We're very lucky.
Jack is the sort of child
we all assume we'll have
when we decide to have children,
and the sort of child
less experienced parents
congratulate themselves for.January and February 2004
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Monday, Jan. 03, 2005 - Mamma
Back again!
Thanks to everyone who was so patient with my long vacation! I did manage to post once over the holiday, with Rod's help -- but although the pictures I posted were seriously messed up, I never got a chance to fix them until now.
If you still wanted to see them, you can scroll to the bottom of this post and click on the "Previous" link at the bottom.
Holiday
We had a wonderul, very long vacation! We alternated between being slugs, and entertaining our hearts out.
We have so many friends that we don't get to see enough of, that we would invite them over for dinner a few at a time for four or five days in a row, then we'd take a couple of days and sit and stare at each other (or rather, chase Jack without trying to get anything else done) and then we'd issue another series of invitations.
We had a wonderful time, but we still haven't managed to see everyone.
Through it all, Jack was such a little trooper. He didn't complain much and he didn't fuss much -- mostly he was a charming companion and entertained himself when the adults got just too boring.
(Well, ok, he did petition to be read to pretty regularly, but he mainly was pretty cooperative once he was sure we were busy.)
One thing that I was reminded of was how badly suited I am to the "stay at home Mom" life. All through the holiday, Rod remained even tempered and sweet. I, on the other hand, started to get a bit churlish from the non-stop demands from a very charming and pleasant little fellow who wanted to read the same book 18-20 times a day. I know, it's normal to be very fond of repetition at the age of two. And I'm extremely happy that Jack likes books. And I make sure that most of the books are things I think are good reading so that I continue to feel good about reading them after the third or fourth repetition. I don't, on the other hand, have the patience to get to the end of a book, open it at the beginning, and read it again several times in a row.
I didn't make sure that there was a stack of books nearby at all times so I could just switch books as I finished one of the favorites, and that did help, but...
More than ever, I am convinced that Rod is a saint. He never seems to lose patience with Jack. Oh, he doesn't do everything Jack wants him to -- but he consistently manages the even tempered, reasonablt demeanor that I strive for! He never, ever seems irritated at the 50th request for "Are you my Mother" in two hours. he may read it, and he may not -- but he always gives the impression that the request was reasonable. I have a lot to learn from my sweet husband!
One really fun part of being home for three weeks, though, was that it was such a delight to b on the spot for every new development -- and there were many over the holidays!
Jack has now entered the "parrot" stage of life.
He has long had a fairly extensive vocabulary, and I mentioned that he had stopped using so many words.
Lately he has been adding words to his vocabularly again, and this time they are crystal clear. And if you say the same word to him twice, he will repeat it. He will even mimic two word "sentences". It's great fun!
He has also found ways to make it quite clear that he listens to our conversations and understands much of what he hears. As any parent of a toddler can tell you, that's both good and bad.
It's good in that when we're preparing to leave the house, he gets the idea not only that we're going out, but often he seems to know where we're going. (And if w turn in an unexpected direction in the car, he lets out a shout from the back seat!)
That means getting coopersation is easier than it has been.
But it also means that we have to be careful to use unfamiliar words when discussing some things. For instance, Jack goes on cheese or yogurt binges. When he's on one, we have to set limits -- if only when we run out! But when he's fussing for yogurt and we're out, one parent may have to explain to the other what the problem is and why it can't be resolved. But if you mention "yogurt" when he's fussing for it, he renews his firestorm of complaints...so we refer to the "cultured soy delicacy". In time he'll know what that means, too -- but for the moment it works.
Another fun thing to watch has been the immense growth spurt Jack's working on.
He has been changing visibly, day by day! He eats constantly lately and alternates between being decidely chubby and suddenly thin but much, much taller. He has gotten to 31 inches tall!
The old wives tale says that a child's height on his or her second birthday predicts his or her height as an adult. At the moment, Jack would be 5'2". I think Jack may have heard someone mention that and he is determined to become three feet tall before his second birthday. That's five inches in five months, folks. Do you think he can make it? It sounds unlikely, but I'm not laying odds -- this boy is determined.
I hope to be back on track now! More tomorrow!
Growing so fast!
