed on a solid surface.

3)  In another contrast with his brother, Sprout desperately wants to hold his bottle.  Fuzzy was content to have someone else hold his milk for him up until he stopped drinking from an actual nipple.  Sprouting, on the other hand, clutches at the bottle with his chubby little hands, and so excited is he when he grabs it, that about half the time, he ends up wrenching it out of his own mouth with enthusiasm.  He keeps trying though, gamely shoving the nipple into his nose.

4)  Sprout loves seeing himself in mirror.  As soon as he is placed in front of it, his face lights up with a huge grin.  He can be mid-cry, and then he spots himself, stops, and starts smiling instead.  He also loves it when we nuzzle him and make loud kissing noises.  When these are done in front of the mirror, Sprout is in heaven.

5)  He is walking much better in his little car, but still gets stuck in corners.  When this happens, he makes a few attempts to free himself by shoving straight through the wall, and when that tactic fails, wails for assistance.

6)  Sprout's banshee screeching has returned this month, I think probably because he's working on a tooth.  I can see the white spot on his gum where the tooth should be coming through, but so far, it has remained stubbornly inside, causing the baby (and by extension, the rest of us), much grief.  As you can see below, Sprout constantly has a finger in his mouth, and sometimes, he will even grab my finger and shove it firmly into place, practically ordering me to massage his aching gum.