Stubborn

It is becoming more apparent that in addition to having a huge head, David also has a hard head. He is generally a happy and delightful little guy, but he has a stubborn streak in him that is strong. When he doesn't want to eat/take a nap/have his diaper changed, he will arch his back like an Olympic gymnast to protest and try to prevent you from putting him into his high chair/crib/changing pad. He also takes after his paternal uncles in that he is loud. He has two volume levels when he babbles--normal and then a shout that reminds me of being at the dinner table with my husband's family as they all try to talk over each other (in a good, loud, Italian/Lithuanian way). So when he really does not want to do something, he arches his back and shouts at me in his baby babble. I have taken to calling him Archie.

Lately David's stubborn streak has focused on food as he refuses any and all baby food and demands--and I mean demands--to eat whatever big people food anyone else around him is eating. Cheeseburgers, french fries, tortellini, ravioli, pizza--you name it, the kid loves it. When he gets big people food, he will eat it with relish and eat quite a bit of it. When he runs out, he bangs in his high chair tray with both hands as if to say more! more! In the picture above, he threw a huge fit until Joe let him eat some french fries and part of the cheeseburger bun. Tonight at dinner he threw another fit until I let him get close enough to AJ's plate that he was able to swipe two handfuls of cut-up pizza, which he promptly shoved straight into his mouth. AJ was horrified and screeched "Baby's eating my pizza! That's AJ's pizza!" David just grinned and dove in for two more handfuls.

The Patch (Kaching, Kaching)

My dad and Susan came this weekend for a visit, and my dad graciously agreed to spend his birthday on a quest for The Great Pumpkin. After he and Susan arrived the day before from Iowa, we then turned around and drove them halfway back to Iowa to go to a mega apple farm/pumpkin patch near DeKalb that was a cross between a county fair and giant retail experience. There were about 1,000 cars in the parking lot, and each carload probably spent about $50 on pumpkins, apples, cider, and (my favorite) apple cider donuts. We passed a house on the way to the farm that was disproportionately large compared to its neighbors, and we joked on the way home that it probably belonged to the farmer who was smart enough to open up a cash cow pumpkin patch. The money was just pouring in there from the city slickers who were happy to stand in a 40 person line to buy a half gallon of apple cider and some taffy apples.

For his part, AJ was pretty happy to pick out two pumpkins--one for himself, and in a act of generosity, one for his brother, who was along for the ride but having a rough day due to teething. AJ's favorite part was clearly getting to scrub the mud off the pumpkins he choose using the cattle watering tank and scrub brush that was set out for this purpose. Another genius business move--have the customers wash the dirt of their own pumpkins, saving the money to pay workers to do it and giving them that "authentic" experience.

Big Guy Play

To follow up on the Little Guy Play post from last week, AJ is also doing some new things in his playtime. He is now able to do things that last more than a few minutes and require some concentration and more advanced motor skills, such as building entire train track set ups, putting together villages of lego towers and--his latest favorite--putting together giant floor puzzles with around 50 pieces. He is getting good at the idea of putting together objects in the puzzles, like figuring out that the horse's legs go with the horse's body. He has also started to repeat the phrase "look at the picture on the box!" although I can't tell yet if he is actually doing this to figure out where things should go. He doesn't quite get the idea yet of straight pieces being the edges around the puzzle, but we are working on it. By the time his Great-Uncle Roger gets here for Thanksgiving, AJ should be a good little puzzle buddy to work with Roger, provided that Uncle Roger doesn't mind doing a 48 piece giant floor puzzle of a fire truck.

AJ is also taking a class once a week at our local park district that is just for two year-olds (no parents allowed in the room). From what I hear, it sounds like they play for the entire hour and a half. He looks forward to it and has had no separation anxiety so far. I ask him about it weekly, and so far all he has reported is "it's just good" and that they have trucks to play with.

AJ-isms

I want to record these little AJ-isms before I forget them.


Chicajo=Chicago


Elphlant=Elephant


Aminal=Animal



The cat pawed me!=The cat clawed me.



You wanna take me a bath?=Do you want to give me a bath?



We gotta new mini-ban!=We got a new mini-van.



I need two m&ms--one for me and one for dada=I need two m&ms for me.



I need to go potty=I am going to pretend I want to use the potty to waste time and delay going to bed.

You wanna take me to the 'Tanic Gardens?=Do you want to take me to see the model train exhibit at the Chicago Botanic Gardens?

Papa--where's the Grilla Glue?=Papa, where is the Gorilla (brand) Glue that I want to use to fix everything in sight?

Little Guy Play

David is starting to really play with toys, which is fun for me to watch. He is in a stage now where he enjoys rooting through the bins of toys that we keep on a low shelf. He tries out one thing, discards it and moves to the next. He can make quite a mess out of things in a very short amount of time. Our family room and play areas usually look like a bomb has gone off when he and AJ are through with them on the weekends. The fact that these same areas are neat and organized during the week when our nanny Linda is here only reminds me of how lucky we are to have her.

One of the funniest things David does when playing is to take a toy hammer and bang it over and over on the floor. It is pretty obvious to me that he learned this one from watching his tool-obsessed big brother. AJ didn't even own a hammer when he was 9 months old, so it is one of the areas where David gets an advantage from having an older brother. David is also into seeing cause and effect, which means he loves anything with buttons that light up or make noise when he pushes them. And he also wants to do anything that AJ is doing. With his developing motor skills, he is not yet able to do much other than destroy what AJ is working on, from knocking over lego towers to pulling apart train tracks and pulling pieces out of puzzles that are in progress. As you can imagine, this does not go over well with his big brother. David for the most part gives a howl of protest when he is removed from the big brother play area and then gets quickly distracted by some new toy he is given and all is well for the moment.

PS--I have three new posts this week, so be sure to read back through the other two in the end of September.