3 Years 3 Months

1)  Fuzzy's vocabulary is really expanding - reading a book with fold-out characters, he looked at me knowingly.  "That's vewee complicated!"

2)  Our new neighborhood has a pool club, which houses both a regular pool and a baby pool.  Fuzz has been characteristically cautious of the big pool, but his joy when he finally got in was tangible: "MAMA, MAMA, I IN DA BIG POOL!! BECAUSE I A BIG BOY!!"

3)  Although Fuzzy is very sensitive to certain things, he is oddly unaffected by others.  I avoided reading him The Gingerbread Man fairytale for a long time, thinking he wouldn't like the ending.  However, when I finally read to him about the gingerbread man getting eaten, the kid was unmoved:  "Oh, dat woman is going to have to make anodder one."

4)  While staying with my mom, Fuzzy picked up her habit of saying 'oh god.'   Except he says it with her Russian accent and exact intonation: "Oh got!"

5)  The other day, Fuzz announced that he wanted to pee standing up.  He pulled down his underwear, got ready, and then looked at me with a little confusion.  "But Mama, I can't operate my penis."

"What do you mean, you can't operate it?"

"When I operate it, the pee goes there, there, and there," he said pointing all around the toilet.  "How do I operate it?"

Kid, if I knew, lots of ladies would want the secret.

6)  Fuzzy is getting very good at pretend play.  For example, he pretended to be dolphin in the pool.  "I have a tail and flippers, and I have one two free fou five dolphin fwiends.  We like to splash and make bubbles in the water, and we go on a dolphin caraswheel - we sit on the horses with our tails, and hold on with our flippers."

7)  In a triumph for our new dentist, she finally got Fuzzy to start brushing his teeth with real fluorinated toothpaste, like a big boy.  He only swallows it about half the time.

16 Months

1) New words this month:
nigh nigh = night night
moo = cow
mooooon = moon
mine! = mine! (always said very definitively, with that exclamation point on the end)
hi = hi, or high, or occasionally butterfly
eye = butterfly (usually, except when its 'hi')

2)  We're still sort of confused about down and up.  Sprout will often say 'dunnnn' and hold his arms to be picked up.  However, he gets an insane amount of joy from saying 'buh bye' and waving.  Seriously, the grin on his face is worth somebody leaving.

3)  For the first time, I heard the baby utter two words together this month, and in multiple situations.  For example, pointing at my mom's bed: "Baba nigh nigh," or when leaving a fountain: "buh bye wawa!"

4)  Despite his still limited vocabulary, Sprout understands pretty much everything that is going on, and can point to relevant household objects, as well as parts of the body.  I can usually get him to point to eyes, nose, mouth, hair, ears, hands, feet, tummy before he grows bored of our game.

5)  Perhaps because he understands most everything but can articulate so little, he's settled on a really unfortunate banshee scream when he wants something.  Everyone on our new block is hoping this passes soon.

6)  Sprout continues to be the toughest baby on the block, not taking any shit from his big brother.  If Fuzzy pushes him, accidentally or on purpose, Sprout will come back twice as hard with his little fists.  For the most part though, the baby adores his older brother, and tries to copy everything he does.

3 Years 2 Months

1)  Fuzzy has finally, FINALLY learned to tip his head back when I'm washing his hair - "Oh, dat feels nice!"  Yes, yes it does, as I've been trying to tell you for years, you wretched child.  We've ended bath time in tears so very very often, because *someone* refused to either close his eyes or tilt his head backward when the shampoo was washed out.

2)  Fuzz recently requested to stop wearing diapers to bed, and in a major achievement, slept through the night with only underwear on for two whole nights in a row.  No accidents or anything - and then, of course, we moved.

3)  Upon being offered half of The Pit's falafel pita - "No Daddy, give me real food, dat kids eat!"

