March brings with it the holiday of Purim, in which people of all ages dress up in costumes and party for two days straight! The average two year old is probably not really impressed by the whole commotion, its just the adults all around who loose proportions...
Purim is the Jewish version of carnival and it takes place more or less at the same time (about one month before Easter). Jews celebrate their deliverance from a genocide threat in ancient Persia (somewhat ironic these days...) by dressing up and getting drunk! People of all ages spend weeks before the holiday of Purim seeking out costumes – every mother shares her ideas for a child's costumes with her counter parts, children harass their parents into purchasing the latest TV hero costume for hundreds of shekels and everyone consumes to much sweets for weeks!
The average two year old (Jonathan's age) probably could not care less about dressing up. Maybe some toddlers like the concept – and those are mostly girls who use Purim as an excuse enjoy an especially frilly skirt for a few days. I imagine most toddlers of two might even find masquerading a bit scary...the people they love metamorphose into clowns (at best) and sexy devils (at worst) before their eyes. I think it is fair to assume that the fun in dressing up is an acquired taste and age is a factor – I guess Purim starts being fun for kids around the age of 3-4.
Although I am happy that in the last week Purim is being taught as a cultural highlight and that costumes and masks have been produced to the children as part of a healthy learning process (so they do not get a heart attack when mom and dad decide to dress up for a costume party and the babysitter (probably a teenager) turns up dressed as a fairy...) I do fear that the teachers at the establishment which Jonathan attends, have lost proportions regarding the Purim celebration. But they are not alone – the whole of Israel is in Purim costume fever. The fact that their behavior was (regrettably) not unusual does not however make it less annoying. So here is the story...
On the day before the Purim holiday, parents were requested to bring their children to the kindergarten dressed up. The idea is that children will celebrate the holiday with too many cookies and by playing dressed up among their also dressed up peers. He highlight however has nothing to do with the kids, but is a product of their parents adoring admiration. To encourage parents to dress up the children a photographer is brought to the kindergarten to document the little angels in their oh sooooo cure costumes (at two the dressed up toddler is indeed still rather cute...)
Considering this event, and the option that Jonathan may indeed wish to dress up (after being taught all week in kindergarten what fun it is to dress up) I brought a simple clown costume for him. I figured that will probably not scare him too much. It has nice strong colors – happy colors. At the age of two, it was obvious to me that I was not going to be too creative and purchasing a durable inexpensive easy to put on costume was the target. The week of Purim came and I started discussing the subject of dressing up and clown with Jonathan in order to prepare him for the great day. He then expressed a particular with to be a rabbit. As he repeated it twice, I decided to take him seriously and brought another (again inexpensive and relatively simple to put on) rabbit costume. During the week the costumes were openly available for play at home and Jonathan seemed to enjoy trying to dress me up, rather than dressing up himself.
I never had any intention of forcing Jonathan to dress us (I clearly remember my brother being forced to dress as a clown when he was two by our nanny, who thought he was sooo cute, and he hated it and I hated it that he hated it) and I told the kindergarten teacher so. She said that I should not worry and that eventually all “her kids” dress up for the photos (typical reaction that shows she misunderstood m y intention entirely). Still as we ended up having two costumes (clown and rabbit) I decided Jonathan might as well enjoy the possibility of choice. So on the day of the party, I asked Jonathan if he wanted to put on any of his costumes, he said no. I put them in a bag and took both to the kindergarten. The boy was normally dressed. I was wearing bunny ears, to set a good example of party spirit.
Now comes the annoying part (and the whole point of this blog entry). As soon as I entered the kindergarten with the regularly dressed Jonathan I was immediately reprimanded by a member of staff to this effect “why is the boy not dressed up?” she snapped! I calmly answered that he did not with to do so. We continued our walk through the yard to his class and another member of staff took the trouble of snapping at us “why is he not dressed up?” I repeated the obvious answer yet again. Then we got into the class and children were dressed up and also playing with the costume crate belonging to the kindergarten and suddenly Jonathan decided he was interested in dressing up – he tried to put on his rabbit costume bu pulling it over his head (in my opinion a clear gesture of interest on his part). The costume however needs to be out ob from the feet first – so I tried t help Jonathan put it on. He however thought this was all to complicated and changed his mind about putting it on – he impatiently pushed it away. Just as he was displaying this negative gesture the head kindergarten teacher entered the room and bluntly scolded me “why are you forcing him?” she said.
Talk about bad timing! At such moments I understand why some people say that timing is everything... I could not believe it! After being reprimanded twice that he is not dressed up, I am now being scolded for trying to comply with his awakened interest in his costume. I admit I lost my temper and scolded the teacher for the duality of the messages I had received from the staff that morning. She told me I should not be angry, or stressed, “her kids” always dress up for the pictures. She then left the room and I felt I was fighting a losing battle. All the air blown out of my sails, I put the costumes back in the bag and told one of the assistants where they are and that they belong to Jonathan. Then I got up to leave. The assistant however panicked and told me that if I do not dress up my boy for the photos, she has not intention of doing it for me. I gave up! I told her nothing will happen if Jonathan would be photographed in his normal clothes! Did I already mention that adults lose all proportion because of Purim? I reported the incident to the head teacher and left the kindergarten.
I couldn't care less if the picture was indeed without without a costume. A photographer coming to the kindergarten is an opportunity to get cool pictures, I admit, but Jonathan is cute to photo graph no matter what he wears. It was important to me that Jonathan have fun, whether he chooses to wear his costume/s or not. The costumes were there to give him a choice. The teachers are however probably used to other reactions from panicking parents who want their sweet angle to be documented in cute costumes. I would of course also enjoy such a picture, but there is a limit regarding the extent I would go to in obtaining it. I learned from the previous year it was not necessarily all fun and games for the average impatient toddler.
I must confess that just last year I was rather obsessed in getting picture of Jonathan dressed up as a lion (I found the costume in a sale and Jonathan loves animals). As a 1 year old, Jonathan was forced by his care takers to pose for a photo and probably lost his noon nap because of the Purim photo shoot. Then when he came home mommy drove him nuts yet again in order to get a cute photo and eventually he got really pissed ( I do believe I blogged about this too). This year I was more prepared to give him the space he needs. With the exception of holding bunny ears over his head and mine (we have two pairs) for a quick snap shot – I left him alone. Dressing up, if at all was to be his choice.
