Haven't posted in awhile, but my sweet little man is so talkative nowadays. Sometimes he catches us off guard, sometimes he parrot what he hears...nonetheless, he's building that little vocabulary.
Just this morning, he gave me a chuckle...
Daddy: Come on Bud, let's get on your socks.
CJ: No, CJ do it...
Daddy: Come on Bud...Daddy needs to do it.
CJ: NO...CJ do it!!
Daddy: CJ; remember when Daddy told you that sometimes Daddy has to do it? This is one of those times
CJ:
Daddy: Aww...are you frustrated, Bud?
CJ: FUBUSTWATED!
Daddy:
CJ also likes to play-by-play football, although, the only thing we can usually make out is "...he fall down". I'm glad he's into sports, especially karate. He likes to "gig it" (kick it) and randomly walks around saying "OSU".
CJ is going through a phase where he wants to give everyone hugs, squeezes, bumps and "bisses." He'll say things like "Clark biss *kissy noise*." It is incredibly adorable, until he has an all out tantrum if he can't give someone the desired form of affection. I'd say it happens about once or twice a day. Daddy while he's at work, Mommy while she's at work, anytime he is getting dropped of at school, his friends who we won't be seeing for a few days, Grandma, the list goes on. This past weekend, he wanted to give Chris a hug about 30 seconds before he was called to the mat. Luckily, Chris's fight didn't last long, so CJ got to hug his Daddy sooner than expected.
Maybe it's just me, but I think CJ is incredibly smart. At the ripe old age of 25 months, he can recognize all letters and numbers and gets excited about pointing them out everywhere. He knows his colors, and only occasionally confuses like colors- like pink and purple.
Enough Mommy bragging for now; I'm off to bed. :-)
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Today, we are celebrating CJ's birthday. Why, because Mommy is leaving tomorrow for a charity hike to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Yosemite National Park. CJ, if you are reading this one day, when I signed up, I thought you and Daddy were coming with me, and that we would be celebrating your birthday in beautiful California. I do still love you, I promise!
I just put CJ down for a nap by reading stories as usual and then cuddling while listening to "Simple Man" and other "lullabies." He successfully pointed to the letter, "B," which was small in print, just part of the "Guess How Much I love you" story and said, "B.". He then pointed to a capital letter "I" and said, "one." Close enough, right? We then read "Big Boys Use The Potty," which CJ loves, and since we've read it consistently, he really hasn't had any accidents at home, while awake of course. There are rather big numbers in that book outlining the steps it takes to successfully excrete waste like a big boy. CJ pointed to the "3" and said, "three," and then pointed to the "5" and said, "five."!!!!!!!!!!! As if it weren't enough, the next book we read was "Very Hungry Caterpillar." We both LOVE that book. I used to love it when my grandmother would read me that book, and I love reading it to CJ. CJ pointed to the word "Now," which was the 1st word on the page, and said, "now." I thought surely it was coincidence, but he kept repeating it, "now, now Mommy, now;" all while tapping his finger on the exact word!!!!!!!!!
We don't allow much in the way of electronics for CJ, but we do allow videos in this series, and CJ loves them. They are short and sweet and very educational. I'm guessing we can thank this video for CJ knowing what the word "now" looks like before he's even 2 years old???
In other news, CJ and I had a good day. We started his "birthday" off by heading to the Children's Museum in Atlanta. Sorry for the poor quality- My camera battery died, and my back-up was at home charging for my trip, so I-Phone to the rescue.
We then played at the playground across the street and had lunch at Centennial Olympic Park.
Someone right outside of parking lot in which we parked was giving away free dairy free ice cream sandwiches and ice cream bars. Yes please!
We wanted to play in the fountains, but they were closed for maintenance. :-( Oh well, maybe next time.
Tonight after dinner at our favorite local establishment, CJ and I went outside to play. To distract CJ from the fact that Mommy went to the store, I suggested riding Thomas.
I retrieved Thomas from the house and we headed toward the clubhouse parking lot, near the gazebo. CJ for some odd reason or another was lukewarm, at first, to riding Thomas on his own. Eventually, business picked up and I was able to get a good video to send to Auntie Ronni.
