2.5 years of Sal

At two and a half, Sal is full steam ahead. I often describe him as full throttle. The kid operates in 5th gear 24/7. He has more energy in his little toe than I have in my entire body. That being said, I'm endlessly pinning activities and games and projects on pinterest in hopes of keeping him challenged. 

He's taken a recent liking to puzzles, both on my iPad (try the tozzle app) and for real. His favorite is a Melissa & Doug fishing puzzle that has a magnetic fishing pole to place the pieces in their respective spaces. He still isn't the artsy type, but he did make his dad two pictures using bingo blotters (we use a brand of blotters called dot a dot) and narrated the entire picture for me to write captions to the different parts. I was quite impressed as this was the first time I can recall the coloring being his idea.

                   

                        [ buying skittles without help from mama with his potty money]

Two and a half kind of crept up on us. In the last few months, he has really gone from a toddler to a little boy reaching milestones like transitioning into a big kid bed, potty training ( He only wears diapers to sleep and if we are going out for more than an hour) and giving up his bedtime milk ( save me the "you know milk will rot his teeth, right?" Yes. I'm aware.) It turns out that the whole milk routine meant more to me than to him. I worked it up in my mind that he would go to bed screaming if we didn't sit on the sofa after bath (and brushing teeth) and have his sippy of milk. Little did I know that the night we told him we were going to read a story instead of having milk would be met with a "sure, guys!" attitude. 

Giving up milk? Not a big deal. 

Phew!

Sal still loves his blue blankie and his stuffed animals; Pluto, Figuero and Mickey. All three nap with him in my bed, and Figuero gets to sleep with him each night, lucky son of a gun. Naptime has been fairly consistent again, with Sal heading to my room around 12:30 and sleeping until 2:30 or 3:00. I don't really notice a behavioral difference on napping days vs non napping days, so it won't be too much of a change when he does give naps up. 

       

          [ favorites: r/c excavator, wallet, credit cards, pj shirt, Roadwork book and blue blankie]

One of the benefits of living in China and being in a high rise is the vantage point of many many construction sites. Sal loves excavators (he calls them escabators), dump trucks and cement mixers. He often perches himself in Carla's window seat and watches them come and go at the apartment complex near us. Sometimes we walk over to see them, but he's usually content watching from our windows. 

                     

                      [ Thank goodness for double window locks. Watching busses go by ]

We love hearing his little chatter, and it's getting clearer every day.  Some of our favorite sayings of the moment are:

"Dats not berry nice" (That's not very nice) I have no idea where he got that one from *wink, wink*.

"I have a idea!"

" Yet's find a suwution" (let's find a solution)

" Yet's go to Elemenfesh and have mac'n tees". Once at Element Fresh, he usually asks NZ , "can I have some your yamb dada? (Lamb)", "can I have you yaffa bed, mama?" (Laffa bread)

                    

                               [ Who put this broccoli in my Mac n cheese ?!]

"See ya guys"

"Have fun. Have fun at work dada" 

"I need a tiss!" (Kiss)

"She need milk" (said whenever Carla is crying)

"It's a emergency!" 

"Jus yike da big boys do it" ( He's discovered that he can stand to pee. Yes, baby. Just like the big boys. Now wipe off the seat for the ladies.)

"Not of you Carya!" 

He's made strides towards caring more for his sister, but he did get a mouthful of her leg and left his mark last month. He's also exhibiting typical two year old defiance and aggressiveness at times. He's usually loving, but we have encountered a few situations as of late in which he pushes, shoves and takes toys from a playmate rather than using his words. I know its normal, but it's really challenging for me as a parent to watch my kid behave in such a way. All I can do is stay consistent with the discipline that NZ and I have chosen to use to deal with the behavior and hope that as his vocabulary and self awareness develops, that the words get used more than the hands to make a point. 

                 

                           [ hangin at the playground in his favorite Mickey shirt]

Two and a half is great-but it's also so very challenging to parent. There's a fine line that I skate between micromanaging  and letting him learn cause and effect on his own. Sure, I don't want him to push his playmate down to take a toy, but at the same time, he needs to learn that the playmate might hit him back, cry because he is sad, or yell at him and tell him to wait his turn. I feel like I always have to be on watch, because I don't want him to become a bully, and I want to be able to model appropriate responses to unfavorable behavior when it happens. But man, oh man, does it ever wear me out some days!