It was this point of free choice that the kindergarten teachers seem to have missed. A day after the celebration I was informed that in the end Jonathan was photographed as a rabbit. I simply answered coldly that I was happy to hear it. Last year, Jonathan looked happy in his lion picture, so I have reason to believe he was having fun, even if forced into the costume for the picture (in which a very full nappy is to be seen...). I just hope it was again the case this year. I want to hope that although Jonathan has probably experienced some pressure to put on the costume from his over motivated kindergarten teacher, that he still has fun wearing it and that being dressed up among his also dressed up peers was a positive experience. Only the picture itself will tell. I will have to wait until we receive it.
My lesson for me as mother is to give clearer instructions nest year that if Jonathan does not want to dress up he does not have to and that any photo of him is a pleasure for his family. Until then, we are already enjoying the “double bunny ears” mother and son snapshot I took. And daddy had to wear the ears an entire afternoon too...Jonathan is indeed having his share of amusement with Purim and dressing others up...
PS – bunny ears are an item one needs to get for the Adults department (even if you buy this item at a a children toy store that holds costumes for Purim...)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Ordnung muss sein! Every Thing has its Place
Orderly it must be (in German: Ordnung muss sein!) Everything has its place in Jonathan's life! And the boy actively arranges everything and everyone to please his sense of order...
Jonathan is to my great happiness a child who loves to keep things in order. He may throw out his entire toys during play – but he will also tidy them up if something is not to his liking, and recently he also cooperates when I request that he tidy up.
The table in the living room served us as an eating place. For Jonathan I have set us a small plastic chair that suits this table and a plastic place-mat that helps define his eating area and reduces the mess being made during th meal. Until recently he also has a bob as part of the ceremony, but in recent weeks he no longer wants to wear it. One evening, as I put down some strawberries for Jonathan as a snack directly on the table itself, Jonathan shook his head at me and told me in clear gibberish that I have not served his food properly. His Tone told me I was being reprimanded for such negligence. Then, when the lecture was over, picked up the dish and pulled the plastic mat under it. After relocating the dish on the mat he tapped the mat as if to show me that everything was now where it belonged. Then he sat down and enjoyed his snack!
When my husband puts Jonathan to bed, he remains to keep him company lying on the bed next to him (it has a higher mattress located next to Jonathan's sleeping space). When I stay to keep him company, I sit on a stool near the bed. One evening, my husband sat on the stool. As long as I was absent, this was not a problem, but as I entered the room shortly after my husband had seated himself, Jonathan wanted me to take my natural place – but the stool was taken. And so he pulled and pushed showing my husband that he must get up, and when my husband got up, Jonathan ordered me to sit down. My husband, who felt a bit rejected by this action, left the room. Jonathan then pointed to the high bed and said “papa” twice, thus explaining that my husband should not have necessarily left the room, but that he should have simply moved over to his place on the bed. After all, everything has its place in Jonathan world and “order must be!” - as the German proverb says (and Jonathan is half German) “Ordnung muss sein!”
Jonathan is to my great happiness a child who loves to keep things in order. He may throw out his entire toys during play – but he will also tidy them up if something is not to his liking, and recently he also cooperates when I request that he tidy up.
The table in the living room served us as an eating place. For Jonathan I have set us a small plastic chair that suits this table and a plastic place-mat that helps define his eating area and reduces the mess being made during th meal. Until recently he also has a bob as part of the ceremony, but in recent weeks he no longer wants to wear it. One evening, as I put down some strawberries for Jonathan as a snack directly on the table itself, Jonathan shook his head at me and told me in clear gibberish that I have not served his food properly. His Tone told me I was being reprimanded for such negligence. Then, when the lecture was over, picked up the dish and pulled the plastic mat under it. After relocating the dish on the mat he tapped the mat as if to show me that everything was now where it belonged. Then he sat down and enjoyed his snack!
When my husband puts Jonathan to bed, he remains to keep him company lying on the bed next to him (it has a higher mattress located next to Jonathan's sleeping space). When I stay to keep him company, I sit on a stool near the bed. One evening, my husband sat on the stool. As long as I was absent, this was not a problem, but as I entered the room shortly after my husband had seated himself, Jonathan wanted me to take my natural place – but the stool was taken. And so he pulled and pushed showing my husband that he must get up, and when my husband got up, Jonathan ordered me to sit down. My husband, who felt a bit rejected by this action, left the room. Jonathan then pointed to the high bed and said “papa” twice, thus explaining that my husband should not have necessarily left the room, but that he should have simply moved over to his place on the bed. After all, everything has its place in Jonathan world and “order must be!” - as the German proverb says (and Jonathan is half German) “Ordnung muss sein!”
Don Juan has nothing on Jonathan!
He is just two years old and two months and yet Jonathan sure can kiss a woman senseless!
(especially if that woman happens to me his mother!)
Last night, as I was trying to put Jonathan to bed, he suddenly “attacked” me with all his love. He crawled in my arms (nothing unusual there) and after a little pampering, he started to kiss and kiss me and hug and then kiss me again. The kisses were long and he also took the trouble of making explicit kissing noises too! The intensity was just amazing! We have kissed and hugged every day and ever since he is about a year old, Jonathan has also kissed me and his daddy back – but yesterday was a special display of love! It was obvious that his little heart was exploding with it and that he simply had to demonstrate his affections to me!
The only thing that makes me a bot uneasy is that the “love attack” took place shortly after Jonathan remarked about the absence of my husband (who had gone out for about an hour). After remarking on the absence of his father more than once, Jonathan lead me to the “big bed” where my husband and I sleep , not forgetting his teddy bear too - he wanted to cuddle there. I let him lye in our bed for a shot while and then I ordered him back to his room and his bed. (Mommy and Daddy's bed is only allowed in the morning, as part of a cuddly waking up ceremony for three). Once we reached his room again, he entered his bad only shortly,while I sat on a stool nearby. Then he got up, climbed into my arms and “love attacked me”. I am just wondering if this is already the age in which toddlers get a little jealous of their dads (especially boys who feel ownership of their mothers). There are many things Jonathan prefers that I do for him and not his daddy (who is scolded for trying to help...).
