Never a Dull Moment!

How could there be a dull moment with that face to wake up to every morning?

I had never realized how much energy a two year old has.  Wow! The kid never stops! He is constantly talking, dancing, singing, laughing, crying, playing, watching, repeating. You name it, Little t is into it these days.  He is growing like crazy and we are loving it all…some parts more than others admittedly, but it is all good. 

Little t’s vocabulary has exploded in the last few weeks.  He has always been quite the talker, but he has really taken off lately.  I think the biggest development is moving into the realm of phrases and not just words.  He has said, “oh no!” and “uh oh!” etc for a long time, but now actual phrases are coming out of his cute (and sometimes sassy) little mouth.  A few weeks ago, he saw A.P. walk in the door from work and said, “how work, Dad?”  clear as day! It blew me away, but he now asks almost every day.  Other phrases include, “what’s that?”, “what’s matter?”, “you okay?”, “why, Momma?”, “my Daddy”, “Come on” “Let’s go”, “You ready?” “help please momma” “I no know!”, “I do, I mix, I see, I hold,” etc. 

New words include, help (the most beautiful thing he has learned how to say) – he will now ask for help with something instead of just screaming until he figures out what he is talking about.  Beda (how he says angel khAlas daughter’s name), doughnut, snack, here, look/watch (understanding the difference and using them appropriately), Josua, Felix (two German guys who have been here this break and become Little t’s best friends), dough (playdough), spoon and fork, toast, honey, undies, diapers, brother, sister, presents, surprise, birthday, chocolate milk, strawberries, hippo, monkeys, glasses, Pop Tart, popcorn, and probably many more I am missing…

His current new favorite word is naked.  While getting him dressed the other day, I told him that he couldn't run around naked because it was too cold.  He latched onto it and started yelling it through the house.  Now he runs around (fully clothed) yelling, "I naked! I naked!" and laughing hysterically.

Little t is also into counting…or what he terms counting.  At any given time in a conversation he will shout out “2, 3, 6, 9!” and then go on with what he was playing or the thing he was talking about.  He can count 1 2 3, but for some reason 2 ,3 ,6 , 9 is his favorite combination.

We have started working on counting in the local language (1,2,3) and simple command words, (please, come here, thank you, yes, no, greetings) he seems to be picking up on them a little bit which makes us happy. Today we were at our guard’s house.  Little t LOVES his kids and they adore him. They were impressed with his language skillz and he was showing them off, counting for them. It was very fun.  He also does very well at talking with and responding to the women A.P. works with (who we visit often). They talk to him in both English and local language and he seems comfortable with both.

We talk a lot about the baby these days and he is fascinated. We have a few hand-me-down books about new babies and he loves to read them.  He pulls my shirt up and talks to the baby and kisses my belly and gives it hugs.  I have the most moisturized belly button in the world because every morning Little t insists on giving the baby lotion…meaning he goops up my belly button full of lotion.  The baby and I both appreciate it very much!  Every time we ask if the baby is a boy or a girl he mumbles something, but every time we ask if he is going to have a brother or sister he immediately replies sister.  Maybe he knows something we don’t…(and won’t find out until the baby is born, in case you are wondering).  The other day I held a co-worker’s baby for about 20 minutes and Little t was curious, but didn’t act jealous. He came over to look and talk to the baby, but was more interested in the car he was driving and the other people in the room.

He is very into cars and tractors now and is constantly driving them around.  He is now in the habit of taking at least one to bed with him each nap/night.  He is slow to go to sleep and to wake up (or at least doesn’t demand we get him out of bed immediately after waking). Sometimes we will hear him in there for an hour or so after he has been put down or before he wants to get up, playing with his cars, toys, etc.  We are really blessed by this and milk it for what its worth!

Blue dog is still like Little t’s third arm.  They don’t spend much time apart. We are working on Blue Dog staying inside when we go out (Blue Dog gets cold easily, you know) and not being carried places (especially the bazaar, motorcycle rides, to the garden, etc.) but progress is slow.  If you are ever in M-ville and see a crazy foreign family on a motorcycle, you will know it is us if you see Blue Dog’s head sticking out of the neck of the little boy’s jacket.  It terrifies me that we will lose him when we travel, but Little t does a good job at keeping a tight grip on him.  Keeping Blue Dog clean is a miracle in itself…now that it is cold and damp it is nearly impossible to get him dry before bedtime or naptime, so he is grungier than usual.  A.P. came to me in a panic a few days ago and held out a very wet Blue Dog.  It was 5 p.m. It was cold and the sun was setting.  Somehow Blue Dog had made his way into the laundry pile and into the wash. We put him in the oven…although a little too high and now he is slightly brownish in color….but Little t hasn’t seemed to notice, which is the most important part!

Like I said, Blue Dog goes everywhere...the aquarium in the Dubai Mall...

The Riverwalk in Old Dubai - the peak of cleanliness for Blue Dog in the last year.