Sal, you're gonna keep your mama on her toes...but I wouldn't have it any other way. Here's to being closer to three years old than to two!

Big boy things

My little boy has been doing big boy things these days.

He decided that Cah (Carla) needed his highchair (even though she won't fit in it for a few months), and he could use his booster seat at the table when we eat. He likes to climb up and click himself in and requests a fowk (fork) like mine instead of his plastic one. 

But that's not all.....

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you've read about the saga of my non-napping toddler. Last month, I switched things up in an attempt to get him excited about naptime again. The hour long wailfests in his crib followed by a walk in the stroller was not on my top 10 list of "ways to spend an afternoon". I spurred his interest in it by offering him the chance to read and rest in my room on the "big bed". 

There were two rules. 

No jumping.

No getting off the bed. 

He doesn't have to sleep, but he can't get off the bed. I set a mental timer for an hour. I figured that would be enough downtime for both of us to recharge. 

The first few days he chattered the hour away. BUT..and this is a big BUT....he did NOT get out of bed. By the end of the week I had a sleeping son again. 

Halle-freaking-lujah. 

It's been a month now, and although he doesn't fall asleep every time, we've managed to avoid the meltdowns and I think we are all happier for it. When he sleeps--it's usually 2+ hours. 

When we went to Australia, I used a hire company to rent a pack and play and stroller. I figured we would try the bed at night time for him, and if it failed, I'd stuff him in the portable crib and have Carla sleep on the floor (on the floor?!, I know...but have I mentioned how easy going she is?). I didn't really want to rent two portable cribs. Anyways...absolutely no problem. He went to bed and stayed in bed every single night. 

But, would it continue once we got home? Should we take the rails off his crib? Is he ready?

On Monday night, the Eve of his 28th month, NZ took the rails off Sal's crib.

With baited breath, we put him to bed.

Would he get up? Would we hear his Buzz Lightyear "to infinity and beyoooond!" going off at all hours? Would we need to install a baby gate in his door to keep him in? 

He slept. 

Like a baby.

A baby who's doing big boy things.

I'm pretty sure if we blink he will be driving a car next.

Sal, lately.

Age: 27 months

Stats: 13.5 kg, not sure how tall.

Clothes: 2T pants, 2-3T shirts. His favorite shorts are basketball shorts handed down to him from our friend, Aiden. He refers to them as Aiden shorts. He also loves his Mickey ringer tee and his new "muscle shirt". 

Food: Does juice count? He would drink diluted juice 24/7 if allowed. He loves "ficey Pisa" (spicy pizza), " fickles" (pickles), nuts, "waisins" (raisins), toast, chips, nachos, green beans, cucumber and tomatoes. He's not much of a meat eater, unless it is steak. 

Verbal ability: Who let my kid swallow a parrot? He repeats EVERYTHING, and I mean, EVERYTHING..especially the things we let slip from our tongues. Some of our favorites are, "for EVER!!" said with mucho gusto, "what a bummer", "no big deal", "fix it", "put the water in it", "clean it up" & " not too much". I can hear these words coming out my own mouth every time he says them. There's definitely a theme there. He's shy when others talk to him, but is very vocal when it comes time to say goodbye. He says quite audibly, "bye guys!", and "see you next time". I've been trying to teach him how to greet people with a handshake, but the only person he has tried it on is his sister. He grabs her hand and shakes it forcibly, saying "nice to meet you."  When people cough or sneeze, he says, "salud!". It's darling. 

Activities: Sal's go-to toys are definitely Duplo blocks and his wooden blocks. He sits and organizes his wood blocks by shape, and stacks same shape duplos into tall towers. Pretend play has begun a little bit, with him often talking to his stuffed yellow lab, Pluto (formerly known as Tess), and his beanie baby bull "fuh-da-nan"(Ferdinand) at nap time. I love this age and watching his little mind wrap itself around ideas. 

Things he does: Sal still loves the song "Whistle" by FloRida, and will hijack my iPad to play it in the dining room where he proceeds to stand on top of his Duplo box, while holding a table leg and getting his groove on. He does the same with Jason Aldean's "Dirt Road Anthem". I credit his love for J.A. to the fact that I had that song on repeat while he was in utero. It's engrained in him. He HAS to love it. 