Make no mistake, I am sure Jonathan loves his dad too, its just that my husband is “not the mama!” and that is just a fact!
(especially if that woman happens to me his mother!)
Last night, as I was trying to put Jonathan to bed, he suddenly “attacked” me with all his love. He crawled in my arms (nothing unusual there) and after a little pampering, he started to kiss and kiss me and hug and then kiss me again. The kisses were long and he also took the trouble of making explicit kissing noises too! The intensity was just amazing! We have kissed and hugged every day and ever since he is about a year old, Jonathan has also kissed me and his daddy back – but yesterday was a special display of love! It was obvious that his little heart was exploding with it and that he simply had to demonstrate his affections to me!
The only thing that makes me a bot uneasy is that the “love attack” took place shortly after Jonathan remarked about the absence of my husband (who had gone out for about an hour). After remarking on the absence of his father more than once, Jonathan lead me to the “big bed” where my husband and I sleep , not forgetting his teddy bear too - he wanted to cuddle there. I let him lye in our bed for a shot while and then I ordered him back to his room and his bed. (Mommy and Daddy's bed is only allowed in the morning, as part of a cuddly waking up ceremony for three). Once we reached his room again, he entered his bad only shortly,while I sat on a stool nearby. Then he got up, climbed into my arms and “love attacked me”. I am just wondering if this is already the age in which toddlers get a little jealous of their dads (especially boys who feel ownership of their mothers). There are many things Jonathan prefers that I do for him and not his daddy (who is scolded for trying to help...).
Make no mistake, I am sure Jonathan loves his dad too, its just that my husband is “not the mama!” and that is just a fact!
Friday, February 19, 2010
The lice Trauma
Turns out that Jonathan is old enough to get lice. This means I am also old enough to get them... and this means a double hair cut.
This may sound extreme and I reacted the same way when a year ago the parents of a baby girl in Jonathan's group got her hair cut because she was scratching her head -still on that occasion there was no lice – I know because Jonathan and I did not get it – hence perhaps the justification to my reaction last year, and to my actions this year, when we did get infested.
It all started with a note in the kindergarten that alerted parents to the possible presence of head lice. Parents were asked for awareness and to inspect their children accordingly. Lice are not unusual in Israel and kids tend to infect one another because they stick their heads together, and into the sand quite often. I remember having lice as a kid and getting my hair combed out by my mother, but this was not an often occurrence. Looking through Jonathan's hair I saw nothing at first – then I saw what I presumed could be eggs. I went and brought a lice comb with thin teeth and just one stroke into Jonathan's hair led to the removal of many of the tiny pests. By then I was scratching my head too, so I gave both Jonathan and myself the “anti-lice” shampoo treatment. Ironically I found myself on that evening seated on the floor and my mother going through my hair, combing it and removing eggs – nostalgia! My mother however could not see any eggs or lice (she getting older I suppose) and eventually it was the skin doctor (to whom I turned in my itching desperation) who confirmed that fact that my itching has to do with lice.
Its is amazing how the little bugs hurt – the itching is strong and they bite! I do not recall this kind of pain from lice as a child. Jonathan in fact seams to suffer them with the patience of a saint! If he has had to endure as much itching as I, I have seen nothing of it!
We combed his head every week as a prevention measure against a re infestation, following the advise of the owner of the kindergarten. I saw not lice in these combings and Jonathan hates it when I comb his head. We also put rosemary oil – its suppose to repel the lice – all to no avail!
We had about three weeks of piece and then I started to scratch my head again! This time combing Jonathan did not turn up any lice, but I did get some eggs out of his hair during his sleep (did I mention he hates being combed? He moves about and the only way we can get some decent combing done if at all is during the time Jonathan watches a DVD). I combed myself alone this time and also got eggs- so it was the “anti lice” chemical shampoo for both of us yet again.
This was however not enough! This time I decided to take more extreme measures and today, I had my hair cut and Jonathan got his first hair cut too. Do not worry – we are not both shaved! We both got decent haircuts.
My boss who has four kids laughed at me at the extreme reaction. I reminded him he was bold and thus did not have to suffer scratching his head when his kids got infested with the little squirts!
I am just hoping that the shorter hair will reduce the frequency in which Jonathan and I both get infected with lice. I give full credit to the hairdresser who cut his hair into a tidy line despite all his squirming and crying. I had to hold Jonathan a bit, but she was fast and got the work done efficiently.
Now Jonathan is looking like a little big man! The shorter hair gives him a more boyish look , rather than the cute curly baby look he had before. He is however still the same cuty! My husband is mourning the loss of the soft curls – and I admit I miss them too. But I think this is for the best. After all my husband did not get infected at all – the lice just do not think him tasty (people say that lice, like mosquitoes, choose their victims according to smell and “sweet blood”), so it easy for him to pretest the loss of the curls – he did not have scratch his head for days in the last month. Besides, Jonathan at last looks his age! A strapping, healthy and happy 2 year old little boy!
This may sound extreme and I reacted the same way when a year ago the parents of a baby girl in Jonathan's group got her hair cut because she was scratching her head -still on that occasion there was no lice – I know because Jonathan and I did not get it – hence perhaps the justification to my reaction last year, and to my actions this year, when we did get infested.
It all started with a note in the kindergarten that alerted parents to the possible presence of head lice. Parents were asked for awareness and to inspect their children accordingly. Lice are not unusual in Israel and kids tend to infect one another because they stick their heads together, and into the sand quite often. I remember having lice as a kid and getting my hair combed out by my mother, but this was not an often occurrence. Looking through Jonathan's hair I saw nothing at first – then I saw what I presumed could be eggs. I went and brought a lice comb with thin teeth and just one stroke into Jonathan's hair led to the removal of many of the tiny pests. By then I was scratching my head too, so I gave both Jonathan and myself the “anti-lice” shampoo treatment. Ironically I found myself on that evening seated on the floor and my mother going through my hair, combing it and removing eggs – nostalgia! My mother however could not see any eggs or lice (she getting older I suppose) and eventually it was the skin doctor (to whom I turned in my itching desperation) who confirmed that fact that my itching has to do with lice.