4)  Fuzz absolutely refused to go down for a nap, and ran away from me screaming to hide in the garage.  I bring out an M&M, he magically appeared.  "Can I have dat?"  "Well, who gets candy?"  "Little boys!"  "Little boys who..." "Listen! Bed!" and ran to lay down.  After dinner, he then asked if he could have more candy, because, and I quote, "I already pooped out the other candy, and now I need more!"

5)  In preparation for the move, we were in the basement sorting toys when Fuzzy turned out the light.  After I implored him to turn them on so I can see the toys, he said, "No mama, we don't need light.  We can pretend we dolphins, and use echolocation."

15 Months

1)  A lot more words this month:

nanda = panda
wow = wow
ah ah, or eee eee eee (and assorted shriekings) = monkey
oof oof or woa woa = dog
mow mow = cat
clicking noise with tongue = bird (sometimes squirrel too)
na = nice (always accompanied by hair stroking - he's being nice, you see, not hitting people)
baooo = balloon
no mo = no more
no = nose
boom = boom (he says this when he falls)
buh bye = bye bye

2)  As referenced above, Sprout's word for falling is 'boom.'  In a terrifying turn of events, I found out he isn't really scared of booming.  We were up on the highest playground structure, which includes a pole for the big kids to slide down.  Sprout walked up to the opening, pointed at the ground 10 feet below, and said 'boom.'  I happily agreed with him, until he up and tried to step off the structure anyway.  Fortunately I grabbed him in time, but my rather pointed cries of "no boom!" did not seem to make much of an impact on the kid.  He tried to the same thing again the next day, and now I'm super paranoid whenever we go to the playground.

3)  Unlike his brother, Sprout has never been a huge fan of books.  Until recently, he typically tolerate just a page or two, and then slammed the book shut with a sense of finality.  If you tried to open it again, he would give you a pointed look and slams it shut on your fingers again.  However, this month Sprout has displayed a little more interest in books.  He will now sit for three or four pages, especially if the book makes sounds or has pictures of things he likes.  Pandas and bananas are very popular with him.  We also recently received a book that makes noises of different animals if you press the buttons - the wolf howling made a great impression on the baby, and now he tries to imitate it whenever he spots the page.

4)  Sprout has been shaking his head "no" for a while now, but this month the gesture got significantly more emphatic.  There is no confusion at mealtimes about whether Sprout wants something or not - if he doesn't, he nearly shakes himself out of the highchair telling us "no."

5)  Sprout likes to throw food off his high chair.  Then he listens with a grin while we tell him, "No, no, no!"  Then he sits there and shakes his finger back at us, presumably explaining that throwing food is a "no no no."  Once all the food is cleaned up, the cycle repeats itself.

6)  However, sometimes his powers of deduction are a little bit stronger.  He was playing with balloon on kitchen floor.  Suddenly, the kid peeled up his shirt, poked at his stomach, and said "baooo?" with a slightly questioning air.  His little round tummy was quite reminiscent, indeed.

7)  In another connection, he recently looked at me to make sure I was paying attention, then poked at diaper, looked at me significantly again, and proceeded to poop.

8)  The baby loves to share his food and feed others.  This food is often half-masticated, taken out of his own mouth, but Sprout will not take "no" for an answer.  You will share his smushed peas, and you will like them.

9)  In a major milestone for the family, we actually moved back to California just before Sprout turned 15 months.  We're staying with my mom for a few weeks until our furniture arrives, and thus far the kids have taken the move with equanimity.  It helped that in anticipation of having grandchildren close by, my mom remodeled her backyard and set up a whole freaking playground in there for them - there are so many new toys here, they haven't even had time to fight over them all.  And yet for all that, the kids spend the most time in this old baby bathtub:

3 years 1 Month

1)  Fuzzy continues to be amusing.  Here's three representative exchanges.

Fuzz: "What's inside a fish?"
Me:  "Ummm..." Stalling for time while trying to think about how to explain organs, bones, and flesh.
Fuzz, while I'm still ummming:  "Fish!"

