Nick's Twenty-Seventh Month

Nick really grasps concepts now, more than just associating names with objects. When he's cold, he pretends to shiver and says, "Brrrr, it's cold!" He got pinned in between the couch and the table, and he yelped, "I'm stuck!" We practiced alot with his books: hot and cold, up and down, spiny and smooth. He requests car rides, the playground or playing outside. We've started that age-old practice of spelling things around him now, but I don't expect that to last long either. (If he knows what Dora the Explorer is spelling, in 3 different languages, what makes us things we're being so slick that he won't catch on?) My favorite this month: he knows cars, and he knows trucks. He can identify a Fiat, a Ford and Porsche on site (you thought I was talking about generic idenfication of cars... that's too easy! Hear that, if any of my clients at Ford are reading this?) He still gets slipped up sometimes with first-and-third-person relationships. He'll get upset, then stop crying and ask, "What's wrong?" He's his own phsycologist.

We spend Friday nights circling the grocery store as Nick pushes one of the carts for little kids up and down the aisles. He never reaches for anything on the shelves, just loves to push. Never unsupervised, though, as he'd mow the little old ladies down, focused intently on their coupons and not watching out for a high-speed toddler with a steel battleram, as he tries to pick up speed on the straightaways.

He got to tubby in Aunt Megan's whirlpool tub. Brandi convinced him the bubbles were fun, and to look closely at the jets as she turned them on... and then it rifled a vicious projectile of water square into his face and thrust him back about 3 feet into a hosed and pathetic heap. Funny, yes. But a face full of water, at what feels like a PSI comparable to a space shuttle launch when you're only two, is a tough way to learn how a whirlpool tub works.

When he and mama returned from Atlanta from their stay, I was so happy to see them. (And the 150 people aboard Northwest Flight 472 were happy Nick was home as well.) I reached for my son and told him how happy I was he was home. He responded affectionately with simple terms: "Pizza!" At least he's easy to please. He eats a ball park frank like a man, bun and all. (No onions and relish yet, although I haven't offered it to him, either. And sometimes the parts get consumed separately.) Still loves spicy food. But he can't get enough popcicles. Note to other parents: sugar-free popcicles are helpful for good poos.

He followed his mama into the bathroom last week (gotta remember to lock the door) and sat down on the little potty next to her, on his own. So naturally, we encouraged this activity. Then he reached for a magazine, and we got a cute picture. When you see the picture, I want you to know he only reads the articles! ;) (And the magazine wasn't mine, I swear!) Mama shook her head at him, and questioned whether this material was appropriate. Then he pointed to the girl in the picture and said, "Mommy!" Of course, that was the perfect response for the situation. Once again, that's my boy - always got the right answer handy when he needs it.

Click here for 27th month pictures.

- Jason

Nick's Twenty-Sixth Month

Most of Nick's big words this month are directly related to the growth of his big head: waffles, popcicles, hot dogs, and noodles.He's speaking in full sentences now, so it's clear when he wants to go for a car ride, or visit Aunt Megan. He walks up to his cousin Seth and hugs him. He still has no use for the younger Thatcher, who just steals his snacks and toys. He sorta treats Thatcher the same way he reacts to the dogs - he waves his finger at him and says, 'No, no.' This is a short-lived scenario, though - strong Thatcher will be able to bench-press small Nick in a few months.

The TV shows are sinking in now, so no more Law and Order. He watches one show where they introduce animals to kids, and he know some animals on sight that I have never head of: jaguar, kinkajou, lemur, tapiers, armadillos, dolphins, kangaroos. And he can make the sounds for all of them.

He experienced his first tornado, and his first Georgia snowfall. He and mama went to Georgia to get out of the cold, and they got a foot of snow. Here in Michigan, we had the coldest January on record, and the second-most snowfall on record... all in a single month. We made a snowman for the back porch, and each day, Nick would say, 'Bye, bye, snowman,' as he melted.

Grandpa Mantel is teaching him to play chess. He knows all the pieces by name, and is just getting the hang of the movements. When he wants them, he says, 'Where are my pieces?' I've been told if a kid can play chess at 2, he's a genius. No, he's not really that close to genius status, but as long as he loves to learn, we'll keep feeding him new stuff. This week, Brandi started working on the 50 US States.

One night about 3:00 AM, Brandi thought she heard the door open from the kitchen to the garage, but figured it was nothing and rolled over. Luckily curiosity got the best of her, and she investigated. Nick had crawled out of the crib (only the second time he's done that), walked to the garage, opened the door, turned on the light, and was riding his Cozy Coupe around the garage. He was one button away from opening the garage door, and wandering off. So the next night we rigged a rope tied from his door to the closet to contain him in his room. We have the childproof door handle covers to stop him from opening doors - you need to pinch them to grip - but he figured those out in about five minutes. He hangs on the with his weight, and turns the handles. I was prepared to barricade him his room as a teenager, but not this soon.

All the books from his infancy he is reading to us now. He read me a book over the phone the other night, and he now sits in my lap and reads to me instead of me reading to him. All the little bits I would insert to the stories for color, he now does on his own. When he sees the elephant wearing red socks, he yells 'Boo!' (because we don't like the Red Sox, get it?) When he sees the smooth dinosaur, I always rubbed his bald head - now he rubs his own head for the word 'smooth', and he yawns when the dinosaurs stay up late. He's in-between memorizing and reading. Most of the books he has memorized from two years of reading to him, but he's picking out those words in other contexts as well.

Click here for 26th month pictures.

- Jason