Unfortunately (initially, anyway), Aunty Ronni couldn't see the video, so she called me. This would be the turning point in CJ's evening.
CJ suddenly became very talkative, almost showing off all of his words for Aunty Ronni. The most impressive was "caterpillar". I think it's safe to say Aunty Ronni was impressed! :) CJ even got a chance to talk to his cousins "Beppy" (Stefi) and Mah-mesh (Marcus). A few bedtime stories were "read" by CJ to Aunty Ronni, Beppy and Mah-mesh; CJ ended the phone call with "I wub you!", then we hung up.
I said aloud, "Hey, maybe we should call Grandma? What do you think"
"Gamma! Gamma!!"
I dialed my mom and put the phone on speaker, CJ was so excited he couldn't contain himself, "Gaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmaaaaaaaaaa!!"
I was slightly disappointed when her answering machine picked up. No worries, we always leave a message. An excerpt from CJ's message: "Gaamaaaa!! I wub you Gamma...wub you Gamma...IIIIII WUUUUB YOOOOOU..." --my sweet little man.
I decided to give "Gamma's" cell a ring, just in case. Lo and behold, my niece Nikki answered. After clearing up the confusion about whose phone Nikki answered, CJ finally got to talk to Gamma. Upon hearing her voice, his face lit up. "Gam-MAAAA!" CJ blew kisses to Gamma, told her he "wub"'d her and some other random nothings. We bid Gamma farewell, as it was bedtime.
Per ritual, I turned on CJ's lullabies; CJ told me how "happy, happy, happy" he was as he rested his head on my shoulder. After the first verse of Shinedown's "Simple Man", I asked CJ if he wanted me to sing along. He raised his head, looked at me and said, "Ting. Ting".
"Are you sure you want Daddy to sing?"
"Ting"
As I joined in with Brent Smith, off key and all, CJ gave me his seal of approval: "Happy, Happy" and rested his head.
(CJ listens to the acoustic version, however)
Nite, nite little buddy. See you in the morning.
-Dad
It was a warm sunny day on Earth. Commander CJ and his trusty
sidekick, Daddy, decided to make an exploratory mission into outer
space. Commander fired up his Retro Rocket and set course to a far
galaxy known as the Clubhouse Region. On the far reaches of the
Clubhouse Region, the commander parked his rocket and took his lead
Daddy on a space walk to the planet 1000. Near 1000, Commander CJ found
and gathered space rocks and took them back to the Retro Rocket. After
running several tests on the space rocks, Commander made several more
trips for this mystical rock and completed several more experiments.
Before departing the Clubhouse Region, Commander CJ decided to take some of the special rocks to the Gazebo Spacestation. En route, Commander CJ spotted a mysterious Space Kitty and chased it across the galaxy. After the Space Kitty escaped, Commander reset his course to the Gazebo Spacestation. Upon arrival, Commander laid the space rock into a special configuration, to boost the power of the space station. Upon completing this portion of his mission, Commander CJ took a seat at the Gazebo's lookout and invited his assistant to sit with him. Commander declared the mission a success with his trademark phrase "Happy, Happy!"; he hugged his assistant and the two were off again.
Commander CJ made his way over to the Lookout Stump and watched several fast moving spaceships (side note: some of these spaceships were moving faster than the speed limit, which did not make Commander's assistant very happy...). On the way back to the Retro Rocket, Commander CJ spotted the space kitty. Commander spoke to the kitty in a mix of the Commander's native language and a language believed to be understood only by the space kitty.
Leaving the Clubhouse region wasn't as simple as it should have been for Commander CJ. The Commander decided that a few space rocks would be needed to power the Retro Rocket. Another short exploration to the 1000's was at hand. After securing the rocks and powering up the RR, Commander CJ decided to enjoy the view on his way back to his home planet and rode back home on the shoulders of his trusty assistant.
We try to get it all on video, but because we can't catch it all, I want to be able to look back at this stage and reminisce. Why can't we just freeze this time!!!!???? I love it!!!
