Every day, when Mommy comes home, I jump up and down and yell "MAMAAAAA" and then I say "We misseded you today! Do you like a clean house?"

I wanted to make christmas presents for Kona, Poppy's dog, so we baked him dog cookies.
Alex can clap now! I say "Alex, clap! Clap!" and he does it! Then I show Mommy.

I can climb anything. I am like a mountain goat monkey spider. Even in rain boots!

For my birthday, I want all the kids from daycare to come to my birthday party, and they're all going to be clowns, and I'm going to teach them all to juggle with FIVE BALLS.

I don't like it when Alex messes up my train tracks or sits on them. I use my monster voice and roar "NOOOO ALExXX!" But he just sits there! And then I try to move him, but Mommy and Daddy say I can't push him. Sometimes that makes me mad. But sometimes I can distract him with other toys. Or cheerios.

We went to Hawaii. With Oma and Grandpa. It was great. I climbed things, and went in the ocean and the pool, and jumped in the sand and rolled around until it was everywhere, even my nose and eyes. And I saw turtles, and went on the Sugar Cane Train. And on the airplane I met a friend, Cohen, and now I have some of his toys because I took them by accident.

Christmas is fun. I hung up lights with Mommy, and we sing a lot of Christmas songs in german. I want to open all the presents right away. And every morning I get a chocolate in my calendar. Yay!

Dear Santa

I'm excited about my birthday. My birthday is in December, after Christmas. On Christmas, Santa is going to come! He's going to bring me a bike! A purple bike, with pedals! And training wheels, and streamers. And a basket, "so Alex can sit in there!"

I also want a hula hoop.

Halloween and other things

Halloween was amazing! It surprised me.
I kept checking with Mommy in the days before, saying "I'm going to wear a costume, and say "Trick or Treat," and the neighbors are going to give me CANDY!" (questioning look)

We carved pumpkins with Grandpa. I drew the face on our pumpkin, and Mommy carved it. I didn't want to scoop out the insides, because Oma said they are yucky and I don't like goopy things.

I was a tiger. Mommy made my costume, and I helped, I pushed the pedal on the sewing machine until she yelled "Stop! STOP!"

I had claws, and a tail, and ears.
It was warm and snuggly.
I practiced roaring. ROARRR! That made Alex cry.
Then i ran and hugged him and said "It's okay, Alex, it's okay, I was just playing! I'm not a real tiger!" and he stopped crying. But then, when I roared again, he cried again.

Alex is my baby brother tiger. Mommy made him a tiger suit too. But he doesn't have claws, because he's a baby.

We put on face paint. My face paint was so good! Alex thought I was a real tiger and cried again, but I made him laugh.
Alex rubbed off his face paint.

We went to a Halloween party with Tory and Lillian. I was in a parade! Mommy was the lion tamer, and I jumped through her hoop! They gave us glow sticks. Then we went trick-or-treating. The neighbors gave me candy, and I said "One more? One more?" so I got a lot of candy. Then Mommy told me I only should take one.

Daddy came, too! He helped me trick-or treating, and he let me use a flashlight. But when I asked him to carry my candy he said "If it's too heavy to carry yourself, it's time to go home." So we went home, and I ate a lollipop!

And at home, we put a candle in the jack-o-lantern, and watched it glow. Then I brushed my teeth extra good, so no tooth buggies come.

Halloween was very, very fun.

I don't really lisp anymore, (it's a remote, not a "wamote!")
But I do say sweet ungrammatical things like "Mommy, we MISSEDED you!"

And I'm pretty surefooted, and athletic, but also so fearless and
ambitious that I have pretty spectacular crashes.

Likeyesterday, when Mommy came to Marisa's to pickme up and iwas
crying and thy told her "he was dancing wildly and di this amazing,
twisting leap and landed on his leg and face n the floor"

When i calmed down, Mommy asked if I tried to fly. I said yes.
She asked if I have wings.
I said no.
I told her "I jumped, really REALLY high, and I went CRASH on the
ground, and blood comed out of me."

My songs and stories

"A lion and a camel and a firetruck
went to our house in Berkeley
they came in our house, and sang a song
with me, and Daddy, and Mommy, and Alex!"

"I'm going to my bending party. There is going to be cake. And strawberries, and apples, and pineapples. And Sarah and Thom's dinosaur is going to come. It's a bending party in my room."

I really really like sweet stuff right now. So much that I'm sort of refusing to eat most other things. But that might also be because I was really sick to my stomach the other day -- Alex gave us all a virus. I threw up in the middle of the night. I didn't know what was happening, I just said "I feel bad," and screamed and cried. Mommy had to hold me over a bucket. Then she tried to clean me up in the bathroom, but she got sick too. It was yucky. I went back to bed. In the morning, I felt better!

bad words

Me: "Mommy, why did you say 'Ouchie, ouchie!' just now?"
Mommy: "Because your brother dropped his toy on my foot, and it hurt me."
Me: "Oh. (pause) Why didn't you say 'OW, DAMMIT!?'"

