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I’m going to start a mini-series of posts about each of the kids. In each post, I’ll talk about what each one has been up to. I thought I’d start with the “middle” child first, since he’s in the middle and usually doesn’t get the spotlight.
Last week I registered Jonas for pre-school. Yup, that’s right, pre-school. I can’t believe that Jonas is almost 3 years old and will be going to school next year already! I think that Jonas is definitely ready to go. He’s been excited every time he’s been able to go to school, whether it’s “See me at school” or just picking up Sean. When the weather is nice and we all go in, Jonas makes it a point to say goodbye to Mrs. R as we leave. If Mrs. R is busy talking to someone else and doesn’t hear Jonas, he keeps say goodbye until she acknowledges him. Jonas has also picked up on the snack prayer that Sean has taught out family from pre-school.
Jonas is looking less like a toddler each day and more like a little boy. He’s thinned out and is starting to grow out of his 2T clothes. Jonas is also talking a lot more. His recent phrases that really make me see him more like a little boy are “kay” (okay) and “it naw working” (it’s not working). He is using more complete sentences, and it impresses me to see hear him speaking so well. There are still times where we can’t understand what he’s saying, but for the most part, Jonas is communicating with us much better. I think a big milestone is that other people can understand Jonas not just us.
Remember how Jonas used to be a destroyer of things? Well, that has been much improved. Almost every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, when Sean is at school in the morning, Jonas is playing with the bin of cars. He is lining the up on the big couch, and he is very meticulous about it. He’ll drive each car along the same path, and then park them in a straight line. He doesn’t want anyone to touch them or help him line them up. I’m amazed that he can occupy himself for so long playing with the cars. I’m also amazed that he doesn’t get bored doing the same things over and over again. Jonas still enjoys having some good destruction time, but I’m glad that it’s not all the time. I think that this has really helped having the boys play better together recently. They are both building something together, rather than Sean building something and Jonas destroying them.
It’s been fun watching the sibling relationship grow. Sean and Jonas are typical brothers. They have moments of fighting, of course, but there are more and more moments when they are playing together. Jonas adores Sean and wants to be able to do everything that Sean does. One thing that Sean does well is wanting to include Jonas in various activities. Sean will often ask if Jonas wants to play with him, and they’ll do an activity together. Some of the more common activities are drawing together at the table, playing with the Duplos, riding around on the tractors, playing outside, and playing cars. Jonas definitely has his own opinion of what he wants to do, so it’s not always the case that he will agree to play with Sean, even though Sean wants him to. Jonas is starting to play with Karis more, and taking the initiative to do so more. Before, Jonas would play with Karis because he saw Sean doing it. Now, I’ll find him coming up to Karis and talking to her or giving her a hug or a kiss. It’s really sweet to see the relationship develop. I’m actually surprised that Jonas hasn’t played with Karis more given by the fact that he is enamored with all other babies. He loves going up to other babies and watching them.
Another area in which Jonas is developing is in his fine motor skills. Jonas is now able to draw. He really likes the magnadoodle, but he does also like using markers and crayons on paper. He is able to draw shapes, and he actually drew a car that looked like a car! Jonas is also learning how to use scissors; don’t worry, they are special scissors for 3 year olds that aren’t very sharp. I’ve often found small pieces of construction paper all over the floor.
Well there you have it, the latest greatest news on Jonas.
Jonas’ speech is developing at a whirlwind pace. He has transformed into a parrot, repeating whatever his older brother is saying. Sean is having quite a bit of fun with this as I often hear Sean saying, “Jonas say X”. Most of the time X is harmless, though there are times that Sean will see if we’re listening as he tells Jonas to repeat things like “butt stinky fart”.
Jonas words are also becoming more distinguishable to other people, which I think is a huge milestone. I still have to use context from time to time, but Jonas has been able to say multiple syllables in one word as opposed to one syllable for each word. Another huge development is Jonas being able to string three words together to form a simple sentence. I know this is a challenge for Jonas as he’ll often pause between the second and third word, but it’s been amazing to watch and hear him speaking short sentences.