He has mastered a mean somersault now, and is really good at jumping with both feet off the ground. His valley girl-esque way of saying "forEV-er!" makes us laugh every time, and he gives some really good kisses goodnight. 

Our elevator has a no smoking sign posted--the kind with a red circle and slash over a cigarette. One day he asked, "whassit?" So I explained what it meant. Ever since then, when we see a no smoking sign, he yells " no smokeen". He loves finding the "don't " signs wherever we go now and is constantly asking, " whassit?". 

Proudest mom moment: He does so many things each day that make me proud of him. I think my favorite moment lately came when the phone rang as I was nursing his sister and couldn't answer it-- by the time I got in the room where our landline is, he had already answered "HehWhoa, hehwhoaaaa? Wong numba. Bye guys." And hung up. The phone rang again. This time I answered and he was in fact right--the caller had the wrong number. I just loved his little voice and was surprised he knew the correct phone etiquette of answering a call. 

                             

Proudest dad moment: NZ says one of the things that makes him proudest, is when we are getting ready to go, and Sal comes running out saying, " dada, hat?" wanting to wear a Dodger cap like his.

Naptime 'round here

And so goes the saga of naptime woes. 

I've been fighting back against my nap resistant two year old since the end of November. The little guy who at one time was cool with a couple of songs and a goodnight kiss has been screaming, crying, kicking and trying to negotiate a way out of naps for four whole months now. 

I refuse to give in. He's two. Two year olds need naps. 

Admittedly, I have reached the point where I don't expect him to sleep anymore. I have tried letting him "sleep" in our bed the past week and although he no longer screams bloody murder at the mention of "resting time", I'm convinced he will make the Olympic team for trampolining in 2028 if the tricks he pulls on our bed during naptime are any indication. 

If he is caught trampolining (which is every single day), he's moved back into his crib and given a book and a stuffed toy to cuddle with. I tell him he needs to lie quietly with his buddy and help the stuffed animal fall asleep. This has been successful twice in the last three weeks. That's a terrible average. 

And now what do I do now that I'm really desperate?

Once naptime fails  (we're usually at least 90 minutes into the battle at this point ), I've been loading the kids in the stroller for a walk. I face his seat towards me and underneath his sister so all he can see is pavement passing and hear my flip flops flipping. 

And this my friends has been a home run for us seven days in a row. 

I hate that he's not an easy napper anymore, but on the bright side, I'm getting some exercise and sunshine while he sleeps. I can already picture summer time. Over one hundred degrees with equal humidity--sweating buckets in an attempt to get my handsome little man to catch a few zzzz's. 

What have I gotten myself into? 

Toddler tales: the very hungry caterpillar

With all this time cooped up inside, I've started reading more to Sal. We've always read daily, but now that I'm trying to assemble some sort of order after the chaos of bringing a new baby home, I have set aside time each day to read a book to Sal and include an activity related to the book. 

Today we read, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. I love Eric Carle books. They were my favorite books as a teacher because there are so many lessons that can be created from the stories. 

Today I got my usually unenthusiastic artist (he is not a fan of coloring or painting) to play with a stamp pad to create colorful butterflies just like the one at the end of the story by  stomping on the stamp pad and pressing his feet on the paper. I later added the body and antennae. 

He love it and insisted we make more...we made so many we wore the stamp pad out!

不要

                                Sal says "heck yeah!" But mama says, "búyào". 

One of the most popular questions I get about living over here is whether we've learned the language. In short, the answer is a BIG.FAT.NO. Mandarin is difficult with all of the different tones (which I cannot hear, nor can I replicate). I give props to my friends who take courses and actually practice during day to day interactions, even if they get laughed at by the locals. 

We know a select few words and phrases. Both Nick and I know how to navigate a taxi with directions of straight, left, right, stop, here, there....and we both know our numbers. Knowing your numbers is key to not getting ripped off. One of the first phrases I was taught (and use almost daily) was búyào.

Búyào means "don't want", or "want not" in direct translation.

I use it in many situations. For example, someone goes to touch my kids faces or hands--I swat their hand away with a strong búyào to make my point. Do.Not.Touch.My.Kids. I also use it at the market, when my vendor asks if I need spinach this week, or when she tries to push a newly available vegetable my way. A quick sweet búyào does the trick. 