Fuzz: "Mama, where does meat come from?"
Me:  "From different kinds of animals."
Fuzz:  "What aminals?"
Me:  "Cow."
Fuzz:  "Nooooo."
Me:  "Chicken."
Fuzz:  "Noooo."
Me:  "Pig."
Fuzz:  "Nooo."
Me:  "Well, what kind of animal do you think meat comes from?"
Fuzz, with utter conviction:  "Polar bear!"

Me:  "Did you go to the park today?"
Fuzz:  "No!"
Me:  "No?  I saw that you and Sprout and Maya were gone, and so was the stroller.  Where else could you have been?"
Fuzz:  "Missing!"

2)  Fuzzy developed a new-found fear of the dark, and of his dresser, and consequently hasn't been going to sleep easily.  In desperation, I resorted to science.  "I'm going to give you a very special medicine called a Placebo.  It makes kids sleepy and gives them very good dreams."  Fuzzy was immediately on board.  "Okay!"  Then, after I gave him a syringe full of water out of an old medicine bottle.  "Hey, this is funny, it tastes like water!"  I played it cool.  "Yeah, that is funny."  Fuzzy yawned, stretched, lay down, and said, "Okay Mama, I sleepy now."  Sadly the sleepy effect only lasted a few days, although the kid kept demanding Placebo for several weeks thereafter.

3)  Fuzz has been a little parrot lately, repeating newly discovered information to the closest person he can find, even if said person clearly already heard it.  For example, The Pitt was watching TV when Fuzzy wandered by with me.  The kid was captivated, and pointing at the action, said, "Look at dat!!"  The Pit explained that it was a game called ice hockey.  Fuzzy then turned to me self-importantly, and pronounced very seriously, "Dat ice hockey Mama!"

4)  Fuzz has been joking recently too.  Although...well, let me just recount his last one for you:
Fuzz: "Mama, I will tell you a joke.  Say 'knock knock' Mama."
Me, complying, although I was pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to salvage this one: "Knock knock."
Fuzz:  "Who's there?"  ...stares at me expectantly.

5)  Fuzzy has also started lying this month.  And he is *terrible* at it.  As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he starts giggling uncontrollably.

6)  I've been fairly impressed, because Fuzzy is actually remarkably restrained when Sprout hits him, steps on him, pinches him, pulls his hair, or otherwise assaults him.  Sometimes he shoves the baby, but usually he just runs to me and cries.

14 Months

1)  Sprout has slowed down on the new words a little this month:

dunnn = down
blowing noise = dandelion
wawa = water

2)  However, he made up for it with loads of adorable noises.  When staying in Tahoe during our California visit in May, he saw multiple bear statues all over the place.  Now he very happily growls whenever he sees a bear picture.  It's quite a credible effort, I didn't realize such a little throat could make that realistic of a growl.  Sprout has also been happily babbling this month, chattering nonstop nonsense in his car seat and the stroller as we push him along.

3)  During our California trip, my mom brought out a set of plastic golf clubs and balls that she had intended to gift to Fuzzy.  As it turned out, Fuzzy was not particularly interested in this pastime - but Sprout took to golf with great enthusiasm, and more skill then I would have imagined.  He was pretty good at actually hitting the giant balls, and also distressingly good at knocking Fuzzy or his cousin over with the clubs.

4)  There's also been evidence of jealousy from Sprout - when I'm holding both him and Fuzzy, the baby will now make a determined effort to push his big brother out of my lap.  Previously this type of behavior was confined to Fuzzy, and now there is twice the shoving when both of them are feeling territorial.

5)  In a potentially linked behavior, he's also been very snuggly with me in the mornings (he usually moves into our bed sometime between 1 and 3 am).  When he wakes up, he rolls over and adorably squishes himself against me, rubbing his cheeks on me and smiling beatifically if I pat him.  There's really no better way to wake up than with a snuggly, huggy baby.

3 Years

1)  I can't believe Fuzzy is three now.  In a major achievement, he has learned to kiss properly.  Instead of slobbering or licking me gently, he will now give an actual peck on the cheek.

