As of the moment this posts, at 04:16 UTC on September 13th (9:16 PM on the 12th Pacific, 12:16 AM on the 13th Eastern), Alex is exactly 2 years old. Happy Birthday Alex!!! These two years have sure flown by. I have not really posted any general updates since he turned 18 months old. So here goes again I guess.
He is in that vocabulary explosion sort of stage. Using new words every day. Asking what things are called. He is using simple sentences like “Daddy Juice Mommy More” when he noticed my drink was empty, as he took it from me and gave it to Brandy to fill up.
He and the dog continue to play with each other all the time. He is starting to learn to be a bit more gentle and (sometimes) back off when the dog has had enough. Roscoe definitely plays back too, it isn’t just a one way thing.
He can now load the DVD/Blu-Ray player with the disk he has decided he wants to watch. Still needs help setting it up and getting it going, but that won’t be long now I’m sure. He already does turn off our entertainment system when he is done watching whatever he is watching.
He says “Uh Oh!” when things go wrong or he finds something broken. This sometimes combines with the last bullet, as when we are trying to actually watch something else rather than a kids show. He realizes what is on is not what he was expecting, and starts saying “Uh Oh! Uh Oh!” and heads over to our receiver and turns it off. This is not always appreciated.
He is generally a holy terror, running around the house and getting into absolutely everything. I understand this is expected at this age. But it is exhausting.
As you may have seen in the video he loves playing with the hose. We will do less of this as it gets cooler I am sure, but at the moment this is one of his favorite things, that he asks to do almost every day. In addition to spraying the dog as seen in the video, he also will call me over, “Daddy! Daddy!” looking all innocent and such, then spray me as soon as I get close, giggling gleefully all the while. And then he’ll say “turn!” to let me know it is my turn, hand me the hose, and have me spray him.
He is playing more and different games on our iPhones. One of the new ones is a Thomas matching game. He also has a physical version of this. He sometimes actually matches things, sometimes he just plays. Either way, he likes them.
He is still upset and cries when we drop him off at day care, but by all reports he is OK and having fun right after we leave.
He loves to climb. Anything and everything. It is only a matter of time before we find him on top of a bookshelf or whatnot. He loves to go to playgrounds, where he is climbing and playing on jungle gym equipment designed for much older kids. He is fearless. I stay directly under him, ready to catch him when he slips, but so far he hasn’t.
He loves to draw. He’ll find a paper and then ask for a “Cran”, which is of course any writing utensil. Then he will happily sit and draw. Of course, sometimes he will draw on other things too. Basically any white or off white surface is up for grabs. This is also not always appreciated.
When watching movies he is familiar with, he will talk constantly describing what is going on as best he can. We can’t always get exactly what he is saying, but he is clearly referring to characters and what they are doing.
He points at every plane that flies over and excitedly tells us about the “ane! ane!”
He points at every bus (or buslike vehicle) as it goes by. “Buh! buh!”
Cars are still the best toys ever. He has many many cars now, and plays with them all the time.
Well, as usual, I’m there is a bunch more, but those are the ones spilling out of my head at the moment.
In any case, Happy Birthday to Alex! I can’t believe he is already two! It was just yesterday we brought him home and he was a tiny little thing. Now he is so BIG!
That’s right, I said Month Twelve. And yes, I know at this point in mere hours (specifically at 04:16 UTC on the 13th, which is 9:16 PM on the 12th Pacific time, or 12:16 AM on the 13th Eastern time… which is a little over 14 hours from now as I post this) Alex will be Twenty Four months old, or a full two years old. But gosh darn it I got this highlights video out less than a year late. Barely. I’d also said that this would be the last of the month at a time highlight videos. After this I’ll just post little video snippets instead of these longer videos I have no time to produce (obviously, since it took me a year to do this one) and which nobody has time to watch anyway.
Regardless… enjoy highlights from year ago Alex. This covers 13 Aug 2010 to 12 Sep 2010. He is of course much different now at double the age. :-) But the personality hasn’t changed much at all. Definitely the same kid. :-)
Oh, I almost forgot to mention. On Sunday afternoon, for the very first time, Alex used the potty. He was very very excited and spent the next 10 minutes or so dancing around very excitedly and squealing with glee. It will probably be awhile until the next time. But still, important milestone. One that I’m sure he will want immortalized here when as a teenager he finds the archive of this blog.
As of the time this post goes live… 05:54 UTC on the 13th (9:54 PM on the 12th Pacific, 12:54 AM on the 13th Eastern) Alex will be exactly 15 months old. I’ve fallen way way behind on posting pictures and video and such, just too many other things going on. Maybe I’ll catch up eventually. :-) But of course time keeps on marching, and Alex keeps growing and learning new things every day.
Lets see, some things from the past few months.
Well, just in the last few weeks he finally really “gets” coloring and is grabbing his coloring book and special pens that will only color on THAT book and excitedly using them.
He is very good about following “Please take this to mommy” type instructions. He understands, runs to do what was asked, and claps for himself when he does it successfully.
When he finds coins he runs to one of several coin jars we have in the house and puts them in. (Also followed by a squeal and clapping.)
He knows how to turn on his iPod nano and change songs, and will happily find something he likes then dance to it, holding the iPod to his ear.
Almost anything thin and rectangular is a phone. He’ll pick them up, hold them to his ear, and talk and talk and talk. If it is a real phone with someone on the other end he gets even more exciting and he will pace around the room while talking to them.
He will run up to his sister’s door and knock until she comes out and plays with him.
When he is bored with what is on the TV or the music that is playing on our family room entertainment system he knows how to change what is on or turn it off. Even if the rest of the family is watching.
He sneaks the dog food all the time. Both he and the dog enjoy this quite a bit.
He will try to get the dog to chase him as well, running up to the dog, then running away squealing and laughing. Sometimes Roscoe will follow.
His vocabulary continues to grow of course. Most sounds still aren’t words, at least ones we can understand, but the percentage that are increases every day.
He is all about putting things away (sometimes the right place, sometimes not, but that doesn’t matter, does it?)
This also includes things like trying to plug headphones in. Sometimes where they belong, sometimes not.
He will help put on or take off his shirts by putting his arms up appropriately.
He climbs everything, and (usually) can get down safely on his own.
He knows how to take apart his potty piece by piece, then touch the two contacts together to make it sing. He’ll occasionally sit on it too, but of course would not even consider making it sing the way you are supposed to.
He has several more iPhone apps he likes, including one where he pushes piano keys and makes music. He also now knows however how to push the button to get to the main menu when he is done. He hasn’t quite gotten yet how to START his games though.
Although he has used utensils to eat for a long long time, he is now pretty darn good at using both forks and spoons. (Knives, not so much.)
And lots of other stuff…
As I write this (a bit before it is scheduled to post) it is time for dinner now, so I need to stop. But anyway, Alex is 15 months now. A year and a quarter. He is so big! Oh, and quite a personality too. :-)