Well, turns out, someone has been listening and picking up on the uses of búyào, because Sal now answers us with búyào when he doesn't want/ or doesn't want to do something. His most popular use of the word is at dinner when we sit him in his chair, and he decides he doesn't want to eat what we've placed in front of him. He'll feverishly yell "all done, all done, all done...búyào búyào búyào!" to make his point. He also uses it when our ayi tries to get him to put pants on (Sal prefers a pants optional household) and I'll hear a búyào! from his room, followed by the chatter of my ayi, presumably warning him that he's going to get sick and die if he gets cold. Sal chatters back at her, but I don't know what he is saying. I don't think it's English or Mandarin. But, who knows? Maybe he has picked up more than we know. 

It's pretty awesome to have evidence of what a sponge he is for learning. It's also a reminder for us (me especially) to watch the swear words I tend to let fly.

Last thing I want is my kid sounding like a sailor's spawn. Major búyào. 

Clothespin hanging

It's snowing today. 

My toddler is stir crazy and I'll go crazy if I have to hear Caterina say "meow meow" one more time on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. 

Sal likes to play with these plastic clothespins I bought for less than a dollar. I keep a few stashed in my diaper bag to keep him entertained during long restaurant waits and airplane rides. He usually pins them on our clothing and has fun removing them and replacing them elsewhere. 

I got them out to play with this morning and just as I did so, Carla started speaking the language of her people in an all out screamfest for food. The girl can eat, folks. Sal still isn't sure of her (mostly  only when I'm nursing now) so I was hesitant to have him climb all over me to put clothespins on my clothes with her in my lap. 

Instead I tied two lacing strings together and strung them between the legs of our coffee table. I gave him a can of pins and he went to town hanging them, removing them and replacing them. 

It's a great fine motor activity, quiet, and clean. Thought I'd share it with my fellow parents of toddlers because we all can use a few magic tricks ip our sleeve for those days when attention spans are short and energy is high. 

Pompom pipeline

Pompoms are the activity of the week in the Zentil house. After a certain two year old undid an entire roll of wrapping paper for me, we were left with the cardboard tube. He played with it as a bat/ sword/ weapon for a while until I had enough of being pummeled and I took some scissors to it to make it into an angled pipe. 

I taped it to the window and gave him pompoms to stuff down the pipeline. It's a great indoor activity and fairly mess free !

Pompom transfer activity

Yet another pompom activity. 

We have an overstock of pompoms around here. 

Among our favorite pompom activities are stringing pompoms on thread to make garlands for the holidays, pushing pompoms into an old Parmesan container and shaking them back out, stuffing a silicone ice tray with different sized pompoms and the ultimate favorite--throwing pompoms all over the living room. 

I saw the idea of using tongs to transfer pompoms into a small container on Pinterest and we gave it a go this morning. 

Thirty minutes later and he is still transferring pompoms, announcing them by color. 

Winning. 

The cold hard truth

It's been coming for a while.

I think I've been in denial.

My once awesome napper, has been resisting his only nap since end of November. I originally found the solution of rocking him to sleep (hello 26 lbs!) worked, and swore I would only do it for a week, and then it would be back to our routine of two songs, a hug, kiss and bed. Well, that didn't happen. 

I rocked him well into my 38th week of pregnancy. Big belly and all. 

He needed sleep. Hell, I needed sleep.

And now, since the arrival of his little sister, we've had a grand total of five naps in ten days. That's not a very good average. Those naps came at the price of listening to a child scream like he's on fire for over an hour. Both NZ and I have attempted to go calm him down (NZ was successful, I was not) enough to sleep. 

I'm beside myself. I feel like two is too young to give up naptime. Everything I read says that two year olds need naps (or at least benefit from them). He is still in a crib, but from the looks of things today, he is one leg away from getting over it (I found him straddled and perched on top this afternoon). 

I succeeded in giving him a book and telling him he didn't need to sleep but did need to sit quiet in his crib and read until I come to get him. It seems to be working. Ten minutes so far and not a peep, but I do hear pages turning. 

The tough part is knowing if he is just going through a phase because the family dynamic has changed, or if he is legitimately not tired. He seems to operate okay on his napless days, although evenings get a bit sloppy and delirious. 