It’s amazing the social nuances that children pick up on! Sean has picked up on using a “baby voice” when he talks to Karis or speaks for Karis. It’s a higher pitched voice, much like when we talk to a baby. Sean likes to tell me in his voice, “Karis is saying that she needs more food. Karis is saying she wants to go to sleep. Karis is saying she wants ice cream.” It’s pretty cute to see Sean talk with his baby sister this way, even if I think his interpretation of what she’s saying is off. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe she does want ice cream. 🙂
Wow, I feel like I haven’t posted updates about my three beautiful children in awhile. We will remedy that with this post. 🙂
Karis
It’s no surprise that our sweet little girl will be changing the fastest among the trio since she’s a baby. She’s been a rolling machine since she started rolling over. At first, she would be happy on her playmat on her back for sometime before she rolls over. Not so much anymore. Almost every time we put her on her back, she’s on her tummy immediately. It’s been harder to keep her happy for long periods of time because she can’t roll back. You’d figure that rolling from tummy to your back wouldn’t be too hard, but it’s been a challenge for her to learn. She’s done it a handful of times, but not enough for her to know how to intentionally do it. Fortunately, it seems like she’s mostly used to sleeping unswaddled, and most of the time on her belly; though, there are times she’s on her back. Her daytime sleep is pretty much normalized, though her nighttime is all over the place. I think I’m going to refrain from talking about it because it stresses me out. 🙂
Karis is also starting bat at toys that hang above her. That was one thing that would keep her happy and occupied when she stayed on her back on her playmat – the animals hanging above her. She can grab her toys, but I’m not sure if she is really able to do it every time she wants to. She is getting better at putting her hands in her mouth, so I think her hand coordination is developing nicely. Karis’ neck, much like her brothers, seems to be developing quickly and getting stronger with each day. She’s able to lift her head high when she’s on her belly for a few minutes at a time. She’s able to sit in her Bumbo seat and keep her head upright for prolonged periods.
Karis continues to be the mellow third child, at least for now. 🙂 She’s happy to let someone else hold her, though I know she’s a little young to develop any stranger anxiety. She doesn’t fuss too much except for hunger and being sleepy. She seems to be squealing and talking more, which is a treat for me. 🙂 It seems like every time she sees me or hears my voice, she’ll flash a smile. It’s definitely one of those melt your heart moments. 🙂
Jonas
I still can’t believe that Jonas is only 2. Sometimes I have to catch myself and remind myself that he’s only 2. He definitely acts like a toddler, and except for his speech, it’s hard for me to differentiate him from a three-year-old. Having an older brother definitely makes him act older than two because he wants to copy everything Sean does. Everything. Sometimes it’s frustrating to see both of my boys get into the same kind of trouble, but for the most part, it’s sweet to see how much Jonas adores Sean.
Jonas is growing in leaps and bounds with his communication. A couple of months ago, when Jonas would throw a tantrum, we’d ask him to use his words, knowing that most of the times he couldn’t. We are now getting to the point that Jonas will calm down enough to try to use his words. It’s been nice to also know that he can calm himself down when he’s upset. If he’s throwing a big fit, we will tell him that he’s going ot go to his room unless he calms down or uses his words, and most of the time, he will calm down or tell us what he needs, which is nice. This isn’t to say that all of his tantrums are gone, it’s just that he’s developing some self-control and communication which is nice! 🙂
Sean
If I ever had any doubt that Sean was an extrovert, those have definitely been laid to rest. Sean is our constant talker. It always seems like he’s talking. In car rides, he’s always telling us something or asking us a question while the other two are quiet. Sean talks about a lot of things – his friends, what he does at school, retelling books, singing, dreams he’s had, making up stories, asking lots of questions. The child has a lot on his mind! 🙂 Sean has definitely increased his vocabulary and has gotten better with his grammar usage. Sometimes, Sean will use phrases that will catch me off guard (i.e. “That would be fine.”), and I wonder how my three year old sounds like an adult!
One thing that I’m particularly proud of Sean is his use of kind and polite words to ask for things. Sean had gotten into a habit of ordering us around for things, especially at the dinner table – “Give me more of X”, “Get me some Y”. We asked him to use kind and polite words such as “Mama, may I please have some more X”. He picked up on it quickly, and was using these words after a couple days. What pleased me most was that he was doing it unprompted! I am so proud of him!