2)  In less polite but also adorable news, I present two poop-related stories which showcase that creative play is not necessarily for the best:

A:  Fuzzy was playing in my bedroom as I got ready for work.  He gathered a pile of toys on the ottoman, and stood behind it, telling me he was The Giver.  Periodically he would call me over and give me a toy.  Then, I heard him yell, "Mama, The Giver has to poop!"  I ran over to him to bring him to the potty, at which point, he explained that The Giver had pooped in his underwear.  As I cleaned him up, he started laughing and gleefully chanting, "Poop-giver, poop-giver, poop-giver."  Sigh, no thank you, poop-giver.

B:  Fuzzy has been pretending to be a baby turtle recently.  He will hide under a blanket or something, say he is under his shell, and then ask Mama Turtle (me, obviously) to come hug him/play with him/call him to come out.  Minutes following the poop-giver incident, when he was already running around pants-less, he ran over to me and pointed to a spot on my floor: "Mama, I pooped!" he said.  "WHY BABY?  Why didn't you come to the potty??  We JUST talked about this!"  "But Mama, I was being a baby turtle, and I tried to lay an egg."

3)  This month Fuzzy has been concerned with "bad mans" and appropriate courses of justice.  On our walk the other day, he took a stick, broke it in two, and handed me half.  "Dis is your sword Mama.  And dis is my sword.  We knights.  We turtles.  We turtle-knights.  Come on turtle-knight Mama, let's go find some naughty people and hit them with our swords."

4)  The sibling relationship in a nutshell: whenever Sprout cries to be picked up, Fuzzy immediately wants to be picked up too.  "Hold me Mama, hold me!"  Most inconvenient timing ever.  However, he is also very protective of his little brother - I put both of them on a pool table, and Fuzzy immediately chastised me for my negligence.  He ran over and bear-hugged Sprout, saying, "Mama, he going to fall Mama!!"  He will also try to reassure Sprout in the car when he is crying - "It okay Sprout, we almost home Sprout!"

5)  In spite of the poop stories above, Fuzz is actually pretty good about going to the bathroom, or at least, not going in his pants.  In the backyard one day, while I was distracted with Sprout, Fuzzy dug a hole, pulled down his pants, and when I turned around, was concentrating hard on peeing in the hole.

6)  The Pit taught Fuzzy a song.  The song goes like so: "The Grand Old Duke of York, he had 10,000 men, he marched them up a hill and he marched them down again."  I didn't realize that The Pit had sung this song to Fuzz, and was thus mighty confused when the kid demanded that I sing "The Grundle of the Ork" for him.  He did not appreciate my confusion, pleas that I didn't know this song, or the resulting laughter when he repeated the title over and over for emphasis.

13 Months

1)  Our word count continues this month:
naNAna = banana
ohno or ohoh = something got dropped
ower = flower
ba = ball, or balloon, or book
baba = grandma (this is the Russian word for grandma, so we're bilingual now)

2)  Sprout's favorite game this month has been the shoe game.  He grabs a shoe, brings to me, and hands it over gravely and with great ceremony.  Then he expectantly waits for praise and acknowledgment.  Once his contribution has been recognized, he then goes back for another shoe.  The game continues until I have a large pile of footwear in front of me, whereupon Sprout decides that Mama has had enough, and switches his attention to The Pit.

3)  Sprout continues to be super excited about dogs.  He makes panting noises and points whenever he sees one - however, just like last month, that is more or less where he has his limits.  He will approach within three feet of the animal, and will then stand there, grinning happily, panting.  Entreaties to pet the nice doggy still do nothing - the kid does not wish to come any closer under any circumstances.  The one exception was the picture below, when Sprout was unaccountably interested in sharing his snack.

4)  This month Sprout has decided to take matters into his own hands - that is, he now takes me by the hand and leads me where he wants to go.  There is much tugging and whimpering if Mama has another destination in mind.