I'm tending to think he is just growing out of them, and that's the cold hard truth.

Anyone have any tips, advice, magic potions?

Mr. Independent

My parents may be proud that the college education they paid for is finally getting put to use, although the payoff is not exactly monetary. I majored in Human Development, emphasizing in child development (aka. The "I plan to be a teacher" major). I taught for a few years after college, but ultimately became a nanny for two families and then went on to work for a surgeon when we returned to Southern CA.

And now...I'm a mom.

When Sal was an infant, education aside, I was at a loss for what was normal (maybe I slept through those classes?), but now that he's a toddler, and starting to assert his independence, I feel like I am able to understand the "why's" of his behavior and it all comes down to him trying to test boundaries and become independent. 

He wants to do things on his own.

My job, as his mom, is to make his journey to independence and autonomy possible with age appropriate (and maybe a few challenging) tasks that he can master without assistance. It also makes my husband and my life a bit easier.

Here's what we've done to help Sal gain some independence and pride in his abilities to accomplish tasks:

Toddler friendly snacks placed on his level that he can choose from. 

Today he chose a tangerine.

And peeled it himself into an accessible garbage can.

Plates, bowls and sippy cups in a low unlocked cabinet. He can get his own cups and plates for mealtimes.

We turned off the hot water, so he can now fill his cup with water unassisted. The rule is that there must be a cup under the water spigot or he loses his privilege of filling his cup for the morning/afternoon.

Books and boxes of toys easily within reach.

A couple of 3m hooks placed at his level so he can hang his hat or jacket alone.

A bucket of easy to put on shoes. He finds the matching shoes but still needs help getting his foot in the shoe. Until he is ale to put shoes on easily himself, I plan to stick with Velcro closures. I really like pedipeds first walkers because of the tongue that flips out and wide Velcro closure. They slip on easily. 

I've moved his weather appropriate clothes to the bottom drawer. He chooses his shirt and bottoms for the day. Sometimes they match, sometimes they don't. It's his style. His choice.

A work in progress...self dressing. He tries himself but I am there to offer help if needed. 

It's been really fun and rewarding to watch him exceed my expectations of what he is capable of at this age.

My hopes in terms of giving him tasks he can do himself is to curtail some of the tantrums and frustrations that kids his age often exhibit. Don't get me wrong, we still go through the daily tantrums (how dare I close the bathroom door--he was playing with the flusher!) but I think that the more he feels in control the smoother his late teen months will go. In just the last week of making the household changes above, we've had much smoother days.

Lesson of the day: never underestimate what your kids are capable of. They rock!

Dog days of summer

I haven't been posting much on what Sal and I have been filling our heat filled summer days with, because honestly, it'll probably bore you..but, here's a typical day with our almost 19 month old:

We get up, graze for breakfast (he eats more if I put his breakfast out and he grazes all morning on it than if I sit him in his chair), say goodbye to Nick (he blows kisses and walks dad to the elevator now), ride our bouncy bike, push the dump truck, read "go do go" and "little blue truck" til I can recite it verbatim, rollup the living room rug, roll out the rug, dump cereal on the floor, pick cereal up off floor, sweep, vacuum (he loves to vacuum), try going potty (he earns a sticker for each time he pees in the toilet), watch some Disney cartoon shorts on the iPad, remove the sofa cushions, climb under the cushions, Skype with auntie, throw a tantrum, open and close the sliding glass doors over and over til fingers get pinched, brush our teeth, take our vitamins, attempt to use the toilet again, tantrum, bounce on the bed, fix the sheets, empty the kitchen cabinets, put shoes on, head to a friends (phew, 9:30 a.m., finally!), basement playtime, then home for lunch (or in today's case, McDonald's--again), diaper change, pjs, milk, nap 2 hours (both of us nap, actually!) wake up, diaper change/ toilet attempt, snack time, coloring (both paper and self), music and pool time on the balcony, pee in the pool, dump the pool, tantrum, clean the pool, change into clothes, stand on furniture, open and close the sliding doors again, more stories, more iPad cartoons, climb the pantry shelves in search of candy, follow ayi as she sweeps, vacuums and mops, hop in stroller, take a ride to the front entrance to our complex, buy bread, walk back home, press all the elevator buttons he can reach, stop at each floor 1-4 before going on up to 25, shoes off, say hi to ayi, put hands all over windows ayi just cleaned, dump snack on floor, clean snack up, hug ayi, wave bye to ayi, play in the Tupperware cabinet, pull on mom's leg as she preps dinner, toilet attempt, sticker, ride bouncy bike through house, play peek-a-boo in the curtains, dad's home, jump on the bed, jump on dad, eat dinner, climb on dad, climb the sofa bath time, pjs, milk, stories, bedtime........

