Favorite Things: December 2014

Vilac Fridge Alphabet Magnets.  Jonah loves to sings ABCs and spell words like "helicopter" and "airplane".  But his favorite thing to spell is "Jonah"!

Mindscope Race Track.  These little cars were a huge hit at Christmas!  And the best part is they don't need the track - you can chase them all around the house and under furniture to turn off the incessent engine and flashing lights.

"Little People: Christmastime"  Lift the flaps.  What could be better?

Making Yellow

I once saw an artist's sketch (possibly in an exhibit by Michealangelo, but I don't recall exactly) entitled: "woman making water".  Though I didn't know that particular euphamism, it was rather obvious to what this refered by looking at the drawing.  In our house, the phrase - as coined by Jonah - is proudly exclaimed ,"I made yellow!"  Serendipitous that yellow is his favorite color!

"J-O-N-H: That spells Jonah!"

Sometimes he forgets the A, but most of the time he remembers, especially if he can read the letters.

Counting is coming along too!  Jonah sympathizes with the Count von Count in that he sometimes finds it hard to stop counting.  It's a good thing he only knows up to 13!

Favorite Things: November 2014

Larson Puzzles.  The 9 and 13-piece jigsaws featuring a train and airplanes are just right, but we are quickly moving into 24-piece jigsaws! 

Curious George books and cartoon.  And yet I wasn't the one to figure out where his new habit of saying "huh?" came from...

Sledding!

We had a nice snowfall over Thanksgiving, so Jonah got to play in the snow with his cousins!  I stayed inside, but watched them build a huge snowman.  Jonah preferred to push others down the hill than sled himself.  He also enjoyed having PopPop pull him around.  I hope he doesn't get the idea that this is how they work!

Terrible 2's?

Jonah has decided to officially act like a two-year-old.  It started with an all out screamfest over getting dressed last week.  Since then, we've noticed some serious rebellion over little things, like the wrong cup.  Oh boy.  I expect it will get a lot worse before it gets better!

Halloween Tiger!

Jonah was very excited to dress up like a Tiger this Halloween.  He picked out the fabric (rejecting a cute cartoon-y fleece) and helped stuff the tail, using a variety of tools including a screwdriver and electric drill - which actually worked quite well!  He even wanted the tiger hat to go with it and wears the hood with pride.  He and Daddy have been practicing their growls, so he has a really powerful roar to go with the outfit.  I had bought him a cute red cardigan sweater so he could be Daniel Tiger (his favorite show!  chip off the old block) but in the end he chose to be a 'regular tiger' and make fierce roars.  He also enjoyed holding his tail and showing it off to everyone.

Jonah has found many occasions for wearing his tiger suit.  Playgroup had a huge party, we trick-or-treated at his school, he and Daddy trick-or-treated at the supermarket, he attended a party by the rec. department AND THEN it was time for Halloween night.  Wow!  What a busy tiger!  Every time we went somewhere, Jonah asked for "more party"!  I think Trick-or-Treating was the least favorite.  He couldn't understand why when you went to someone's house and rang the doorbell you wouldn't go inside when they opened the door!  And a little toddler from down the street saw Jonah inside the neighbor's house and got the same idea.  Cute.  Five houses and he was done.

I always encouraged Jonah to take the little slinkys, balls, and other toys instead of candy.  Not because I'm that mom who doesn't want her kid to have the sugar.  Jonah doesn't like any of it!  At his school party, he kept grabbing Twizzlers, so I gave him one to try.  He licked it and handed it right back.  But at the next classroom, he reached for more Twizzlers!  We also tried a Snickers - a tiny sliver of chocolate off the end so small we didn't even reach the filling - and he was done.  He had far more fun with the stickers and stamps.  Oh, and we did discover a new love for popcorn!  He sat and pulled the kernels one at a time from the fingers of a plastic glove and enjoyed every minute.

Favorite Things: October 2014

Tiger Costume.  Jonah loves to run around and roar as loudly as he can!

"The Cat in the Hat"  I never liked this book as a kid, the cat's antics always made me too nervous for all the trouble little Sally and her brother were in.  Now as a parent, I like it even less, but more for the endlessness than the disobenient plot.  Should I be worried that my son likes it so much??? 

Children's Museum w/ JK&L

Jonah cashed in on his birthday present from Uncle Kevin and Aunt Lindsay - they took him to the Children's Museum!  Sounds like they had a great time and Jonah and Uncle K became fast buds.   Mommy enjoyed a morning to herself (Daddy was helping Grandpa!) and met up with the crew for lunch.  Uncle Kevin and Aunt Lindsay looked a little tired from their busy morning

Jonah's favorite thing - which he had to show me when I arrived to pick him up - was a fake fish tank like you might find in Spencer Gifts... in a little "cave" in the eave... 3 stories up!  Oh boy.  He also enjoyed making super long trains and is very proud of his artwork, which is a series of yellow ovals drawn by a pendulum, but he always points at the fridge and announces: "I made that!"

Potty Training

To recap, it went something like this:

Day 1:  sat on the potty every 15min., nothing
Day 2:  moved the potty to the Living Room and sat for longer intervals watching TV or iPad - success came with Jonah saying "uh oh!"
Day 3:  Jonah finally connected sitting with going as a positive thing, much enthusiastic dancing to reinforce - toys/books/sweets not working
Day 4:  total frustration of fighting for potty breaks
Day 5:  surprising and repeated success (with a few accidents), time on iPad becomes successful reward currency
Day 6:  SCHOOL - Jonah wears Pull-Ups and sits on the potty, but never uses it
Day 7:  total failure
Day 8:  SCHOOL - repeat
Day 9:  Jonah had a great day, even taking time out from his birthday party!
Day 10:  Feel we've got the rhythm, (as long as Mom or Dad enforce potty breaks at appropriate times)
...
Week 2:  Jonah regularly "makes yellow" almost immediately upon sitting on "little potty" and is proud of his own success (but still asks for iPad afterward), potty moves back to the bathroom
...
Week 4: Jonah sometimes tells us he needs potty... but doesn't make it, still has great success when we ask, helps empty his own potty and flush!
...
Week 6:  Potty Training Euphoria! - Jonah can tell us he needs potty and makes it! (usually with a stop to bring his toy of choice to the bathroom with him!), Mom is much more relaxed not counting the minutes or forcing unwanted potty breaks, using public restrooms is still a challenge but with some success, Jonah still wears Pull-Ups to school and diapers for nap/nighttime