I suppose a lot has been going on lately but we're both too exhausted to keep up. Henry and Eleanor are developing at the speed of light. I have been doing a poor job documenting Henry's cognitive and social development over the last 6 months and now I no longer remember when things began. For instance, he can spell his name. He can identify at least half of the written alphabet. The first word he ever read (besides his name) was probably about 6 weeks ago and it was "Boy". I have a book w/ boy in the title and it was lying on the floor and he said, "B O Y boy". He can identify several written numbers and count objects up to about 8 and can count to 20 by rote. He loves books, like most preschoolers. He likes to sit quietly and turn the pages. Or he will "read" the books to us by memory. He understands concepts like tallest, biggest, fastest, same, more, etc. His speech is understandable to probably anyone, even our half deaf neighbor across the street (Henry's a bit on the loud side) and he uses and understands prepositions like on, in, under, above, below, etc. He can recite the words to several songs. We always have music playing and he enjoys singing along. His favorite songs are the old Disney classics (Hi Ho, Bippity Boppity Boo, Unbirthday song, Never smile at a Crocodile, Aristocats, etc.) He uses past, present and future tense but still makes some mistakes. He is very friendly and outgoing but prefers to approach as opposed to being approached. He HATES it when someone initiates affection with him (besides his parents, of course). He will either shout, "NO!", run and hide, or say, "I don't like that!" if someone comes at him with open arms ready to cuddle. BUT, if you wait, and let him come to you, he will be very friendly and affectionate. He likes to talk to himself, his toys, Eleanor, the cat, when he is by himself. He still uses his lovie (a tattered sheet we used to swaddle him in as a baby) but has quit the paci (sometimes we let him use his sister's baby paci for the occasional nap but he does not need it to sleep). And the last thing I can think of is he has learned the fine art of buttering someone up. For example, yesterday he came up to me and wrapped his arms around me and said, "I love you mom. You're my best friend today." I said thanks and then he said, "Can I have a snack while I watch TV?"
The hardest part about this age (for me) is the sensitivity. Any remote amount of frustration on our part reduces Henry to tears. He will say, "Be my friend!" or he will ask, "Are you mad at me? Please don't be mad at me." So, say I've asked him to come get in the bath 3 times and now I am using a firm voice, he will say, "Are you mad?" The other occupational hazard of mothering a 3 year old is the constant questions that really have no good answer. "Why is that dolphin jumping?" "Why do cats have paws?" etc.
Eleanor. She is all about ME (or us..she's the same w/ her dad). She has kicked it up several notches too in terms of difficulty. I can no longer just leave her on the floor with some blocks and then go clean the house, like I could before. She just yells for me. I remember this phase with Henry and it's not fun. I pretty much have to carry her around with me all over the house or I will have to hear lots of yelling which irritates Henry and causes him to yell back. And then I want to walk out the front door. So, instead, I just keep her on my person at all times. YAY!
A quick note about food. Henry is a really good eater. He will eat almost anything we eat. He gets at least 10 servings of fresh fruits/veggies a day (which is why we're poor). "Hey, that's my broccoli!" is an actual quote from him. Yesterday we went to a local farm to get some eggs and things and he ate 14 or 15 cherry tomatoes and probably 10 raw green beans in the car on the way home. And guess what? His sister HATES vegetables. She will spit them right out. Doesn't matter if it's pureed, cut up, jarred, fresh, powdered, frozen, she will refuse. I can get her to eat a small amount of avocado, small amount of sweet potato, she will "chew" on green beans, and that's about it. She will eat any fruit though. I made beets tonight after the kids were asleep so we'll see how that goes tomorrow. She summarily rejects anything green (won't even pick up a pea) so since beets are red I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
There's more to say about E but I'm going to wait. It's past 10 and this is already long enough.
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