                   Sofa "planking"

...and I wonder why I'm always tired.

So yeah, until fall rolls in with nicer weather, we're pretty much going ape$hit crazy stuck inside this summer. To all my California friends enjoying beach days, park picnics and all things wonderfully temperate, I'm envious! 

For the love of toilets

  

For some reason, Sal has been all about the toilet for the last few weeks. It started in Bali, when we would let him roam the hotel room naked after pool time, and he would go pull toilet paper off the roll and "wipe". It was all fun and games to him, pulling more and more paper off until there was a heap on the floor. He'd follow my husband or me in, acting as our own personal toilet paper butler.

It was cute. We laughed. I let it carry on.

It has since continued since our return to Wuxi. Now when I take his diaper off for a change or bath time, I tell him to go pee. He walks to our bathroom, opens the lid and stands in font of the toilet (never produces until he is conveniently in the bath water, but still...). He always needs his square of toilet paper, then throws it in the bowl, closes the lid, then climbs up to flush.

Today we had a miracle.

I heard a familiar little grunt.

My initial thought was "oh man, he's in a cloth diaper with no liner." Then I thought, why not try for the toilet? I ran, scooped him up and said to him, "lets sit on the toilet." So, I sat him on the toilet (with diaper on), then undid the tabs on his diaper, pulling it our from under him and he proceeded to poop! 

In.the.toilet.

I was the proudest mama alive today. Hence my blogging about it, which will someday probably embarrass him, but it's the small victories like this that I don't want to forget, and I hope someday he reads this and understands how proud he makes us every single day. 

I don't expect this to lead to toilet training quite yet, as he is only 17 months but we are on our way to more independence!

A child size potty is on its way, and hopefully we have continued interest. 

Go Sal!

SEVENTEEN months

Sal turned 17 months in yet another country--Indonesia. By next month he'll be done with his worldwide jet setting, and will celebrate the next few monthly milestones in China. We have a trip planned to the USA again in the end of September, but as for summer 'round here, we're gonna cruise through and enjoy a break from jet lag and climbing the walls of airplanes for a few months.

Month seventeen has been both extremely rewarding, and challenging at the same time. Sal's vocabulary is growing little by little, and the looks on Nick and my faces when we showed him a duck one day and he said "duck" Clear as day was priceless. I didn't even know he knew what ducks are. Apparently he does. He is a good timin' kid, much like his dad. When he is having fun, he's doing it full throttle. He laughs, smiles and screeches to show his enjoyment for anything from going to the park to shaking a cup full of goldfish til it empties on the floor. He loves to empty containers and put the contents back in. I'm hoping this transfers to putting toys away soon. 

As for the challenging part of month 17? 

Temper tantrums.

In full force. Anywhere and everywhere. I know that this is the age when toddlers start to figure out how to manipulate their environment, so I try to keep in mind that the tantrums are just his way of learning how to be a little man. It's our job to guide him by providing choices, consequences and consistency...and really, just leading by example--which is easier said than done. I've got the mouth of a sailor at times, and the last thing I want is to hear is my son saying something wildly inappropriate at the most unfortunate time. 

His new words this month have been:

Up

Hot

Byyyye dad

Duck

Pretty

He went in a swimming pool for the first time while in Bali, and he also got to take a dip in both the Indian Ocean and the Bali sea during the same trip. He took to the water like a moth to a flame, and once he realized the garden outside our hotel room lead to the pool it was time for me to put my running shoes on to keep up with him as he would sprint toward the water every time we were out on our porch. We were really happy to see how comfortable he became in the pool, and hope to get him in swim lessons soon. 

Since we travelled so much this past month, I allowed Sal to use my iPad during flights. His favorite app? Talking Tom and Talking Ginger, the cats that you can speak to and then they repeat. There was a lot of high pitched screeching going on, but it was so cute to watch.