"gapes" or sometimes sounds like "japes" or "jeeps"- grapes
"unch" - lunch
"shit"- shirt
"ball"
"bubble"
"tuck"- stuck, meaning himself or an object
"chuck"- truck
"jew"- juice
"outcheeeww"- while hearing Usher and David Guera song- Without you
"hello hello hello"- while hearing Nirvana's Teen Spirit
"mammies"- jammies
"happy happy"
"ipes"- wipes
"uh-oh"- tries to say skettios after, but it's still a little mumbled
"mou"- mouth
"eye"
"ear"
"no" - either "nose" or "no"
"PEEEAAA"- usually please but sometimes peas
"beh"- bed
"melmo"- elmo
"choo choo"- train
"gurk"- yogurt
"bops"- blocks
"beepy"- usually followed by a yawn- sleepy
"bah bah"- water
"abble"- apple
"muln"- kind of hard to spell it to where it sounds like what he says- milk
"onj"- orange
"cado"- avocado
"nana"- banana
"boop"- book
"nack"- snack
"eat"
"amma"- Grandma
"Mommy", "Daddy", "Ma-ma" and "Pa-pa"
"Clock"- Clark.
"Bebba"- Isabella
"Ca"- car
"byyyyeeee" - bye
"key"
"go-go"
"poon"- spoon
"up"
"hello"
"tee"- tree
"goat"- possibly his 1st word
"mow"- what he says when he sees Sarah, our cat
"dye"- dry- usually when he refers to his underwear as still being dry
"ba"- bath
"deya dooooh"= there ya go
"day doo"- thank you- sounds similar to there ya go
"ee"- eat
"do"- door
"hat"
"tock"
"teeewww"- shoe
"ott"- hot
"co", started out as "told"- cold
"poon"- spoon
"mango"
"cackuh"- cracker
"baby"
"beebeeby"- blueberry, often sounds like baby
"totto"- tomato
"stehs"- stairs
"moh"- phone- took me a bit to figure out that one
"cheh"- chair
"pobby" or sometimes, "put it in the pobby" He often says it to the cat while patting her litter box. It's so cute. She's been "pobby" trained for 17 years, and CJ thinks he's the expert.
"cheeeeeeeese"- usually when a camera or phone is in front of him
I didn't realize how many words he says until I started typing!
This past Thursday, we hit the ground running with potty training CJ. We had introduced the potty before then, and he already loved sitting on it. Let me say he did NOT show any of the "readiness signs." They are bs and we brought about by "research" done by the diaper companies who have a bit of a conflict of interest.
Anyway, I read a couple of books- the parent guide that came as part of this package: http://www.pottytrainwithbabysigns.com/product.html. It taught us how to teach them the sign for "potty." He already knew most of the other signs like "more" and "all done." It also taught us the history of potty training and why we start so late now. Basically, disposable diapers make us lazy. Now, our son will say "pobby" and do the sign when he needs to go. Some kids will only sign.
*** And, the longer you wait, the more set in their ways they are, and they are more into exerting their independence. Which makes you wait a little longer after they show resistance, when they are even more set in their ways, and the cycle continues. Starting at 18 months, is alot of work for you, but they are more likely to go along with it.
I also read this book- very short and sweet. It is geared towards children 2 and up, and today, day 5, is the first day that we haven't had any accidents. http://www.3daypottytraining.com/ We are putting him in a diaper or pull-up while he is sleeping and when we leave the house only. The 1st three days, we stayed home, so he only had on a diaper while sleeping. He still tells us he needs to go with the diaper or pull-up on, like right before he goes down, when we're away from home and when he 1st wakes up. While awake and at home, he ALWAYS has on big boy undies. It's the way to go. When he would have an accident (during the 1st 4 days of bootcamp), we would immediately put him on the pot. We wouldn't scold him, but we would let him know it was yucky to pee on the floor and in his underwear. The 1st couple days were rough, but now he is so proud of himself, and we are too.
I feel like a lot of us are afraid to push our kids when they start to get frustrated, when it comes to anything but especially potty training. But, encouraging them to do something they don't think they can do, and then having them accomplish it will do more for their self-esteem than coddling them or letting them give up too soon will ever do. GOOD LUCK with your potty training journey!
We're so proud of you, CJ!!!
CJ is forever amazing me with his vocabulary. Every day the past few weeks is a new word. I can't believe how fast he is growing up and what an amazing young man he is becoming. I am so proud of my little man.
