So, here's what the little guy (our 2 1/3 year old) has been up to his past month.
Andrew is talking up a storm lately. His speech has made such tremendous progress. He will say things that we haven't said in a while or just say in passing. One day, we were eating French baquettes and Andrew says "banh mi", which is essential bread in Vietnamese. We hadn't ever tried to teach him that particular word in Vietnamese. He just picked it up on his own from our conversations. Drew also loves to say "Mama see" or "Daddy see" to show us something. He will even try to turn our heads with his hands sometimes. Andrew is also beginning to try to sing songs. His favorite is
Happy Birthday to You, which sounds more like "Happy Burday You" but it's progress. Andrew will now say that Daddy's name is James (which we corrected from "Babe") and my name is "NiNi" (which we don't correct--I like NiNi since it reminds me of all my nieces and nephews). There was one time during play date that he called me "Mommy" since the other kids were calling their mothers "Mommy". I don't know how much longer I can put off the transition from "Mama" to "Mommy" but I am going to try my damnest. Andrew also has learned to say "ma'am" at restaurants for our female servers. He will yell it out loudly trying to get their attention assuming they have nothing else to do. He is trying to get a drink or shredded cheese usually. For our male servers, he says "guy" which I assume they are less than thrilled about. We are trying to teach him "sir," but he likes to stick with "ma'am" and "guy." We are continuing with speech therapy every week still and feel it contributes a lot of Andrew's improved speech.
We also have noticed that we have a little jokester on our hands. He will say or do things just to get a rise or laugh out of us. He knows that his daddy's name is James, but all of a sudden, he will say "NiNi". Another funny thing that he does lately is he will hold our cheeks and put his face about two inches from our face and say something, namely something that he wants. He thinks by holding our face he will get our undivided attention. Usually, it's the word "choo choo", but he has also done it with food too.
Andrew's manners are getting improving too. There are times when Andrew will say "sorry" or "thank you" at the appropriate time without prompting from us. Sometimes when he is sent into time out, he will immediately say "sorry" thinking it will make it all better and he will get a reprieve. Nice try, kid.
Andrew still enjoyes drawing and coloring. He will draw in circles as wheels and sirens and lines as steam and ladders. He also now draws people with circle for their head and line for their body and will draw them in the front of the train or truck. Drew will also draw in the water for boats. And he still loves doing Arts & Crafts time especially with glue. He also likes to draw and trace objects on his Magna Doodle. Andrew still loves to play with blocks building the usual barrage of trains, airplanes, fire trucks, and garbage trucks. He will also try to match up and build with blocks of the same color so he will have areas of the same color. With Andrew's fondness of airplanes and fire trucks, Andrew has begun to like airports and fire stations even more. We draw them all the time! And he loves to dictate how many airplanes or how many fire trucks to have on the drawing. He also likes for me to draw a train track at the airport for the terminal trains. So, it's no secret that Andrew is obsessed with trains. But now, he has taken it a step further. He made up his own "choo choo jump" for when he jumps off the last stair. Everything always comes back to trains, doesn't it!?
In terms of eating, Andrew eats pretty much the same things as before. He has been eating a lot of blueberries even if they are sour. Drew's fondness for cheese has now grown to shredded cheese and grated Parmesan cheese. He has also come to love Jamba Juice and the kids chocolate chip cereal bar they have there. His little buddy, Gavin, goes frequently and there have been a couple times after the Barnes & Noble story time that we went them. Now, whenever he sees the sign, he will say "Jamba Juice." We don't go all the time, maybe once or twice a week as a snack. He also loves potato chips, especially barbeque ones. And Ngoai loves to feed this little obsession of his since she loves barbeque chips too. When we go out to eat, he always asks for green ice cream. Thankfully, he understands that not all restaurants have green ice cream and will be content with vanilla.
Drew does like some of his daily routine. When Andrew wakes up from his afternoon nap, Andrew likes to watch Mickey Mouse Choo Choo Express. Sometimes, he isn't fully awake and a little bit tired still so we will snuggle on the couch while he watches it. And Mommy likes the snuggling! But anyway, he loves this show--it's by far his favorite right now. We will still occassionally watch Dora and Diego, but not as much.
Drew has been really good about brushing teeth while we sing the ABCs. He will even put his toothbrush back in holder next to mine. He's also back to liking showers again. Moreover, we have (or rather, he has) added to our night time routine. Andrew always wants to eat two bags of fruit snacks during our night night books. Even if he eats something downstairs like fruit or ice cream, he will still want his fruit snacks upstairs.
He has also been sleeping through the night. There are times when he will still wake up like at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, but that is the more the exception than the rule and usually only if something is amiss or if he's sick. It's funny there are night where either Daddy or Mommy will still wake up looking for him.
One unpleasant thing we have witnessed from Andrew lately is his whining and fussing. I hope it's still part of the terribles 2s and not permanent. He still whines over silly things when he doesn't get his way. And usually, it's over things that we don't mind giving him; he just has to wait or do something first. We wouldn't usually give into the whining, but we are so scared that he will make himself throw up. It's such a frustrating predictament. Hopefully, he whines and fusses less and less as he grows up.
On a positive note, in other behavioral news, Andrew's aggressive tendencies have degressed significantly. Unfortunately, they aren't totally gone, but he definitely hits, pushes, and swipes less. I am hoping all of our talks and time outs have finally made an impression. There have been times when he will still act out, but they are definitely less than before. Whew!
Drew is also becoming more independent. He loves to say "Drew do" and shun help from others. What things does Drew like to do? He likes to undress himself, walk the stairs, hold a cup, spread cheese like when we make pizza, pour liquids, feed himself, among other things. With "Drew do" comes a lot of "No, Mama." I feel like I am losing my baby. He is becoming more and more independent. I am proud and thrilled to see him grow up into a little boy, but I have to admit, it breaks my heart a little. They just grow up too fast. I need some machine to slow down time!
The procrastinator/staller also likes to use the age old tactic of "one more minute" or "one more" as in one more book. This is normally his MO when it's bed time. I think he uses fruit snacks to delay going to bed too. He's also a little negotiator too. Whenever we ask Andrew any question about choosing a person, Andrew will usually answer "both." Who do you want to put you night night? Both. Who do you want to take you a bath? Both. Even if we pose the question like "Do you want Mommy or Daddy to play with you?" Both.
We haven't been working pn his alphabet or numbers near enough. He recognizes some letters and numbers, but we definitely need to work on it more. And Andrew isn't as interested in his puzzles as he used to be. He's really good about counting 1 through 4, then will skip over 5 through 7, and then finish off with 8, 9, and 10. Sometimes, he will remember 6 though. We have been working on colors too, but he has a hard time with orange, yellow, and purple.
One little strange development from Andrew is that he prefers to lay on the floor of a restroom rather than the changing station. I don't know why this is. It's not the funnest thing for Mommy, but if Andrew is cooperative, then I will do it. Thank goodness for disposable changing pads. And unfortunately, Andrew still doesn't have any more interest in potty training. He will still sit on the toilet, but it's less and less. Though, he will tell us when he goes "poo poo." He will even tell us if it was him that farted. It's so funny!
Here's a picture of Andrew goofing off with Mary Ann and a video clip of an attempt at counting.
