A Jack Update

Well, I have literally 100 pictures to post of Jack from different activities and events we've done.  I'm so behind on blogging.  It's just somewhat time consuming and those two free hours I have between Jack's bedtime and my bedtime has been full of paying bills, doing things for my MOMS Club, and catching up on emails, etc.  But let's skip the pictures and just do a little update on my boy.

Let's start, of course, with the positives so I can brag a bit.  That picture of him above is him drawing the number 101 in chalk.  It's not bad, right?  He can really only do 1's and 0's legibly but that's pretty cool.  He still loves his numbers and counts at any chance he gets.  Up to 100, past 100.  In Spanish and in Italian.

He adores his books.  I can't even say he has a favorite one because he just loves them all.  My mom got him a science series on the planets, and Earth, and the sun, and solar system and he's really taken to them.  Some of his favorites (ie "One Little Blueberry") he has memorized and will read to me, word for word.  Other times I'll leave him alone for a second and come back and find him curled up on the couch with a book like "Sammy the Seal" or "Harry the Dirty Dog" and he'll be reading them silently to himself, turning the pages at an appropriate rate.  We will have our playgroup here and there will be 10 toddlers running around like crazy and making a mess and having fun and Jack will be in the middle of all the noise, sitting on his chair, reading a book.

Not pictured - 10 crazy toddlers and a lot of noise

He knows his alphabet backwards and forwards and I'm amazed at all the words he can read in his books.  I'll read aloud and stop and point to a word for him to finish the sentence and it's amazing.  I'd say he can read probably 50 words or so.  So clearly he loves his books more than his friends.  Oh well.  

He's still incredibly shy and reserved in big group settings.  Or even small group settings.  Pretty much anywhere outside our house or outside our family.  He will sit quietly in music class, and only on my lap.  No dancing or running around for this kid.  Quiet, determined drum playing in his mommy's lap.  But he is enjoying it in his own way so I can't complain.

I CAN complain about his recent behavior.  This I definitely don't have pictures of.  For the past two weeks or so, Jack has exhibited the worst signs of the "terrible twos" that I have ever seen.  At any minute, he can meltdown and throw the worst fit you've ever seen.  The triggers vary.  It could be me denying a fourth juice box.  It could be him wanting to hear a song that's only on daddy's computer and he's not home.  It could be nothing.  But watch out.  Because suddenly he's screaming and sobbing and writhing on the floor.  And nothing will pull him out of it.  He doesn't want to be touched but he doesn't want me to leave.  He doesn't want to play with my phone and he doesn't want his favorite food.  He doesn't want to be inside but he doesn't want to be outside.  It's just a nightmare.  And he throws things.  Anything and everything in his reach.  The other day he somehow got a hold of a glass and threw it at me.  Luckily it landed on the couch but still.  When he gets that way, it can last literally up to an hour.  

Now, I know this is part of being a 2 1/2 year old toddler.  And I know his friends are going through the same thing.  Sadly, I think Jack's tantrums tend to include more throwing and hitting (my shoulders are bruised) and physical manifestations and that's a bummer.  We are worried about taking a 5 1/2 hour plane ride this month because if he has one of them tantrums on the plane, that'll be it.  Game over.  The poor other passengers.  

I guess the most frustrating part is that there seems to be nothing I (or John) can do during these meltdowns to help him or stop it.  It just has to play out.  And that makes me never want to go outside to a public place.  Ever again.  So if you don't see me for a while, you'll know why! :)

Letters and Reading

It's no secret that Jack is obsessed with letters.  In his bath every night he lines up all his letters in order and spells words and sings the alphabet song.  Not sure if, based on the photo above, he's a genius Type A nerd or a serial killer.  :)

What's really great though is that he's sort of starting to "read".  I mean, I put it in quotes because it's really just memorizing sight words at this point.  But he certainly seems to be able to read a lot of words.  I write them on his magna-doodle and he reads them to me.  

Or when we are reading a book, he will point out the words he knows.  For posterity's sake, I figured I'd list all the ones he can read right now so that when he's 10, I can look back and see how he was doing at 22 months.  :)  So far he can read:

Jack

hello

hi

bye

go

stop

up

no

on

in

zoo

fox

dog

cat

frog

sun

fun

book

hat

you

Pepe

pasta

And I think he's pretty much got:

owl

cow

bus

pig

tree

duck

It's all pretty exciting.  So proud of my little guy!

Spelling Bee Champion?

 

So, before I present the video below, in all it's glory, I just have to say how inherently ridiculous baby blogs are. (or is this now a kid blog? whatever.) I mean, even if you try to avoid bragging about your kid, you end up doing it anyways. That's because you tend to post cute pictures of your kid as opposed to ugly ones. And you're also blinded and constantly amazed at their development because it's the first time you've ever seen something go from zero to 100. I mean, seriously, to watch something go from a blob who doesn't know it has hands to a little kid who can count to 20 is amazing.

 Anyways, this is all because I have this video below of Jack spelling some words which I think is awesome. He is so good at letters and spelling and it just seems to come easy to him. Which, as I'm typing it sounds like such a jerky thing to say. But it's just his strength. In the interest of fairness and to temper the bragging, Jack's got plenty of weaknesses. Mainly anything social. He is so quiet around strangers and in big groups. And when we go to new places he usually spends the first hour clinging to mommy. Ahh, he's just like his mom in so many ways.

 Okay, enough talk. Here's my super brilliant adorable genius future spelling champ:

 

Drawing and coloring

 

 Jack's latest obsession is coloring. Well, it's not really coloring because he insists that he's drawing the alphabet. He'll yell out a letter and then draw it. And then he'll hand the crayon to me and make it clear that he wants me to draw an "A". And then a "B" and then a "C" and then he proceeds to go through the entire alphabet and I write down every letter. He really never tires of it. He thinks it's so cool.

We are really fascinated by the fact that he's also started holding the crayon/pencil correctly. Crazy. And, to tell you the truth, a couple of times he has made shapes that look like a "C" or "O" or "A" or whatever he shouts out. Most of the time he's getting lucky but I just don't know...

But to encourage his mad skills, we purchased an inexpensive little table from Ikea which he loves. He sits down in the morning and asks for his crayons and goes at it. Of course, the downside to his new obsession is that he draws on EVERYTHING. The new table, our coffee table, our couch, our WALLS. That was the worst one. He knows not to do it but does it anyway. Sigh. At least he's pretty darn cute working hard to make those letters.