Mmm hmmm

Aunt Joanna, Unlcle Steve and cousins Anya and Mika were visiting. With them and also Nana and Papa, we went to Fitzgerald tidepools to see the tidepools, but it was unexpectedly cold, so we weren't there long. Nana and Papa wore everything warm we could find in the car, including two towels.

Aviva's talking a lot. Sometimes they are two words together, but mostly one. (But "upme" and "alldone" are single words.) She told the babysitter yesterday that she needed a clean diaper:
Aviva: Eeba! Change!
Helena: What do you need?
Aviva: Change!
Helena: Change what?
Aviva: Eeba! Pee!
Helena: You need a clean diaper? Did you pee?
Aviva: Mmm hmmmm.
Helena: Did you poo?
Aviva: No. Pee.
Helena: Should we change your wet diaper?
Aviva: Mmmm hmmm.

In any case, she's making herself understood and words are involved (if we consider "mm hmm" a word).

Also, Aviva loves to play with keys. We keep the keys at the bottom of the stairs by the front door, and she has gone down there alone, climbed up to the chair that's there so she can reach the keys, and brought them back upstairs. Here's a picture:

Also she's been singing a lot, and sometimes Twinkle Twinkle melds with the alphabet song. A B C D E F G, How I wonder what you are! Up above the world so bright Q R S T UV.

Here is a recent picture from the Monterey Bay Aquarium

What if?

Noah really wants to know why things happen or why they don't. What if this thing happened or that other thing? What if I ate all the bananas? What if someone ate all the bananas in the world? I'll add more as I hear them. 

At the playground today, Noah made me a salad. It was a spinach and noodle salad with mashed up french fries and ketchup, and tomatoes, and sprinkles on top. 

We've been spending a lot of time on the potty, and he has a routine. Pants and undies down, sit down on potty, poke penis, pee. Aviva sees him and likes to copy him. She doesn't pee,  but she does poke. According to Noah, that's the way you do it. 

We went to a class called "tinkergarten," which was a kind of outside adventure kind of thing. The kids were given buckets and were told to collect things for a magic potion. Here is a picture:

Something else Noah is just learning to do is count on his fingers. Can show you 6 fingers by showing 4 on one hand and his pinky and ring finger of the other hand. It's not the simplest way, but it works.

We gave Noah a buzzcut, which is what he wanted, because someone at school has a buzzcut. And now we don't have to worry about lice,

Noah's heart

Noah said yesterday that his heart doesn't feel like it's supposed to. Also his shoulder and knee hurt. He runned too much and that's why his heart hurts, but he doesn't know why the other things.

Also, he's been getting an m&m or a little chocolate egg from his teachers when he goes the whole day without an accident. Two days ago, he got an egg but he said it was for Daddy, because he already had treats for snack time, and it was two cookies, so he doesn't need an egg. He held it in his hand for 20 minutes, getting in and out of the car and picking up Aviva, and wanted to either give it or put it somewhere so Daddy could see it.

Yesterday also he got a chocolate egg, but he gave it to Aviva because again he had cookies for snack at school. He had two little cookies in a bag, and then he got another little bag with another two little cookies. So he didn't need it. (He waves his hand back and forth and tilts his head when he says he doesn't need it.)

We went to a Purim party at the temple last weekend and there was a little carnival. There were red tickets you could use to play the games, and blue tickets that you get that you can trade in for toys. He got a bunch of both, and went to the trade-in-table to get some toys. But he said he was going to trade some tickets, and the way he traded was to give the tickets. He didn't want anything back. I explained that we were trading the tickets for toys, and we did one. But he gave it back and said he didn't need it (tilting his head and waving his hand again) and the way he wanted to trade was to give the tickets.

His birthday is coming up, in a month or so, and he's been talking about how he wants a chocolate cake with icing but not chocolate icing, and he wants a stuffed dog, and he wants to invite some people to a party. But he doesn't know which people yet. It's just some people. Actually he just wants to do the inviting. If they come or not, it doesn't matter. But he wants to do the inviting.

The other day he said, while we were snuggling, "It's very comfortable with your hand in my elbow, just like this. It's very comfortable. "

He got a flu shot last month and was given a sticker from the nurse who did it. He wanted the sticker on his arm so he stuck it there. Later I noticed that it wasn't there and I asked him about it. He said it went into his body and that's why it's not there.

We've been doing a lot of potty training and he's getting there... We have different rewards he gets if/when he poops. He said, "My body has an idea. What if I get the toys first and then use the potty afterwards? That's just my body's idea."

We were talking about the big striped chair in the living room, and how the chair has feet and arms. So he pointed to other parts and named them - the shoulder and the belly.

How close are we? SOOO close

Noah likes to quantify things and show the amount with his hands. How much do I love ice cream? This much (about a foot and a half). How close are we to the school? This close (5 inches). When is Noah's birthday? Pretty soon - 2 months! (about 18 inches). If it's really a lot, arms are out to the sides but it goes "all the way to the earth." How late or early are we? How close are we to the house? How hungry are you? These all have answers that can be shown with hands.

Noah's been having many days with no accidents. He's wearing diapers only to sleep in at night. We are definitely making progress. He is suggesting many rewards for pooping or going a day without an accident. He likes that deal and he's comfortable with it. When he poops in the potty, he deserves a reward, and sometimes the reward is access to a toy he doesn't usually have, or an m&m, or something else. At the supermarket yesterday he was pointing out many possibilities of things for a reward, including a jar of honey, a box of cookies, a fancy cheese. 

Eeba

Aviva can now say many many words. Basically anything. But it's only one-word sentences. Jawbery. Pocky. In. (=I put a strawberry in my pocket). Jink. Ilk. (I want to drink milk) Jink. Ilk. Dolly.
(Dolly wants to drink milk.) After we put her in her crib at night (which is still the closet) we hear her talking to herself for another half hour or something. She's talking about something (sometimes jink ilk dolly) and she's kicking and talking more. Noah also often talks to himself before falling asleep, and I like to hear them.She also says her name a lot now, and speaks of herself in third person. Eeba.

Noah's opportunities

Noah explained to me yesterday, as he followed me around wearing rainboots and Snoopy underwear (and nothing else), that the mouth has many opportunities to read a  book like a story and sing it. Many many opportunities. Don't know what it means, but he made it sound like a good observation.

potty training

We turned a corner in the month long potty training battle. Noah pooped on the potty. We were instructed, by him, to not make a big deal of it, but he was happy to unlock a new toy and get a cookie. Lets hope there are lots more where that came from.

Veeba

Aviva said her own name! Finally! We've been working on this for a long time. But today when we asked who she is, she pointed her herself and said "veeba." 

And! She also said two words together, which is something we've also been working on. "Drink. Milk." 

Hurrah!