 

We are actively trying to get Little t weaned in the next few weeks.  It has its ups and downs, but we are making progress.  We are down to him eating before he takes a nap and before he lays down for bed. To be honest, I could have been done a while ago, but with teething and traveling and being sick, our efforts were in vain for a few months.  We are decreasing the amount of time he nurses each session and we are getting close to being done. We talk a lot about the baby and how the baby needs to eat with Momma right now.  Little t is a huge fan of green tea and strawberry milk, so we use those as alternatives.  Sometimes I joke that I am feeding three children now; Little t, Baby and Blue Dog. Little t insists that Blue Dog needs to nurse on the side that he is not nursing on…pretty sure it is time for both of them to be done!

Tell me, do you still really need to be nursing when you look this cool?  I don't think so either!

Rock and Roll Elmo has come to our house and is a big hit.  Although I am not sure who loves him more, Little t or Hope (angel khAla’s daughter).  Last night when we ate with our team, Ruth asked Little t if we should sing a pray.er and which one he wanted to sing.  He looked at her and shouted, “Elmo!” Today he broke out Elmo and had a mad dance party in the living room.    

Little t continues to be drawn to music. He is always singing and dancing and everything has potential to be a musical instrument.  He loves his tambourine and plays it all the time.  His father recently introduced him to Guitar Hero and now he strums his air guitar non-stop.  Yesterday he insisted on sitting on his potty chair and then made it a party when he picked up his tambourine and sat there singing a song about his potty and undies and diapers.  He is constantly making up new songs or asking us to sing.  He loves, Who Built the Ark? (shouts Noah Noah), The Ants Go Marching, This Little Light of Mine, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABC’s, This Old Man.

Guitar Hero on the pool table in the game room. Doesn't get much better than that!

Speaking of the potty…it isn’t happening.  We were all excited when he peed in the toilet a few times this summer, but it has fizzled.  It is harder now that it is cold and he is wearing significantly more clothes.  By the time he says he has to go and we get all of the layers off he has already gone. But we are working on it.  We have begun talking about how great it would be if he wore big boy undies when the baby came, and he is really interested in that. He saw me spraying his dirty diapers in the toilet the other day and was totally grossed out.  He kept saying ‘EEEWWW! Gross! YUCK! Poo! (how he says pewww – like something stinks) Poop! Dirty! Yucky Diaper!’ Etc. He can be a tad dramatic. (I think he gets it from him from his father.) We talked and I told him that 1) He didn’t have to watch and 2) if he started using the potty like a big boy he wouldn’t have to use yucky diapers anymore. So maybe it will happen before he is 10?  

Little t is still super super social.  With most local kids he is more withdrawn (they have no boundaries, are super intense and intimidate me as well, so I can see where he is coming from) it is a slow road for both of us to adjust to playing with local kids. But we are working on it.  He is the life of the party in any other situation.  He loves the two German guys (18 and 21) who are here right now. He calls them “the Boys” and thinks everything they do is amazing.  They are very good with him.  He loves the people on our team and is totally energized by time with them.  It is really great to see how much they love him and how he reciprocates that.  We are really itching to be in a team environment with another family because Little t is SO social and loves playing with other kids.

How could you resist playing with this face?  Little t helping make Christmas cookies.

 Little t still adores kAkA. They don’t play outside as much now that it is colder, but he talks about him all the time.  He goes with one of us to get the naan every morning and give kAkA the money. He now says yak naan (one naan) dU naan(two naan) toe-toe (how he says kAkA’s name). The other day he was trying to get kAkA’s attention to tell him hello and was so flustered that kAkA from across the yard wasn’t responding.   Little t is still quick to greet everyone, putting his hand over his heart to say salaam and then shaking their hands.  He loves going to the office (and will sneak over there by himself if I don’t watch him) and adores the ladies A.P. works with…and all of the attention he gets from them.

Little t sporting the fancy shoes I got as a Christmas gift from angel khAla. He can walk in them better than I can!

We have entered the discipline stage with Little t and it is interesting to say the least. He responds quite well to time outs (he has a special stool in the hallway he sits on). The other day he hit me on the face (a common occurrence when he is upset) and then had to go sit in timeout. Later as we walked by he looked at the stool and said, “no no hit, sit down!”  We are working on talking when we are mad or angry instead of hitting. Sometimes we also count to three and Little t responds to getting in gear by the time 2 or 3 rolls around so he doesn’t have to sit in timeout.  It is new territory for all of us and we are learning.

Close to the time-out stool...and ready to go outside to play.

A new discipline technique at our house?  Little t insisted I put these on his ears (after he put them on Blue Dog's). I warned that it would hurt. He realized that it did and started screaming. The photo is blurry because I was laughing so hard (pre screaming, of course). 

Currently Little t is sitting across the table from me munching on cheese crackers while playing with the new monster trucks he got for Christmas. He is happy as a clam. We are so thankful for such a spunky, happy, healthy little boy. He has turned our lives upside down and we are loving it.

Playing outside for the first time this winter.

It's true, it doesn't get any cuter. It just doesn't.