Sean not only loves to talk but read. He loves having books read to him. Recently, he’s been able to pick out words on pages, which I’ve been impressed with. We’ll pass by signs and Sean will often say, “Mama, that says ‘No’ what?”, and I’ll have to look for the sign that says “No” and tell him the rest. He’ll point out other words that I didn’t think he knew, like “barn”. Pretty soon, Sean will be reading all by himself, I suspect. 🙂
The girl can squeal now. 🙂 It’s so fun having conversations with her now. 🙂 She talks to us and occasionally will squeal.
Sean is definitely an extrovert. When we drove to a friend’s wedding today, Sean had an ongoing commentary the whole time we were in the car (30 minutes). Here are some snippets of his monologue:
Mama, the sky is orange. Look, mama, look at the sky. See it?
We’re going under a tunnel [bridge]. There are lots of tunnels here. Wow, there’s another tunnel. Look mama, another tunnel. I never been under one of those before.
It’s not raining….. Why it not raining on the back of the car?
Look at that car trailer! Mama, do you see the car trailer? Where is it going? Why is it going there? What cars are on it?
Look, there are flashing lights. Why is that police man there? Why are his lights on? …. We’re not going fast.
Look at all those plants. What are those plants? Why is the road small? Why is the road bumpy? It’s raining. Oh, just rocks. Why are the rocks on the road?
Sean has been singing lots of songs lately, and he’s starting to change the lyrics of his songs. The first time I noticed it was when Sean started singing a song about Karis, something along the lines of “Karis, Karis, was a wee little man, a wee little man was she, she climbed up in a sycamore tree”. I realized he was singing it to the tune of a song that he learned at pre-school about Zacchaeus climbing up the sycamore tree to see Jesus. Other songs that he’s changed the words to are “Peas porridge hot”, “Row row row your boat”, and “Twinkle twinkle little star”.
Most of the time, I can hear him singing to himself while he’s playing or in his room for quiet time, unbeknownst to him. When he realizes I’m listening, he gives me a big grin and continues to sing. I’m really amazed how creative Sean is at switching out words but keeping the tune and same number of syllables in the song!
My good friend Lydia bought Karis a sweet sundress right after she was born. I put it on Karis this morning for church.
When Sean saw her, he said,
Karis is a princess*! She’s so pretty! I love her so much. She’s a cute princess
I love how Sean is so loving of his sister and is building her up with his words already!
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* Sean thinks that a dress makes someone a princess. I believe he got this when we watched part of the royal wedding (Prince William and Kate) in April on tv. He asked who Kate was, and I said the princess getting married. After that, he saw one of our wedding pictures and said I was a princess. 🙂
Jonas is definitely communicating more with us. He doesn’t use words that everyone understands, but as one friend aptly put it, “He’s getting closer to talking [in words that other people can understand]”. The problem is that Jonas basically uses one to two syllable sounds as his words. So, “mo” could be motorcycle, more, or lawn mower. He is getting better at enunciating, you just have to try to understand the context and listen carefully. So, “mo” typically means more, “mo caw” is motorcycle, and “mo er” is mower; you really have to listen for that second syllable. There are, however, times where I still don’t understand what he’s saying, and the poor boy is frantically pointing/gesturing to what he wants or he repeats himself over and over. I do guess a lot and try to read the context, and most of the times I guess right because Jonas will nod his head when I’m right.
One of Jonas’ new phrases is “No no”. It’s semi-cute when he says it in his toddler voice, but it’s not so cute when we want him to do something. Another thing that seems fairly new to me is his ability to understand. I’m pretty confident that he understands most of what I’m saying. He’s obeying my commands better, and he shows that he understands when I’m warning him before I take disciplinary action. This also means, I get to see more of his defiance, but I’m glad that we’re at a place where he understands more. 🙂
Sean’s latest affirmative response to things, “Suuuure”. I think he got it from Nai Nai. 🙂
Our Sweet Ts 