Last update of the year

One quick update before the new year rolls around.

Violet's first two teeth have finally cut through. They are the bottom middle ones, and they seem to sprout up higher every day. She is clapping and waving her hands, and I swear she started making the sign for "milk" just a couple of days ago. She babbles away, and my friends and family are doing their best to convince me that she really is saying, "Mama," "Dada," and "Jack-Jack" because it sort of does sound like she knows the difference.

I haven't been great about feeding her solid food on a consistent basis. She definitely seems a little more stubborn and finicky than Jack was about food, so it hasn't been as fun. She doesn't love the jarred baby food, so we usually just give her bits of whatever we're eating. Her favorite food is bread or pasta of any kind. I tell people that she's a "carb-etarian." I'm definitely more lax about what we give her than I was with Jack. With him, we were rigorous about waiting three days between introducing new foods to see if there were any allergy issues. We still haven't given her the more allergenic foods (like dairy, strawberries, or nuts), because there are some food allergies in our family. But feeding seems like much less of a process with Violet than it was our first time around with Jack.

She is in an extreme Mommy phase right now. It's kind of funny to see her twist her head around to see me when someone else is holding her. It's less funny when she cries because I'm not holding her. She hasn't really been a great sleeper, and she seems to be having an even harder time of it lately. We don't know if it's teething, our recent trip, a growth spurt, or an imminent milestone, but night time has been a little rough for us. However, she is otherwise still a very happy baby.

She is making more forays into mobility and can tolerate more tummy time than she used to. I think she is still a long way away from crawling, but she can fold herself forward from a sitting position and reach more than we sometimes realize. I think she's also scooting herself a little bit on her bum when she does that. She frequently flips from her back to front and back again when she's lying down, but she doesn't really go anywhere when she does it.

At the risk of jinxing anything, Jack has been a joy since he turned four. KNOCK WOOD. He is learning so much right now and is so fun and funny. He is so interested in the world around him and asks such thoughtful, thought-provoking questions. Sometimes he drives us a little batty with all his "whys," but we definitely want to encourage his eagerness to learn.

He seems to be very interested in the sciences right now. He loves space and learning about the body and germs. He is of course still fascinated by numbers, but I'm happy to see that he can apply the numbers to real world situations. For example, he can figure out how many minutes are in x number of hours or how many days in x number of months. This is especially helpful to me, because he'll ask me things like, "How many days are in two years? three years? four years?" and after awhile, my ability - and patience! - to do all the calculations in my head is completely taxed.

I think he is also getting close to learning how to really read. Preschool must be teaching him phonics, because he has starting saying things like, "Ten starts with a t-t-t-sound. That means it starts with a T. And it ends with a n-n-n-sound. That means it ends with an N." He knows a lot of words by sight and has started asking me to teach him how to read. His attention span for our little lessons isn't great, though, so I haven't been pushing it to save us both the frustration. I think it's only a matter of time, though.

Of course, having a clever child is a double-edged sword. I am finding it harder and harder to put anything past him. If I try to veil my comments to Tom in front of him, Jack will sometimes pick up on what I'm trying to say even before Tom. I've had to get really creative in answering his questions in ways that convey information accurately but appropriately for his age.

He is also getting a little bit sassy. This morning, I did something he didn't like, and he pointed his marker at me and pretended to shoot me. I told him that I didn't like that, that it's not nice to even pretend to shoot people. My little smart aleck said, "I wasn't shooting you. I was giving you love."

Shuuurrre. But that comment did make me laugh.

His latest thing with Violet is to call her "Bukey." It evolved from "Baby" to "Bakey" to "Bukey." All day long he says to us, "I need that Bukey!"

"Need?" "Bukey?" I don't get it either.

Socially, he has progressed so much, even in just the last few months. Yesterday, we went to the Science Center with some friends, and it was absolutely packed. There were some bigger boys who were playing on an exhibit, and they weren't being very nice to Jack. One of them even pushed him. Instead of screaming or throwing a tantrum like he would have even just a few months ago, Jack just told me, "Those boys aren't very nice. He pushed me." And then he walked away from them and did something else.

Of course, he has his moments, as we all do, but he has come so far. WE have come so far. I am so proud of him and of our entire family.