5)  Sprout also learned to shake his head for 'no' this month, and has been using this skill with great effect.

6)  Being an independent kind of child, he has also taken to grabbing spoons away from me at mealtime, and now feeds himself.  As you can imagine, this results in less food entering the mouth, and much, much, MUCH more cleaning for Mama and Daddy.  But the kid is just so damn pleased with himself, and also so stubborn that we have no choice.

35 Months

1)  Fuzzy has been pretty hilarious this month when it comes to responsibility.  When he wanted to hold Sprout, this was the reasoning: "Can I hold him?  I a big kid!"  And on another occasion: "Mama, can I have my garbage truck?  I pwomise I will be vewe wesponsible wit' it!"

2)  He has also been totally random.  For example, we have these bath markers that draw on the bathtub wall.  Usually he wants me to draw a digger, but one time this month, he demanded that I draw Peppa Pig.  "I can't," I said. "I don't really know how to draw a pig, much less Peppa."  "Just twy!"  So I did.  I drew...something.  It might have been vaguely pig-shaped.  Fuzzy was not pleased.  "I don't like dat face.  Dat face belongs to a tiger dat lives in Afeeeka."

3)  I was eavesdropping as The Pit was reading to Fuzz.  Describing something in a book, The Pit explained, "They are British.  I am American.  Are you American too?"  Fuzzy responded in the negative, "No, I'm not." "What are you then," The Pit asked, and got back the best answer ever:   "Difficult."

4)  I was in the shower one morning, sick and coughing.  Fuzzy came in very concerned: "Mama, are you going to fow up?  I will make you feel better!"  He disappeared, and came back carrying the mug of water I had left by the bed.  "Here Mama, dwink some water.  Dwink all the water 'till you feel all the way better."  After I assured him that the water was helping, he left again, only to come back with a tissue to wipe my nose.  This was accepted with profuse thanks, although I was dubious as to its usefulness in the shower.

5)  In another sickness-related incident, Fuzzy found The Pit's beard trimmer charger.  Not knowing what it was, he plowed ahead anyway.  "Mama, bend down so I can take you temperature!"  I obliged, and he stuck the charger vaguely under my arm.  I asked him what it said, and, with full confidence, Fuzzy pronounced, "46 hours ago!"

12 Months

My munchkin is one!

1) And he's said his first words this month:

da=dog.  He also likes to pant like a dog - he'll come up to them and stand there panting at them, confusing owners and animals alike.  Does he want to pet the dog?  Oh no, he just wants to stand there and pant at it.
brrr sound with his lips = car
haaaa, accompanied by much hand waving = hot
dadum = daddy (possibly other stuff too, I can't really tell)
mama = me!  For a while he's been yelling maaaamaaaaa when he cried at night, but not actually using it in any way during the day.  Then finally, about a week before his birthday, he said it for the first time in the correct context, without crying.  Made Mama very happy.

2) Sprout has also mastered clapping.  Well, 'mastered' might be a tad strong.  But he claps!  Mostly when others are clapping, but sometimes when he's dancing, and always with a big smile on his little face.

3)  In addition to the clapping, there's been a lot of other copying of adult (and Fuzzy) behaviors.  For example, as I'm getting ready for work, Sprout will find my hairbrush and attempt to use it - this usually results in him banging himself with the flat part - but very occasionally he manages to catch some hair, and is always very proud of himself when this happens.  Like the little mermaid, I've also seen him use other vaguely hairbrush-shaped objects to comb his hair - the standouts have been a toy saw and a large fork.

4) I don't know why, but this month Sprout has been the pinchiest of little pinchers.  He gleefully squishes skin between his little fingers, and laughs and laughs as you try to swat him away.  Despite filing his nails at every available opportunity, he somehow manages to have razor sharp claws at all times, so his playful pinching is actually quite painful.

5) In his final act of development progress before he turned one, Sprout began to actually point with intention.  Between that and his milk/I want sign, communication between family members has never been better.