Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Drink in that Christmas!

Our tree is up! It is largely undecorated, but our Frasier is there, safely surrounded by a plastic fence (the Hound has a bad habit of marking trees, and KerryGirl has a tendancy to knock things over by trying to scratch her butt on them).

We've noticed something.

Sasha has ZERO interest in artificial trees. No matter how pretty the decorations, he couldn't care less that they are there.

Real trees, however, have him fascinated. He wants in to touch it. To smell it. To drink in the Christmas.

He also wants to help decorate.

He loves the ornaments, but it's the ones he likes that are odd. Not the sparkly glass (or acrylic), or necessarily the brightest, or fuzziest. No, his choices are more random...like a small decoupage ball that's mostly brown. Or a kind of ugly one of a little man.

Or better yet, using his own toys as ornaments. He's shoved so many onto the branches that some have broken (after all, his ball and train are HEAVY--at least for tree branches). And he's gravely disappointed that he can't have the look he's going for, poor baby.

We are in a definite growth spurt right now. As of Thanksgiving, suddenly all of his clothes became too small (even ones that had been too big). I had to brave Black Friday just so that he could have shoes, it was that sudden. He just woke up one day that much bigger than when he went to bed.

And the spurt isn't limited to physical growth either.

He is having greater understanding of almost everything. I can give verbal directions and get a response that makes sense (even if sometimes it's "NO!" and running away). He's having a better understanding of his toys, for example his Doctors Kit is more than a collection of brightly colored plastic, he knows what the parts are for and we've all had numerous checkups lately and lots of bandages. His "babies" (stuffed animals) all have to be fed while he wears the Boppy and cradles them. Lots of make-believe play that mimics adult behavior.

He's also talking to more people than just me. His Grandparents have started to notice he's got his own brand of toddlerese that comes with some self-invented "signs" to help him on words he can't say. They've figured them out and so he is having a little easier time communicating at Grandma's, which is good.

Emotionally, he's developed too. We've started seeing things like jealousy. If he's snuggling with Grandma, Grandpa is apparently supposed to go sit elsewhere. And Mommy isn't supposed to have a dog in her lap (even if she needs to because they need a line brushing), because that's apparently only for Sasha. And a fit ensues, directed at the interloper. Time out is becoming a more common thing.

It's so cute, I could just cry.

1 comment:

caramama said...

I especially love the pretend play that mimics adults! How cute about using the boppy. Mine is putting her teddy bear in her highchair and trying to feed it or changing it's "diaper" on the floor.