Sal continues to be a social little guy. He goes through periods of shyness, but he generally likes people and attention. He loves older children, and even showed some maturity from baby to toddler when he offered toys to my friend's younger son. Let's just hope this continues when he has a sibling to share with. 

Last month someone had emailed me about breaking the bottle habit, asking how it was going...

My answer in short.. They still exist.

This is a "mom" habit, not a Sal thing. His only "must have" is his blue blanket....but I keep on with routine and have not stopped the naptime and bedtime bottles yet. Why is change sometimes harder for the parents? I guess because he doesn't "need" it, I feel like its okay to continue on with the bottle, but then again, do I really want a two year old drinking bottles of milk at night? Plus, its easy. I know that after bottle time, he will go to sleep. Naptime and bedtime is precious. I'm sort of afraid of messing with something that has been working for us.

But i know...i have to change the routine. Didn't I say that last month? 

Here's to breaking the bottle by month eighteen!

Wuxi zoo

Auntie Stephanie is here!

We've been busy showing her around our side of the world the last few days and look forward to a whole 'nother week with her before she has to head back Stateside. I think she will kiss the ground when she lands on US soil. Just kidding. She has acclimated and adjusted better than I would have expected someone who has never been out of the US other than Tijuana. She even mastered chopsticks while eating jiaozi with us tonight! (Go steph!)

Today was May Day, a national holiday.

NZ had today off, so we loaded up the car and headed to the Wuxi zoo, just outside of town.

We weren't sure what to expect of a Chinese zoo. Would conditions leave us feeling sad for the animals? What kind of animals would we see?

Lets just say that PETA would have a conniption fit at the "beast show" we watched at the central stage. Bears on bikes, dancing to Gagnam style, then jumping rope with their trainers...after that came lions and tigers, followed by monkeys riding bikes.

Sal showed some interest in a couple of exhibits, but for the most part, NZ, my sister and I made our way through the crowds ( Sal was quite possibly the most popular exhibit at the zoo), from habitat to habitat trying to get him excited for the lethargic looking rhinos, or the sad looking flamingoes who barely had a puddle to stand in.

Although the habitats could have been kept up better, and the crowds were a bit thick at times, we still had a good time walking the park and will probably go back when Sal gets a bit older.

Yep. A bear on a bike.

Giraffes

Forget the zebra. Check out the laowai.

FIFTEEN months

With all the visitors and travel, I totally lost track of the days and just realized that Sal hit 15 months while in Japan.

What can I say about Sal at 15 months?

He is. On.the.move.

He is all boy. Rough and tumble, loves wrestling with his dad and wants to climb anything and everything. He loves "helping" me move the laundry from the dryer to the basket, and is pretty darn curious about how cat food tastes.

He has also started trying to share. Goldfish crackers, not cat food. No wonder I am struggling to lose the last 7 lbs. He likes to stand in front of us and feed us goldfish/pretzels/crackers one-by-one. There is no telling the boy no. He just keeps shoving them in your face unless you get up and physically move.

He said goodbye to his twelve month clothes and the last of the onesies (sniff-sniff), and also got a bigger pair of shoes this month. I ordered his first pair of VANS in size 5.0 so he can be like his dad. He is still learning how to walk as well in those as he does with his Soft soled cowboy boots, but he is falling less and less with each day of practice. Oh yeah--in case I forgot to mention, he's officially a walker now. He just took off one day, and hasn't slowed down since!

What else?

He welcomed his grandma to town and showed her around. He got spoiled with hugs, kisses and game playing with grandma Valorie.

He earned his first black eye complete with stitches, four of them to be exact--by falling on my bedside table. Chalk up our second trip to a Chinese hospital in 2013.

He slept through his first earthquake. We don't know how he did, but he didn't even stir during a 6.3 magnitude quake while we were in Japan.

He went to his first aquarium and saw all the marine life.

He got to taste a chocolate Poky stick, his first corn dog and his very own Easter cookie!

He will fork anything he can and get it into his mouth. He's got skills. We're still working on yogurt and beans on the spoon. He has trouble with the dipping part of spoon eating.