Its is amazing how the little bugs hurt – the itching is strong and they bite! I do not recall this kind of pain from lice as a child. Jonathan in fact seams to suffer them with the patience of a saint! If he has had to endure as much itching as I, I have seen nothing of it!
We combed his head every week as a prevention measure against a re infestation, following the advise of the owner of the kindergarten. I saw not lice in these combings and Jonathan hates it when I comb his head. We also put rosemary oil – its suppose to repel the lice – all to no avail!
We had about three weeks of piece and then I started to scratch my head again! This time combing Jonathan did not turn up any lice, but I did get some eggs out of his hair during his sleep (did I mention he hates being combed? He moves about and the only way we can get some decent combing done if at all is during the time Jonathan watches a DVD). I combed myself alone this time and also got eggs- so it was the “anti lice” chemical shampoo for both of us yet again.
This was however not enough! This time I decided to take more extreme measures and today, I had my hair cut and Jonathan got his first hair cut too. Do not worry – we are not both shaved! We both got decent haircuts.
My boss who has four kids laughed at me at the extreme reaction. I reminded him he was bold and thus did not have to suffer scratching his head when his kids got infested with the little squirts!
I am just hoping that the shorter hair will reduce the frequency in which Jonathan and I both get infected with lice. I give full credit to the hairdresser who cut his hair into a tidy line despite all his squirming and crying. I had to hold Jonathan a bit, but she was fast and got the work done efficiently.
Now Jonathan is looking like a little big man! The shorter hair gives him a more boyish look , rather than the cute curly baby look he had before. He is however still the same cuty! My husband is mourning the loss of the soft curls – and I admit I miss them too. But I think this is for the best. After all my husband did not get infected at all – the lice just do not think him tasty (people say that lice, like mosquitoes, choose their victims according to smell and “sweet blood”), so it easy for him to pretest the loss of the curls – he did not have scratch his head for days in the last month. Besides, Jonathan at last looks his age! A strapping, healthy and happy 2 year old little boy!
More of Jonathan's latest achievements
Jonthan loves to watch DVD's, picture albums and to read books. He loves cars (and to drive...) and he loves music. He has therefore many achievements related to his best pastimes. Summing up such achievements, which have occurred in the last two months is turning out to be along blog insert...
One day, when visiting a friend, Jonathan pointed to a drawing of Micky Mouse and said “Mouse” our load. Then he pointed to a family portrait and was able to name is friend in it and also to day “dad” indicating that the man in the picture with the other little boy, was his father. This is how we first learned that Jonathan understands the concept of images depicting people. It was however sometime until he started recognizing his own family (mommy and daddy) and himself in pictures. My mother was the first to take a picture off the wall so that Jonathan could point to his daddy. Then one day Jonathan recognized his granddad and that is when I started looking at picture albums with him, usually before his bed time (instead of reading a story – he is still not patient enough to hear one properly, with the exception of two very particular books he practically knows by heart.) By now he is also recognizing both his grandmas and his nephew from my side and a niece from my husbands side.
Jonathan is showing some good memory skills. He remembers the way to his favorite ice shop, even though its winter and it has been some time since we went there. He remember the way to a friend's house – and that he was served a delicious cake there (the following visit he requested cake again from our hostess, just because he knew there would be some.... He remembers to associate a clown song with a certain clown puppet that has been shut up for months. At first I thought he remembered the song from his previous daycare group and I was astounded – its been half a year since he attended the group, in which one of the teachers used such a puppet and sang the song. I have understood however that they also play the song in his current group. Pity, I was enjoying the long memory effect fantasy as a doting mother should do. Still it is always a surprise to witness just how much he learns and remembers.
Not only his memory is impeccable, his speech is improving. Words are spoken more clearly and he is able to mumble through tunes with certain half words and sounds so that I can mostly recognize what song it is he wants me to join him in singing. He is also starting to formulate short sentences such as “where is bear?”, “no juice”, mommy to sit down etc. grammar is not perfect, but he is perfectly understood. Jonathan's language skills are not limited to human languages though, at a visit to an animal “stroking” facility he took up a conversation with a goat! The goat called “baaa” and Jonathan answered her “baaa' and so they exchanged a few more “baaa”s before we had to go. I found this extremely funny because I used to do the same when I was a kid. I especially remember a conversation with a wild goat I ran into on a school excursion when I was 13. I managed to keep up the “baaa” exchange for about 15 minutes and the goat and I eventually had quite a crowd...
Words and sentences are mostly spoken in Hebrew but his German is also improving fast, especially since he started visiting a German play group once a week. The group closed but my husband and the father of another boy still meet regularly with the boys, so the German group lives on and contributed much to Jonathan's vocabulary. The more we associate with boys Jonathan's age, the more we understand that our boy is a strong strapping youngster. Somehow we tend to end up in a relationship with boys who are relatively small and usually a head shorter than Jonathan. I am sure this actually serves to build his self esteem and the other boys however do not seem to be the losers either – they all play together so happily.
It was at a friend that we learned that Jonathan wishes to take up his love for music into an active level. It was at his friend's house that Jonathan first played the harmonica. We then got him a cheep copy but it only made three sounds so he lost interest. Since then, my brother has brought a more advanced harmonica for Jonathan and he enjoys playing it very much (and is grateful to his cool uncle). He is really skilled – he gets both major and minor noted out of the harmonica, blowing air in and out. He also can move the harmonica across his mouth and he gets a whole scale played doing his – like running you finger on a piano. Jonathan also plays the piano on occasion at my parents house, usually in the company of his other uncle – my sisters husband – who is a musician. All he does is pound on the keys, but I did show him how to run his fingers on the piano and he immediately copies my actions.
Playing on a tambourine and on an Arabian drum is also an enjoyable pastime. This however he especially loved to do in my company. To some extent, Jonathan is a performer.
