New Skills This Month

Words:
outside (ah-shah is very popular), apple (refined, ah-pull), noooooo, ice cream sandwich (ah-sha cweee sah-wih; now you know how he's staying over 20 pounds), Meeree (Mary, my mother who takes care of him Tuesday through Thursday, sometimes mee-mee, which is fine, or mee-nee, that makes us laugh)

Karston also started combining words. For instance, after he announced he wanted to go outside this weekend, he moved on to "Dada, shoes" because he knows Daddy puts on shoes before taking him outside.

He still says Emma (our dog), kitty, chocolate (sha-sha), okra, juice (shooos), water (wa-wa), cheese (cheees), shoes, nose, eyes, ears, belly and belly button (bewee bee), mama (and ta-ta when he wants to nurse), and of course dada.

Tricks:
throwing a ball (pretty well), carrying two large balls for throwing, digging in the sand (and pouring it in Emma's food or on Emma), drawing, stacking everything in sight (groceries stacked 4 high before sliding over), kissing us when he's happy, and telling us to kiss each other

When one of us is carrying Karston, and we're close, he'll get a sly grin, put his hands to the back of our necks, push our faces together, and wait for us to kiss. When we kiss, he gets a huge delighted grin of yeah, I did that and it's great, and he giggles happily when we kiss him too. Like we keep saying, Karston is all love, all the time.

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First Shower

Karston took his first shower yesterday. When he and Daddy went to play with Emma, Karston patted the hot tub lid and said Wa wa very insistently! So we hopped in the hot tub, and he had a great time playing with water toys. Karston particularly likes the toy sailboat that Daddy got when he was very young. After the hot tub, we decided to see if he would take a shower with us. (Karston dropped some leaves in the hot tub, so we needed to rinse off leaf bits.) I held him tightly, and we all hopped in the shower. We tried a shower about a year ago, and it was a total crying failure that didn't even last a minute. This time we were very casual, stepped in the shower, and it worked! I gradually eased him into the water, with spray going farther up his back gradually and never on his face. He looked concerned for a minute, but then relaxed. We'll stick with the bath in general (he really loves playing with water toys), but it's nice to know we can all hop in the shower now.

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kunder

Karston's new concept this week is under. Monday while I was eating my lunch, Karston crawled under the wicker couch in the sunroom and fell asleep. I moved the couch so I could pick him up for the poopy diaper change he needed. Tuesday and Wednesday he played under my mother's bed. My mother replaced her tablecloth with a large bedsheet, so today Karston played under her dining room table. They played many rousing games of Where's Karston?, but every time she stuck her head under the sheet, Karston pushed her out of his fort.

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#1!

Daddy gave Karston a bath this evening while I did a fast cleanup around the house. I joined the after-bath fun of chasing a naked toddler on the bed with a towel. (Karston loves that game!) He was really fighting the diaper, so we decided to put him on the potty. We have a toiler seat reducer so that he can sit on a regular toilet without falling in. He was perfectly happy with that idea! When we first introduced sitting on the toilet a few months ago, he would sit, kick his legs, look down, poke himself, but that was it. Tonight, he looked down and ... yes! he used the toilet! He got praise and kisses from both of us! He loved that, and after his big smile, he got this look of fierce concentration, and he did it again! More kisses and praise!

So he knows how and where. I guess he just has to work on knowing in advance of the need, and telling us that. We'll see how it goes, but he's pretty good at communication. It's a small victory, but we're off to a good start! We've had the first #1 in the toilet now ... now to make it a habit!

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Jealous

This evening, our neighbor came over with her two daughters Dale and Dinah. Dale is almost three years old while Dinah is eight-and-a-half months old, so Karston is sandwiched between them in age. Since Karston loves to play with Dale and he had napped long enough, I woke him up gently while Daddy started some shrimp for dinner. Karston still wasn't happy about being up, and he asked for ta-ta (neighborly laughter), so I sat down on the kitchen floor and let him nurse. Dinah made eye contact with me, and made a loud noise! Her mom said she had made a happy sound, and I asked if she were interested in what we were doing. -Oh no, she ate before we left the house. Daddy refilled my water, and then offered Karston a peeled shrimp. (Karston likes shrimp. And crab, and tropical fruit. Good Carribean taste!). Next thing I know, Dinah crawled all the way over to her mother and asked for ... well, she did get some ideas from Karston, even if she had just eaten. Daddy knows nursing mothers get thirsty, so he brought her some water as well. For a little while, it was a three-ring circus, between thirsty women wanting water and Karston wanting more shrimp! Two of us were on the floor with our respective children, and Daddy was running to keep the circus afloat!

I really think Karston's nursing made the visiting baby jealous. Hey, if he gets some, I want some too!

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Best! Playdate! Ever!!!

I think Karston just had the most fun he's ever had in one day! His friend Will who's only seven weeks older came over for a playdate. (Yes, that really means my friend's son Will came to play over with my son. Now isn't it simpler just to say Karston's friend Will?) Will's toys have been packed for a while, so his family can move to Italy. Will and Karston played together pretty well, which is impressive for not-quite-two! I think Will really enjoyed playing with toys in a child-proofed house without adults chasing him due to the lack of child-proofing. Karston, on the other hand, was absolutely on fire! He ran. He ran in place, in circles around the couch, around the kitchen island. He laughed, he smiled, he babbled. He showed off his toys to Will. Will went over to the train and played with Legos sitting inside the tracks, sometimes putting Legos inside the caboose. Karston came over, and said Look at this! in baby, and turned the train on so it went around the tracks. Will stumbled to stand up in surprise, and wouldn't take his eyes off the train for four revolutions! Of course the adults fell around laughing at Will's surprise! Then Will's itty bitty baby brother Chris woke up while their mommy was in the bathroom (of course), so I picked him up for cuddling. Karston was very serious that he wanted to carry Chris; I wasn't going for it since (just over two months old) Chris needs to have his neck supported and Karston's a bit young for that concept. So then Karston said he wanted to hold and hug Chris, so I let him do that in my lap. Even after Karston went back to playing, he still came over to rub Chris on the back gently when he fussed. I know Karston's very loving to us, but he's our child; this is the first time I've seen him being so loving to a smaller child. Absolutely adorable. At lunch, Karston and Will discovered the fort under the table and tablecloth. More having a blast. They babbled at each other, and seemed to understand the language, what my mom called fluent Tibetan, just like twins. Then moms and two-year-old boys went in the hot tub, and that was another delight! Splash! Ball! Swim/jump between moms!

So that was five to six hours of non-stop delight today. It's really hard to describe in retrospect, but I don't think Karston's been that excitedly happy for that long before. He's a happy child except when he's not, of course, but that much high-energy happiness for that long ... well, that's something special. He's played before with others, but usually with the three-year-old girls whose moms I know. He enjoys playing with the girls, but Will ... that Will is something else! Just ask Karston!

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Word of the Day: Noodle

Karston's new word today is noo-noo. I boiled ziti for dinner (yummy! but this asiago-spinach chicken sausage has made everything yummy, and I used half the meat and pasta of the recipe), and Karston liked it. We told him those ziti were noodles, and he said noo-noo back.

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