As Daniel gets older his personality is becoming more and more developed. It's fun to watch!
Bath time fun
I mentioned last time that he has started doing more imaginative play. The latest development on that front is that now during bath time he likes to pretend he's having lunch at school. I was in the tub with him one night and he said it was lunchtime and pretended to hand me a sandwich. The sandwich course was followed by juice, oranges, yogurt, and tomatoes. We also sang the grace song the kids sing at school ("God our Father, God our Father...").
I asked him what we do after lunch and he showed me to throw away our trash, zip up our lunchboxes, put them on the counter, then lie down for nap time. I was also reminded that "we don't talk during lunch, we eat during lunch!" He proudly described his red fire truck lunchbox and then as I named his classmates he told me what they have.
I asked him what we do after lunch and he showed me to throw away our trash, zip up our lunchboxes, put them on the counter, then lie down for nap time. I was also reminded that "we don't talk during lunch, we eat during lunch!" He proudly described his red fire truck lunchbox and then as I named his classmates he told me what they have.
It was cute to see him acting all of this out with no props but his imagination. He was so excited when I joined in. It reminds me of how, when he starts to sing a song and I join in, he gets this look like "wow, Mommy knows it too?" It's like he landed in a foreign country and was delighted to find the locals understood him. Interesting to see how his mind works.
Now "lunchtime" is a part of our bath routine. Also part of the bath routine: bubbles, fizzing color dye for the water, and tub crayons. If he says he doesn't want to come upstairs for bath time I just say, "what color bath should we take?" and he suddenly wants to take his bath! (Mommy Jedi mind trick) He also likes making "bubble beards" and when I gave him a big white beard of bubbles he said "Ho ho ho!"
He loves for me to get in the tub with him and I'm glad for the chance to get some one-on-one time with him. It won't be long before he's too old to bathe with Mommy so I'll enjoy it while I can.
He loves for me to get in the tub with him and I'm glad for the chance to get some one-on-one time with him. It won't be long before he's too old to bathe with Mommy so I'll enjoy it while I can.
Using his words
He continues to speak quite well and is starting to use pronouns. He used to always refer to himself in the 3rd person but now he'll use "I". He doesn't really know the word "me" yet so he'll say "Mommy help I" or "sit by I". When I take Rebecca to the changing table he'll say "her pooped."
He still can't quite say "car" correctly but now it comes out more like "cow". And when he wants us to unplug something he'll ask us to "plug it out" (which in fairness does seem like a reasonable opposite to "plug it in"). Pajamas are still "palamies" too.
Lately he's been asking more questions too and using inflection at the end of the sentence. The funniest example was tonight. We have some wire hung up by the back door with binder clips to hold up and display Daniel's artwork. It fell down the other day but this afternoon I put the art back up. I told him that at dinner and he responded "you did?" with this excited voice. It was really cute :) When we do something for him he'll enthusiastically say "there you go!" We aren't getting the "why" question yet but I'm sure it's not far off.
Overall, he's just a lot more communicative and conversations feel increasingly like a two-way street.
Independence
More and more he wants to do things himself. He'll say "Daniel do it!" or sometimes just "Daniel!" He can turn the lights and fan in his room and in bathrooms on and off by finding something to stand on. He also likes to open his toothpaste (aka "Thomas" because it has Thomas the Tank Engine on the tube) and brush his own teeth with his Darth Vader toothbrush. (How do you get a toddler to brush his teeth? Have his toothbrush command it in a deep voice!) He's also learning to take off and put on shirts, though that's still a work in progress.
He still can't quite say "car" correctly but now it comes out more like "cow". And when he wants us to unplug something he'll ask us to "plug it out" (which in fairness does seem like a reasonable opposite to "plug it in"). Pajamas are still "palamies" too.
Lately he's been asking more questions too and using inflection at the end of the sentence. The funniest example was tonight. We have some wire hung up by the back door with binder clips to hold up and display Daniel's artwork. It fell down the other day but this afternoon I put the art back up. I told him that at dinner and he responded "you did?" with this excited voice. It was really cute :) When we do something for him he'll enthusiastically say "there you go!" We aren't getting the "why" question yet but I'm sure it's not far off.
Overall, he's just a lot more communicative and conversations feel increasingly like a two-way street.
Independence
More and more he wants to do things himself. He'll say "Daniel do it!" or sometimes just "Daniel!" He can turn the lights and fan in his room and in bathrooms on and off by finding something to stand on. He also likes to open his toothpaste (aka "Thomas" because it has Thomas the Tank Engine on the tube) and brush his own teeth with his Darth Vader toothbrush. (How do you get a toddler to brush his teeth? Have his toothbrush command it in a deep voice!) He's also learning to take off and put on shirts, though that's still a work in progress.
Big brother
He's usually very sweet with baby Rebecca, or "Bay Abucca" as he calls her. He gives hugs and kisses, asks to hold her and tries to nurse her. The other day he was looking at her and said "I love her" as if he'd just realized it. But he has also hit and pushed her a few times too. Fortunately those moments have been the exception to the rule.
I think he'll enjoy her even more once she's old enough to crawl and interact with him more. He likes to lie on her jungle themed activity mat with her and hold her hands and tries to show her how to kick the toys on it. For her part, she adores him. She loves to look at him and smiles.