He has taken up to performing at a private puppet theater, using two sponge glove figures that are actually intended for washing up. The sponge gloves are shaped after cows for children's amusement. We never used them for washing, I used them as puppets to Jonathan's delight from an early age. He has now however taken to doing the puppeteering himself. He loved so much that I brought a special Micky mouse glove for him to enjoy. Jonathan not only loves to perform, he loves to boss his crowd while he is at it. In our last visit to my parents Jonathan took to singing, demanding that I join in, and then cuing me when to stop and clapping hands to signal to my parents and husband that the performance was over. He did this repeatedly and we all laughed our heads off. After all, Jonathan was seriously producing his own show! Jonathan chose the song, chose who was to sing it with him, when it should start and when it should end and then the crowd was ordered to clap hands in a timely manner – like in a TV show! The boy has what is takes to be a director! Or perhaps a conductor. He had 4 adults at his finger tips and was enjoying the whole scene immensely! My mother took the opportunity to mention that from all his grandchildren, it is only Jonathan who had managed to order/boss my father around. Jonathan practically ordered his granddad top sit down and enjoy the show (or rather take part in it when clapping was required). We all has a great time!
Wanting adults to share in his games is becoming more often. Ordering adults around is normal to Jonathan – he demands that I share in his activities – rather than asking for my company (and I always tell him to say please, and he does). He invites me regularly to sit and watch a DVD with him (he cuddles while doing so, mommy serving as great recliner too), he loves to match animal cards with me, calling my attention with great enthusiasm to the different animal images and he likes me to chase him when we go out for a walk. He will tell me when to run and when to stop. He liked things organized – having me sit in my usual chair when he goes to bed (if his daddy sits there instead of lying on the bed which is my husband's usual spot – Jonathan will re organize us to our respective places).
But is not all commanding. There is a lot of playful fun. My husband was eventually rewarded for his effort in the last year when one day, as Jonathan came to us in the morning to the “big bed” he played hide and seek in the blanket with his daddy. He also throws a blanket on my face and asks “where is mommy” and then reveals me with sequels of laughter. In the shopping mall, to which we like to go as a family for a simple family outing, this game is continued in the dressing cabinets of shops. Jonathan hides in the cabinet and waits for us to remove the drapes and find him. He loves mirrors too! The fashion shops are a mirror bonanza and Jonathan dances with his figure in the mirror or with the boy who gets reflected from the glass of the near by bank. A set of two mirrors opposite each other, which cause for “hundreds” of Jonathan to appear, seam to scare him off. Two mirrors creating a corner that “cuts” his body from the waist down as he beds to look around it, thus having “two heads” is however an effect he got curious about in a lively manner of bending and checking that was quite heart stopping and delightful to watch.
His motoric skills are as advanced as ever. He practically swims in the bathtub and rolls about. He has not trouble grabbing and stopping himself safe if he slips. Climbing in and out of the tub is also not an issue – but he prefers to be lifted out of the tub by a hugging mommy – I am lucky he has this preference, or I would loose total control of him during a bath – he splashes about and then delights in the fact that he can create rain in the bath! The only thing he loves more, I believe is to pour water into my belly button from a plastic kettle, when I choose to share a bath with him. He loves to shake out all the kitchen playthings into the bath tub – naturally wanting to do so by himself and getting the net that houses the toys all tangle up. Occasionally he will help me take the toys out of the water – but usually he throws them out for me to pick up! Seeing them flying out of the tub is a cause for much glee to Jonathan.
Jumping on one foot is not a problem, neither is drinking from a cup – though he prefers his bottle. In fact he wants to do everything himself and scolds if we do it for him. He must open the front door when we leave and close the gates of all the yards in the neighborhood when we are taking a walk. He likes to pour his own juice into the bottle and put chocolate power in a bottle to make his chocolate drink – he then also diligently wipes away excess power, making a mes in his efforts to clean up his own mess. If he eats and drops his food, he picks it up and if his hands are sticky or there is juice on his chin – he does not like it. He complains but if I am not fats enough in cleaning him, he will wipe whatever is bothering him on his sleeve.
He is actually a tidy boy, bless his heart. He puts his shoes away in their place, he will return pants to their drawer and diapers to their shelves. He will shove puzzle pieces into a box – even if its not the right one...He puts away his play kitchen into any large box he can find – the point being – all must be stowed. He has learned to return a DVD into its box when it is not being used and he usually does that (on occasion however a DVD gets lost, as do cards and other parts of his games, he is after all a 2 year old toddler). Despite all this tidiness, he is just as capable of sending every toy in his possession flying about the house and there can sometimes be no stopping him. Its is mommy and or daddy who will end up tidying the mess. After such scenes searching for parts is an integral part of putting the house back in order. Jonathan does not really tend to help in such searches, but he will imitate such behaviors if chasing a ball around the house. He loves throwing a ball around, even if he is not 100% tuned in on the social value of throwing the ball to another person just yet. Chasing a ball around the house and making sure I follow his performance while doing so is at this stage entertaining enough.
Doing things by himself includes also trying to get dressed alone, especially pulling up his pants. He puts both legs into one pant hole and pulls. Sorting it out is however not easy, because he insists on repeating the mistake because he wants to get dressed by himself. We also negotiate daily on his clothes, because he likes to choose them himself. Sometimes I think his choice is not warm enough and then we have a wailing argument about putting on another shirt. I resort to tricks of preparing two shirts one in the other before putting them on Jonathan at once. He also tries to put his shoes on, but he always does it the wrong way around. I wonder if this is a toddler thing and that the mind is not 100% ripe with right and left, after all the left part of the brain controls the right part of the body and vice versa. Jonathan still operated with both hands playing an active role. He is still stronger with the left had and tends to do more gentle actions (like eating soup from a spoon) with the left hand but the right hand is catching up.
DVD control is a big issue – because Jonathan is practically addicted to the TV, even if he does not watch it, he likes it to play. I think this is left over from the first day care center. He can play with other toys quite contentedly and so we try to limit his daily DVD doses. Since he started climbing the shelves to get to the DVD player, we lowered its position and he now can operate it from a small stool – the DVD;s however remain located in a high place and so far he still asks for them to be brought down and he has not taken to climbing up to get them. He did try it once and I got very angry – lets hope he remembers that for a while... after all the removal of the DVD's themselves from reach is the only control method I have left (except unplugging the player, but do not tell Jonathan that...or he will swiftly learn to plug it back – cables were never problem – Jonathan changing cables in the TV has already led us to getting our TV set repaired).