I'm awesome

I pooped on the toilet yesterday! I was so excited, I shrieked and
giggled and shouted with happiness. Then mommy and I did a happy
happy poop dance, all over the house, and called daddy and Oma.

Mommy says when all the poops go in the potty, we can go to the lion
store and choose a toy.

I like to do milksperiments.

Negotiations

Mommy said I couldn't jump on the bed at aunt lauries house.
But she said I could jump on dome throw pillows she pit on the floor.
I put a pillow on the bed. "can I jump on it now?"

Mommy and I were sharing a cupcake.
She said "one bit for you, one bite for me."
So I stuffed the whole thing in my mouth.
Then I had ro spit it out, because I couldn't chew or breathe.
Then mommy didn't want any more.

"are those porcupines on your legs, daddy?"

I am nice.

I'm being nice to everybody lately. I like to get in Alex's crib and cuddle with him, and show him toys, and give him kisses and tell him I love him. And tickle him to make him laugh. Although I'm working on the "gentle tickling", mommy always has to remind me.

I bring Mommy flowers, and Oma and Marisa too, whenever I'm outside I look for flowers to pick.

I say "I love you" and give lots of really good hugs.

I listen pretty well, and say sorry when I mess up. I always say "It was an accident," even when it wasn't. I rarely have tantrums, almost always about wanting to eat something sweet. They pass pretty quickly.

I know how to be very polite. I go up to people on the street and say "May I pet your doggie please?" Most of the time, I say "thank you" for things.

My parents feel like they lucked out, big time :)

Imagining

This morning there were couches and zebras flying around in mommy and
daddy's room, and I was jumping around trying to catch them with my
invisible "nest-clapper" and yelling "EGGS!"

Mommy says life with me is like a Dali painting.

things I say

"she" instead of "he"
"mlunch"
"shredded wheat grows in grampa's garden. Yummy!"
I have croup again. No fun. Well, no fun except for the 2am stroller walks with Daddy to help me breathe. Those are kind of exciting.

I like telling people I love them. I give them biiiiig hugs, with a little "pat pat pat" on the back from my hand. I say "I love you, Daddy. You're a great daddy." Or "I love you, Mommy, I love you a lot."

I get to climb the stairs by myself now. I like to throw my big ball downstairs, and then go roll it back up.
I really like going to the YMCA. Mommy calls it "the Y." I call it "the Hawaii."

Hi Alex!

This morning I put my face right in front of Alex and said "hi Alex!!
I'm your brother! I give you high fives!"

Then I gave him a high five, and he smiled!

big boy

I say "mlunch" instead of lunch.

I make up increasingly confusing things to make people laugh.

Yesterday I said "I'm going to see the tiger. To paint. I'm going to say "Boo!" I'm going to say "AT-TA-CA!"'

I talk about eating a Blue Mommy. Nobody knows where that one came from.

We got a new stroller today. It has a special seat for me, and a special seat for Alex. But after Mommy put it together today, the tire went POP! like a balloon.

I can climb the climbing wall at the playground, and go down the fire pole (although it's still scary).

I'm really excited about big boy underwear, and using the potty . I'm getting better at it all the time.

I keep surprising grown-ups by the way I talk. I use words like "already" and "instead" and "plenty," "yesterday" and "this morning"

vegetables

Daddy came home. I wanted to play with him. Daddy said "I can't wrestle now, Ivan, I'm a little sick."
I said "You sick? You need to eat your vegetables!"
Mommy and Daddy laughed.
I pointed to the kitchen. "No, you eat them! Right now!"

No! I was Not Scared. I was pretending to be scared.

"Mommy, Justice has a bear."
"what? Justice has a bear? At his house?"
"No, at the bike shop. I saw a bear."
"Oh! Yes, you saw a bear -- you saw somebody wearing a bear costume. At the holiday party. It wasn't a real bear."
(long pause)
"...it was a bear costume? Somebody was wearing it?"
"Yes, it was a person wearing a bear costume. Did you think it was a real bear?"
"No..."
"But you were a little bit scared, weren't you?"
"No! I was NOT scared!"
"No?"
"No...I was pretending. I was just pretending to be scared."

I like very much:
Roaring at people, esp. my little brother because he startles so easily and waves his little arms around.
Onions in lamb stew. And carrots, and potatoes, and meat...OK, basically the whole stew.
Jello. Red or green.
Popsicles.
Mangoes.
Blueberries and blackberries. Berries in general, yum.
Jumping off of high things. Jumping in general.
Smashing snd castles and obliterating block towers.
Baking cookies with Oma.