I think he'll enjoy her even more once she's old enough to crawl and interact with him more. He likes to lie on her jungle themed activity mat with her and hold her hands and tries to show her how to kick the toys on it. For her part, she adores him. She loves to look at him and smiles.
Friends
He has also enjoyed some fun birthday parties and play dates this month with his buddies Alejandro and Noah. The boys were all born in 2010 and their little sisters were born in late 2012/early 2013-perfect playmates for Rebecca!
He has also enjoyed some fun birthday parties and play dates this month with his buddies Alejandro and Noah. The boys were all born in 2010 and their little sisters were born in late 2012/early 2013-perfect playmates for Rebecca!
Here's a picture of the boys when they were babies. Daniel was about 2 months old and Ale and Noah were 6 months.
And here's a picture of the girls. Note that we preserved the Rangel/Williamson/Elborai order as before. And notice how strongly Rebecca resembles Daniel. Seriously, switch the clothes and you'd be hard pressed to tell which is which!
Montessori Night
Last week Daniel's school had a Montessori Night when the parents were invited to come up to watch the kids do the projects ("works") they work on during Montessori class time. Here are some pictures of Daniel showing off his skills:
Bug bowls: He had 3 colored bowls with matching tongs and matching small toys. The goal was to use the appropriate-colored tongs to pick up the toys and place them in their respective bowls. Some of the toys were pretty small so he had a hard time with the tongs and would instead grab them with his hands. Creative and pragmatic, but doesn't develop the fine-motor skills like the tongs do. This one is a good challenge for him right now.
Counting puzzle: He had to connect the puzzle pieces by counting up from 1 to 10. This one was also a little challenging for him but he was able to finish it. When he did he looked up proudly and said "I did it!" He looked over at us but also at his teacher, Ms. Becca, when he did. Clearly he was happy to see approval on all 3 faces. It was another nice little sign of how attached he is to her and how much he enjoys being in her class.
Another puzzle: This one looked like it would be a challenge for him with so many pieces but he whipped through it with confidence. Clearly it wasn't his first time doing this one. It must be a favorite (he even smuggled home one of the puzzle pieces the other day!)
Frog clips: This is another work that focuses on fine motor skill development. Ms. Becca said this is one where she's been able to see a lot of improvement with Daniel. Today he was able to arrange all of the clips around the bucket lid, but a few months ago he couldn't.
Metal inset tracing: This is a Montessori classic. He first traced the inside of a metal shape inset like the circle at right. Then he copied over the tracing to learn how to draw the shape on his own.
It was fun to watch him show his skills. He obviously enjoyed the works and is learning a lot. It was fun to see the beaming smile of "I did it!" after he'd finish one. Makes me wish I could be a fly on the wall in his classroom every day to see that.
Next week we have our spring parent-teacher conference. I'm so amazed at all of the changes we've seen in Daniel since his first day of school last July and look forward to seeing what lies ahead.
I remember how huge the age gap seemed then, and especially since the kids were on on opposite ends of the growth chart so my little 2 month old looked even littler next to big 6 month olds. But now the boys play wonderfully together.
And here's a picture of the girls. Note that we preserved the Rangel/Williamson/Elborai order as before. And notice how strongly Rebecca resembles Daniel. Seriously, switch the clothes and you'd be hard pressed to tell which is which!
Montessori Night
Last week Daniel's school had a Montessori Night when the parents were invited to come up to watch the kids do the projects ("works") they work on during Montessori class time. Here are some pictures of Daniel showing off his skills:
Bug bowls: He had 3 colored bowls with matching tongs and matching small toys. The goal was to use the appropriate-colored tongs to pick up the toys and place them in their respective bowls. Some of the toys were pretty small so he had a hard time with the tongs and would instead grab them with his hands. Creative and pragmatic, but doesn't develop the fine-motor skills like the tongs do. This one is a good challenge for him right now.
Counting puzzle: He had to connect the puzzle pieces by counting up from 1 to 10. This one was also a little challenging for him but he was able to finish it. When he did he looked up proudly and said "I did it!" He looked over at us but also at his teacher, Ms. Becca, when he did. Clearly he was happy to see approval on all 3 faces. It was another nice little sign of how attached he is to her and how much he enjoys being in her class.
Another puzzle: This one looked like it would be a challenge for him with so many pieces but he whipped through it with confidence. Clearly it wasn't his first time doing this one. It must be a favorite (he even smuggled home one of the puzzle pieces the other day!)
Frog clips: This is another work that focuses on fine motor skill development. Ms. Becca said this is one where she's been able to see a lot of improvement with Daniel. Today he was able to arrange all of the clips around the bucket lid, but a few months ago he couldn't.
Metal inset tracing: This is a Montessori classic. He first traced the inside of a metal shape inset like the circle at right. Then he copied over the tracing to learn how to draw the shape on his own.
It was fun to watch him show his skills. He obviously enjoyed the works and is learning a lot. It was fun to see the beaming smile of "I did it!" after he'd finish one. Makes me wish I could be a fly on the wall in his classroom every day to see that.
Next week we have our spring parent-teacher conference. I'm so amazed at all of the changes we've seen in Daniel since his first day of school last July and look forward to seeing what lies ahead.
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