Solo action also include raiding the fridge by himself. He is powerful enough to open the door and he knows where is food comes from... I accordingly located his favorite yogurts and fruit on the bottom shelf, so he can take them out if he wants. We have a water dispenser installed in our fridge, and Jonathan likes to press it – this however is strictly forbidden! Jonathan will pull up a chair if he wants to reach the dispenser – or anything located higher up. He will sometimes bring a chair from another room for such a purpose. Jonathan also likes to “pull up a chair” in the local delicatessen. He comes into the small shop and sits on a high stool demanding a piece of ham. Both owners know him by now and gladly treat him to a piece of “Shinken”. My husband and Jonathan are regular visitors. After Jonathan eats his piece , they purchase some of the delicious ham to take home. I ran once into one of the owners at a Falafel stand in the street, while I was walking with Jonathan and the delicatessen owner particularity greeted Jonathan and not myself...Today Jonathan even gave one of the owners a hug!
Jonathan has a few such favorite eating spots. The delicatessen is the ham spot, he has a shop for Humus around the corner, a particular ice cream shop on a near street and another in the near by shopping mall. Close to our apartment he also has a juice stand he loves. We buy him fresh fruit pressed (sweet tasty vitamins) and so toddler and parents are both happy. Last week we have been getting hot weather in the middle of February (usually the coldest month of the year) so my husband and I both took Jonathan to the juice stand on two separate occasions in one day. In both cases Jonathan not only drank his fill but chose to share his drink with the parent escorting him. He did so by pushing a second straw to his cup and inviting me to drink. My sister was with us and took a photo of Jonathan and me drinking “head to head” from the juice cup. When I showed it to my husband I found that Jonathan has done exactly the same with him earlier that day. He really is a very loving child!
One day, when visiting a friend, Jonathan pointed to a drawing of Micky Mouse and said “Mouse” our load. Then he pointed to a family portrait and was able to name is friend in it and also to day “dad” indicating that the man in the picture with the other little boy, was his father. This is how we first learned that Jonathan understands the concept of images depicting people. It was however sometime until he started recognizing his own family (mommy and daddy) and himself in pictures. My mother was the first to take a picture off the wall so that Jonathan could point to his daddy. Then one day Jonathan recognized his granddad and that is when I started looking at picture albums with him, usually before his bed time (instead of reading a story – he is still not patient enough to hear one properly, with the exception of two very particular books he practically knows by heart.) By now he is also recognizing both his grandmas and his nephew from my side and a niece from my husbands side.
Jonathan is showing some good memory skills. He remembers the way to his favorite ice shop, even though its winter and it has been some time since we went there. He remember the way to a friend's house – and that he was served a delicious cake there (the following visit he requested cake again from our hostess, just because he knew there would be some.... He remembers to associate a clown song with a certain clown puppet that has been shut up for months. At first I thought he remembered the song from his previous daycare group and I was astounded – its been half a year since he attended the group, in which one of the teachers used such a puppet and sang the song. I have understood however that they also play the song in his current group. Pity, I was enjoying the long memory effect fantasy as a doting mother should do. Still it is always a surprise to witness just how much he learns and remembers.
Not only his memory is impeccable, his speech is improving. Words are spoken more clearly and he is able to mumble through tunes with certain half words and sounds so that I can mostly recognize what song it is he wants me to join him in singing. He is also starting to formulate short sentences such as “where is bear?”, “no juice”, mommy to sit down etc. grammar is not perfect, but he is perfectly understood. Jonathan's language skills are not limited to human languages though, at a visit to an animal “stroking” facility he took up a conversation with a goat! The goat called “baaa” and Jonathan answered her “baaa' and so they exchanged a few more “baaa”s before we had to go. I found this extremely funny because I used to do the same when I was a kid. I especially remember a conversation with a wild goat I ran into on a school excursion when I was 13. I managed to keep up the “baaa” exchange for about 15 minutes and the goat and I eventually had quite a crowd...
Words and sentences are mostly spoken in Hebrew but his German is also improving fast, especially since he started visiting a German play group once a week. The group closed but my husband and the father of another boy still meet regularly with the boys, so the German group lives on and contributed much to Jonathan's vocabulary. The more we associate with boys Jonathan's age, the more we understand that our boy is a strong strapping youngster. Somehow we tend to end up in a relationship with boys who are relatively small and usually a head shorter than Jonathan. I am sure this actually serves to build his self esteem and the other boys however do not seem to be the losers either – they all play together so happily.
It was at a friend that we learned that Jonathan wishes to take up his love for music into an active level. It was at his friend's house that Jonathan first played the harmonica. We then got him a cheep copy but it only made three sounds so he lost interest. Since then, my brother has brought a more advanced harmonica for Jonathan and he enjoys playing it very much (and is grateful to his cool uncle). He is really skilled – he gets both major and minor noted out of the harmonica, blowing air in and out. He also can move the harmonica across his mouth and he gets a whole scale played doing his – like running you finger on a piano. Jonathan also plays the piano on occasion at my parents house, usually in the company of his other uncle – my sisters husband – who is a musician. All he does is pound on the keys, but I did show him how to run his fingers on the piano and he immediately copies my actions.
Playing on a tambourine and on an Arabian drum is also an enjoyable pastime. This however he especially loved to do in my company. To some extent, Jonathan is a performer.
He has taken up to performing at a private puppet theater, using two sponge glove figures that are actually intended for washing up. The sponge gloves are shaped after cows for children's amusement. We never used them for washing, I used them as puppets to Jonathan's delight from an early age. He has now however taken to doing the puppeteering himself. He loved so much that I brought a special Micky mouse glove for him to enjoy. Jonathan not only loves to perform, he loves to boss his crowd while he is at it. In our last visit to my parents Jonathan took to singing, demanding that I join in, and then cuing me when to stop and clapping hands to signal to my parents and husband that the performance was over. He did this repeatedly and we all laughed our heads off. After all, Jonathan was seriously producing his own show! Jonathan chose the song, chose who was to sing it with him, when it should start and when it should end and then the crowd was ordered to clap hands in a timely manner – like in a TV show! The boy has what is takes to be a director! Or perhaps a conductor. He had 4 adults at his finger tips and was enjoying the whole scene immensely! My mother took the opportunity to mention that from all his grandchildren, it is only Jonathan who had managed to order/boss my father around. Jonathan practically ordered his granddad top sit down and enjoy the show (or rather take part in it when clapping was required). We all has a great time!