Sal's favorite toys these days are his blocks, which have a lid with shape cutouts to put the blocks through. He also has a stacking donuts toy that he can stack with precision. Cars are still popular but have taken a back seat to his "Guess who" and "Go Dog, Go!" books.

When asked, "Sal, where are your shoes?" he will go stand by his shoes and try to slip his foot in. He also started signing the word "more" this past week, and I'm pretty sure he said Jiā (home) tonight as our driver brought us home from grocery shopping.

Chinese, English, and signing?

Pretty darn impressive, Sal.

Money grows on trees

In the last two weeks, we have lost a couple pairs of socks, a couple hats and almost lost a shoe while strolling down the streets of Wuxi. Sal strips his clothes off with ninja like precision and stealth. Off and away they go, un-noticed by his mama as she pushes right along.

We've been stopped a couple of times by someone yelling "ting ting ting!" and I'm getting used to turning around to find them holding his bear beanie and running it towards me for the return. Other times it's a friend who notices that "Sal only has one sock on...." I have attempted to trace my steps back a block or two to look for the missing sock-sometimes successful, sometimes not.

Maybe he just finds it funny when the Chinese grandmas shout at me because he doesn't have clothes on, or maybe he thinks money grows on trees.

I'm beginning to think the latter, as we have also had some kitchen pantry items go missing.

Namely, a tub of coconut oil and jar of peanut butter.

A brand new tub of hard to find, somewhat expensive coconut oil (I'm not bitter or anything).....

I searched high and low for my coconut oil, and am convinced there is only one place it could have gone. Right into the makeshift trash can that lies next to the pantry shelf where Sal Likes to play. Same place the peanut butter went missing from.

This morning, my suspicion was confirmed as I caught him tossing a brand new bottle of mustard into the box. I caught him in time, and saved the mustard from an early death, but I am pretty sure he tossed my oil and our peanut butter in there.

He may just need to get a job so he learns that money does not, in fact, grow on trees. Or, since he is still just a little guy, maybe I just need to make the pantry off limits all the time. Out of sight, out of mind, right?


We thought we lost the hat pictured below, only to find it on our walk home!

FOURTEEN months

Where did my baby go?

Snack time at the park in his new shoes

I blinked and we've got a full fledged toddler in tow. (Tantrums included at no extra charge). He is a little spitfire with a laugh/cackle that will make even the grouchiest of people smile. He cracks himself up all the time. Thankfully he has moved past laughing at others while they cry to laughing as he throws blocks/sand/food and while playing peek-a-boo.

Cowboy boots and Camo- Grandpa Jet would be proud

 

Although he walks unassisted a few times a day, his preferred method of transportation is the one-legged-knee-scoot. He has the bruises to prove it. I dressed him in shorts on our first warm day of the month and was shocked to see just how bruised his shins are (from crossing the threshold of our sliding glass door with the knee-scoot). If I were a betting woman, he will prefer walking over scooting within the next week or so.

 

"mama, I wasn done talkin to you! Come back here!"

 

Other news...We've got a molar!....and two more on the way, plus upper canines. He's a drooling mess. NZ and Sal like to wrestle in the evenings and Sal usually wins because he stands over his dad's face and drools like a St Bernard right into his eye. Gross, but funny. With the new molar, Sal has now graduated to peeled apples (rather than peeled and soft cooked), cucumber and raw carrots. He's been grubbing on Greek salad all month.

"ditch the book dad, how bout we wrestle?"

 

This past month we have been lucky enough to have some sunny days. Sal and I still take a walk (almost) daily. On our way home, we usually walk past the playground in our complex. He gets really excited when he sees it, and yells "DUU-duuuude!" Unable to resist his enthusiasm, we stop for a bit so he can master the slide and play in the sand.

I've started calling him "bubba" and have noticed that he copies the syllables. He does this with a lot of words. He doesn't say the word, per say, but he does make his own sounds with the matching amount of syllables. "Dada" is still his favorite word, although "dude" is right behind. "Mama" has gotten some play as well as "zuhjuh" which sounds a lot like he's trying to say "Zaijian", or goodbye, in mandarin.

Look at all dem teeth! And that smile. Happy boy.

I love his chatter. It never gets old.

Sometimes he even talks himself to sleep...and when he sleeps, I am reminded that he is in fact, still my baby.

What was a napless day, turned out otherwise. Thank Goodness.