I don't like:
When Mommy or Daddy tells me to do something.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

I changed again.

After months of sleeping well and promptly at 8pm every night, almost on command, I now spend about an hour negotiating and pleading and arguing and disagreeing and resisting and yelling and crying and begging and sobbing. It's not fun for me, and I don't think it's fun for the parents either.

I'm just not tired as early, and there's so much to do and think about...now it's really hard to go to sleep!

Things I say a lot: If you ask me to do something I don't want to do, I'll say "No, can't. Can't do it." And I will sadly and solemnly shake my head.

When I don't like something you are saying or doing: "MOMMY, DON'T! DON'T DO IT!" Including, like, after you ask me to put my toys away.

I really like the pirate stories, still. Now there's a zoo boat that we see sometimes, with lots of animals on it, and then we go to the island and find the treasure.

I like the zoo a lot. We've been there with Tory a few times now. I like the monkeys, and the giraffes, but mostly I like the rides. I'm just big enough to go on all of them! 36 inches. I really like going up in the airplane ride with Tory.

The other thing I like is tea parties. Mommy makes peppermint tea with honey, and I put plates and cups and chairs out and then pour the tea. And everybody that comes to the tea party has to wear funny hats. Even the bunnies.

Big Bonk

I was sitting on Daddy's lap.
Mommy was sitting on the couch too, with Alex.
I flopped down in the middle, and...my head went bonk with Alex's head. Really hard.
Alex is only ten days old.
Alex cried. I cried too. Then Alex stopped crying.

Then, firetrucks came. I said "WOW."
The firefighters made sure that Alex is OK.
Then we went to the doctor. Doctors made sure that I'm OK, and Alex is OK too.

Mommy and Daddy were really scared. Now they always say "NO BONKS." I am careful.

Baby Brother Alex is here!

He came out of Mommy's tummy! Mommy's tummy is flat now. And very soft.

Mommy and Daddy went to the doctor, for the doctor to help the baby come out.
I played with Grandpa, and at Marisa's house.
After dinner, we went to the hospital. Daddy was there. Mommy was there, lying in a bed, with rainbow socks on. She looked...different. But my baby brother was there, baby Alex, lying in a bed.
I wasn't sure I wanted to look at him, it was all very strange. But Nana and Oma and Mary Kat and Grandpa were there, too, and everybody was very happy.
I touched baby brother's cheek, and counted his toes. I was happy.
Then it was time to go home with Oma and Grandpa, so I said night-night to Mommy and Daddy and baby brother, and went home.

The next night, still at Oma and Grandpa's, I had a strange dream. I couldn't stop crying, so Oma took e to bed with her and I hugged her super hard. In the morning, I told her I had a dream that I was in a tummy. It was cold there, snow all around. And Tory was throwing oranges.

Now Baby Alexander is at home, with us. Mommy can start to get off the couch, too -- at first, she had a headache and the doctor said she had to be on the couch. But now, we can cuddle together and read books together and sit on the rocking chair together, even when Baby Alex is sleeping or drinking mommy milk. He sleeps a lot, and cries, and then I tell Mommy "He's hungry, babies need mommy milk!"

I like my baby brother. I like to have him on my lap, and to tickle him and touch his face. I told Mommy, he can be the little bear, and I am the big mouse.

Make believe

"Mommy! Lizard coming!"
"Really? What color?"
"Purple!"
"How big is it?"
"REAAAAALLY BIG!"
"Ack! Should I be scared?"
"No, it's pretend."

Mommy's been acting funny. She's not going to work anymore. She told me when the baby starts to come, she's going to need help from the doctor and I'm going to go to Grandpa's to play.

I went to the doctor a few days ago. Doctors know about bones and muscles. He said I'm strong and big. But now I have to use a space mask in the morning and at night, to make my cough go away. I don't like the space mask. But I like the stickers I get after.

Baby brother come out soon?

Yesterday I saw a little sweater in the living room, and tried to put it on.

"Ivan's sweater!"

"No," said Mommy, "that's a sweater for your baby brother."

I thought about this. I looked at her tummy. I pointed.

"Baby brother come out soon?" I asked.

"Yes!" she said, excited, "Yes, your baby brother is going to be born soon!"

"Hmm." I said.

"Needs sweaters."

I like parties.

"Mommy go in a party.
Mommy eat food.
Ivan eat food.
Daddy eat food.
Everybody like eat food!
Plate go CRASH! Plate go boom.
Was acslint. Acc-i-dent.
Cleanedit up. Plate go boom!
Ivan like party.”