Wanting adults to share in his games is becoming more often. Ordering adults around is normal to Jonathan – he demands that I share in his activities – rather than asking for my company (and I always tell him to say please, and he does). He invites me regularly to sit and watch a DVD with him (he cuddles while doing so, mommy serving as great recliner too), he loves to match animal cards with me, calling my attention with great enthusiasm to the different animal images and he likes me to chase him when we go out for a walk. He will tell me when to run and when to stop. He liked things organized – having me sit in my usual chair when he goes to bed (if his daddy sits there instead of lying on the bed which is my husband's usual spot – Jonathan will re organize us to our respective places).
But is not all commanding. There is a lot of playful fun. My husband was eventually rewarded for his effort in the last year when one day, as Jonathan came to us in the morning to the “big bed” he played hide and seek in the blanket with his daddy. He also throws a blanket on my face and asks “where is mommy” and then reveals me with sequels of laughter. In the shopping mall, to which we like to go as a family for a simple family outing, this game is continued in the dressing cabinets of shops. Jonathan hides in the cabinet and waits for us to remove the drapes and find him. He loves mirrors too! The fashion shops are a mirror bonanza and Jonathan dances with his figure in the mirror or with the boy who gets reflected from the glass of the near by bank. A set of two mirrors opposite each other, which cause for “hundreds” of Jonathan to appear, seam to scare him off. Two mirrors creating a corner that “cuts” his body from the waist down as he beds to look around it, thus having “two heads” is however an effect he got curious about in a lively manner of bending and checking that was quite heart stopping and delightful to watch.
His motoric skills are as advanced as ever. He practically swims in the bathtub and rolls about. He has not trouble grabbing and stopping himself safe if he slips. Climbing in and out of the tub is also not an issue – but he prefers to be lifted out of the tub by a hugging mommy – I am lucky he has this preference, or I would loose total control of him during a bath – he splashes about and then delights in the fact that he can create rain in the bath! The only thing he loves more, I believe is to pour water into my belly button from a plastic kettle, when I choose to share a bath with him. He loves to shake out all the kitchen playthings into the bath tub – naturally wanting to do so by himself and getting the net that houses the toys all tangle up. Occasionally he will help me take the toys out of the water – but usually he throws them out for me to pick up! Seeing them flying out of the tub is a cause for much glee to Jonathan.
Jumping on one foot is not a problem, neither is drinking from a cup – though he prefers his bottle. In fact he wants to do everything himself and scolds if we do it for him. He must open the front door when we leave and close the gates of all the yards in the neighborhood when we are taking a walk. He likes to pour his own juice into the bottle and put chocolate power in a bottle to make his chocolate drink – he then also diligently wipes away excess power, making a mes in his efforts to clean up his own mess. If he eats and drops his food, he picks it up and if his hands are sticky or there is juice on his chin – he does not like it. He complains but if I am not fats enough in cleaning him, he will wipe whatever is bothering him on his sleeve.
He is actually a tidy boy, bless his heart. He puts his shoes away in their place, he will return pants to their drawer and diapers to their shelves. He will shove puzzle pieces into a box – even if its not the right one...He puts away his play kitchen into any large box he can find – the point being – all must be stowed. He has learned to return a DVD into its box when it is not being used and he usually does that (on occasion however a DVD gets lost, as do cards and other parts of his games, he is after all a 2 year old toddler). Despite all this tidiness, he is just as capable of sending every toy in his possession flying about the house and there can sometimes be no stopping him. Its is mommy and or daddy who will end up tidying the mess. After such scenes searching for parts is an integral part of putting the house back in order. Jonathan does not really tend to help in such searches, but he will imitate such behaviors if chasing a ball around the house. He loves throwing a ball around, even if he is not 100% tuned in on the social value of throwing the ball to another person just yet. Chasing a ball around the house and making sure I follow his performance while doing so is at this stage entertaining enough.
Doing things by himself includes also trying to get dressed alone, especially pulling up his pants. He puts both legs into one pant hole and pulls. Sorting it out is however not easy, because he insists on repeating the mistake because he wants to get dressed by himself. We also negotiate daily on his clothes, because he likes to choose them himself. Sometimes I think his choice is not warm enough and then we have a wailing argument about putting on another shirt. I resort to tricks of preparing two shirts one in the other before putting them on Jonathan at once. He also tries to put his shoes on, but he always does it the wrong way around. I wonder if this is a toddler thing and that the mind is not 100% ripe with right and left, after all the left part of the brain controls the right part of the body and vice versa. Jonathan still operated with both hands playing an active role. He is still stronger with the left had and tends to do more gentle actions (like eating soup from a spoon) with the left hand but the right hand is catching up.
DVD control is a big issue – because Jonathan is practically addicted to the TV, even if he does not watch it, he likes it to play. I think this is left over from the first day care center. He can play with other toys quite contentedly and so we try to limit his daily DVD doses. Since he started climbing the shelves to get to the DVD player, we lowered its position and he now can operate it from a small stool – the DVD;s however remain located in a high place and so far he still asks for them to be brought down and he has not taken to climbing up to get them. He did try it once and I got very angry – lets hope he remembers that for a while... after all the removal of the DVD's themselves from reach is the only control method I have left (except unplugging the player, but do not tell Jonathan that...or he will swiftly learn to plug it back – cables were never problem – Jonathan changing cables in the TV has already led us to getting our TV set repaired).
