We've reached the stage where he's getting confused about homonyms. He's been very interested in hot food for a long time. We taught him to blow his food off to cool it. He's taken bites of food that was too hot and now he typically asks if any food we offer is hot. For dinner this week we had hot dogs. But they weren't hot. And he found this very confusing. We were almost doing an Abbott and Costello routine.
Lisa: Here's your hot dog. Yummy.
Moriarty: Hot?
Lisa: No, it's not hot. It's called a hot dog. That's it's name.
Moriarty: Hot dog...hot? hot dog? *blows on hot dot that isn't actually hot*
Lisa: It's not hot. You can eat it. It's called a hot dog.
Moriarty: Hot?
Lisa: *giggle* yep. it's hot. *gives up*
We ended up changing daycares last week. When we moved to the new house there was only one school with an opening so we took it. But we've had increasing reservations about the place since. Pip best described it as the Lord of the Flies Montessori. Too much chaos. The kids ruling the teachers. I witnessed older kids being rough with Moriarty during pick-up time. Then after we spent all of the long Thanksgiving weekend working on potty training they just put him back in diapers. That was the final straw. We were miraculously able to find a spot in the other school we had previously toured the next day. OMG. They're fantastic. He's in the "early preschool" classroom so most of the kids are 2-3. 10 out of 14 are potty trained. But he's got the fundamental skills they need like table proficiency, responding to questions, asking for things he needs, etc. He's thriving there. Since he's in the older classroom most of the "toys" are actually Montessori learning tools like puzzles, pouring, scooping, sorting, etc. They're also supporting low-pressure practice potty training while we give him some time to transition to the new environment.
POTTY TRAINING. Everyone's favorite subject... To successfully use the potty, Moriarty needs to be able to identify that he has to go, alert someone and/or go himself, hold it in until he's at the potty, then let it go. When I write it that way it actually sounds pretty complicated. He's very good at telling us he needs to go. He's very enthusiastic about it. He's struggling to know in advance and have enough time and muscle control to make it to the potty without an accident. After 4 days of practice at home he was getting about half of his attempts successfully in a potty, and the other half on our lovely hardwood floors (where we'd rolled up the carpet because we're smart). I was very proud of him for that much progress at his age. But the school transition was just too jarring. His first day at the new school we tried to keep going and he had accidents all day long. I felt so bad so we bought some pull ups and will use those until he is more comfortable at the new school and can focus on this better. No worries. Not a failure, a set-back. The skills he's built so far will still be valuable when we start focusing again.
OK. Enough about toilets. Let's talk about cuteness. He's very empathetic. When I am hurting he gets very worried and wants to give me a hug and help my owies. When he hurts himself he even apologizes. :-) He got a HUGE book of animals for [early] Christmas from Grandpa Phil and he wants to read it all the time. He likes to read to himself (YEAH) but the book is so big if it's on his lap he hits himself in the face when he turns the pages. Last night this went down for the first time and he'd bump his nose and say "sorry uh oh nose". Then turn the page, bump his nose, and say it again. Pip and I were trying so hard not to burst out laughing. He also really likes to help clean. We clean up toys every night before bed and he's very helpful. He also likes to wipe his own face and clean up his tray if he spills milk. We took him again this year to collect donations outside a local mall for the local food bank. I firmly believe children guilt people into donating more. And I want to incorporate him to our philanthropic lifestyle early on.
We attended our first toddler birthday party. It was great, but chaotic and I'm not sure I'm up for something like that for many more years. They rented live bunnies for the kids to pet and hold. That was AWESOME. Moriarty was very into it and was very gentle with the bunnies. The hostess mom also made a special birthday cake that was egg/nut/butter free for him. He had one bite, made a face, and didn't want more. I'm guessing it was sweet and he's hardly had any desert foods so hopefully we're still winning the game against sweets.
At some point he hit a full on truck obsession. He used to love dogs, then dinos, and now it's 100% trucks all the time. He has a book with truck pictures and names and he's memorized most of them. He just wants to scoop and dump and drive and talk about the sirens all day long. Neither Pip nor I have any interest, but we're becoming experts to support him. I do admit, we've let him watch some TV. Well, youtube. We found a video of pretty well written songs and videos of real trucks in action. It makes him SO happy. He quotes it... "put it out". I honestly think he'd watch it all day if I let him, but I don't. Moderation!
Merry Christmas from Moriarty and The Older, Taller, and better Potty-Trained Lafleurs