Solo action also include raiding the fridge by himself. He is powerful enough to open the door and he knows where is food comes from... I accordingly located his favorite yogurts and fruit on the bottom shelf, so he can take them out if he wants. We have a water dispenser installed in our fridge, and Jonathan likes to press it – this however is strictly forbidden! Jonathan will pull up a chair if he wants to reach the dispenser – or anything located higher up. He will sometimes bring a chair from another room for such a purpose. Jonathan also likes to “pull up a chair” in the local delicatessen. He comes into the small shop and sits on a high stool demanding a piece of ham. Both owners know him by now and gladly treat him to a piece of “Shinken”. My husband and Jonathan are regular visitors. After Jonathan eats his piece , they purchase some of the delicious ham to take home. I ran once into one of the owners at a Falafel stand in the street, while I was walking with Jonathan and the delicatessen owner particularity greeted Jonathan and not myself...Today Jonathan even gave one of the owners a hug!
Jonathan has a few such favorite eating spots. The delicatessen is the ham spot, he has a shop for Humus around the corner, a particular ice cream shop on a near street and another in the near by shopping mall. Close to our apartment he also has a juice stand he loves. We buy him fresh fruit pressed (sweet tasty vitamins) and so toddler and parents are both happy. Last week we have been getting hot weather in the middle of February (usually the coldest month of the year) so my husband and I both took Jonathan to the juice stand on two separate occasions in one day. In both cases Jonathan not only drank his fill but chose to share his drink with the parent escorting him. He did so by pushing a second straw to his cup and inviting me to drink. My sister was with us and took a photo of Jonathan and me drinking “head to head” from the juice cup. When I showed it to my husband I found that Jonathan has done exactly the same with him earlier that day. He really is a very loving child!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Winter blues: Jonathan's great moment summary of the last two months or so
I did not have a computer, so some events have accumulated. It become recently cold and rainy here (winter for real for a change), so going to a friend to write has also not been an option. Jonathan is as cute as ever, is creating headlines for me on a continual basis – so here is a short summary.
His conversation and words improving every day. He now, more or less, repeats everything he hears and is always asking “ma ze?” , what's this? In order to find out new words.
Jonathan actually took a dump in the toilet for real! He did this twice this week. Following these events he was unwilling to wear a diaper and I let him run around without one, as he was home sick anyway. The result is that he wet his pants – although I asked him repeatedly if he needed to go to the loo. Funnily he seams to be getting it backwards – he wets his pants but does “bigger things” in the toilet. All the books say it usually goes the other way around.
Although we are not really trying to get off the diapers yet, because its winter here and this is a more summer sort of thing (roll the carpets and let him run with no clothes on, and no diapers either - learning to control one's needs with only the floors getting messy from time to time), Jonathan is expressing a growing interest in the toilet and a lessening willingness to wear diapers. We hope to try and get him off the diapers in Passover, when he has a week at home during the holiday. |It is then considerably warmer too.
Jonathan has understood from an early age that if he is not tall enough, he can get a chair, climb on it and reach his target. Now the shelves have also become a legitimate device for the same purpose. This is how he surprisingly reached the DVD player earlier this week at last. I turned my back for just a minute and whoops, he changed the CD in it alone! I have been keeping the DVD player high up as part of the mechanism to control the time Jonathan spends watching his DVD disks. But as his climbing has taken on a new turn and he has successfully changed DVD's at my mothers without breaking the player, I decided to bring it down again and keep controlling Jonathan's DVD intake by only putting up his CD's when we are done watching them for the day.
The first result of this policy was that he enjoys it very much and changes the CD's more often. The second result was that he reached to his fathers DVD collection, as he could not reach own – and broke one of the films. We are now reminding him that he is not permitted to touch the CD's in the shelves – just the one's in his box – which still remains high up....
Jonathan has been sick for a few days at home, and DVD played a major role in his entertainment, as it was cold outside. This morning he was to go to Kindergarten again – he refused. Even my leaving the house did not work! He has in fact recently been more willing to let me go out of the house and even says “buy bye” nicely if I Go out. This morning, I left indeed and my husband took him to kindergarten later, after he got his “DVD morning fix”. Even so, I think Jonathan likes his kindergarten and after today, he will remember again how nice it is and tomorrow morning it will be easier to get him out of the house.
His conversation and words improving every day. He now, more or less, repeats everything he hears and is always asking “ma ze?” , what's this? In order to find out new words.
Jonathan actually took a dump in the toilet for real! He did this twice this week. Following these events he was unwilling to wear a diaper and I let him run around without one, as he was home sick anyway. The result is that he wet his pants – although I asked him repeatedly if he needed to go to the loo. Funnily he seams to be getting it backwards – he wets his pants but does “bigger things” in the toilet. All the books say it usually goes the other way around.
Although we are not really trying to get off the diapers yet, because its winter here and this is a more summer sort of thing (roll the carpets and let him run with no clothes on, and no diapers either - learning to control one's needs with only the floors getting messy from time to time), Jonathan is expressing a growing interest in the toilet and a lessening willingness to wear diapers. We hope to try and get him off the diapers in Passover, when he has a week at home during the holiday. |It is then considerably warmer too.
Jonathan has understood from an early age that if he is not tall enough, he can get a chair, climb on it and reach his target. Now the shelves have also become a legitimate device for the same purpose. This is how he surprisingly reached the DVD player earlier this week at last. I turned my back for just a minute and whoops, he changed the CD in it alone! I have been keeping the DVD player high up as part of the mechanism to control the time Jonathan spends watching his DVD disks. But as his climbing has taken on a new turn and he has successfully changed DVD's at my mothers without breaking the player, I decided to bring it down again and keep controlling Jonathan's DVD intake by only putting up his CD's when we are done watching them for the day.
The first result of this policy was that he enjoys it very much and changes the CD's more often. The second result was that he reached to his fathers DVD collection, as he could not reach own – and broke one of the films. We are now reminding him that he is not permitted to touch the CD's in the shelves – just the one's in his box – which still remains high up....
Jonathan has been sick for a few days at home, and DVD played a major role in his entertainment, as it was cold outside. This morning he was to go to Kindergarten again – he refused. Even my leaving the house did not work! He has in fact recently been more willing to let me go out of the house and even says “buy bye” nicely if I Go out. This morning, I left indeed and my husband took him to kindergarten later, after he got his “DVD morning fix”. Even so, I think Jonathan likes his kindergarten and after today, he will remember again how nice it is and tomorrow morning it will be easier to get him out of the house.
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