Remember when I realized I never read with Little John? Recognizing the problem pretty much solved it. He is now a book lover as much as Tommy. We read one or five of his board books before bed and he brings me stories all day every day wanting me to read to him.
John is a good sport and somehow enjoys being tackled by his brother.
I remember thinking that Tommy loved music when he was about this age. But I had no idea what I was talking about. Tommy was like "eh. Music. It's nice. Whatever." whereas John is more of a "ohmygoshdoyouhearthat?!?! It's MUUUUUUSSSSSIIIIIIIC!!!!!!!!" kind of guy. If there's music on, he should be dancing, and gets offended if he's not. Or I'm not. Or if we're not. He also loves instruments, drums, pianos, crappy toy xylophones.... all of it. Kid has rhythm.
He's also interested in EVERYTHING. When Tommy wants to just watch a show or read by himself, John wants to help me boil water, he wants to unload the dishwasher and work on a project or craft. He wants to be where I am, doing what I'm doing ALL the time. And he LOVES every second of it.
The other night Josh came home from work and Tommy was still awake but in bed (the boys are almost always asleep by the time Josh comes home, it's cause for excitement) and Tommy came running out of the bedroom to give Dad a hug. Little John squawked in his crib waiting for his turn and as soon as he saw Josh his eyes lit up and he nearly jumped out of the crib. After appropriate songs and snuggles, it was time for bed (again). Tommy asked if we would both lay down with him on his bed, so we did and poor John had a meltdown. He was heartbroken and probably felt betrayed. How dare we all snuggle without him - RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM!!!! How rude. We repented, but it took him over an hour to calm down. The kid does not like to be left out.
Watching him learn how things work and "what happens when.... " is maybe my favorite thing to do with John right now. I just want to surround him with things and see what he does. Will he pound on the drum and race the cars or pound on the cars and race the drum? Because he has an older brother he plays with most toys properly, but it's fascinating to watch him figure things out in the rare moments he is given the opportunity to do so alone.
But hands down my favorite thing about John is that he knows what he wants. This boy has confidence oozing out his ears.
If you serve him Mac & Cheese when he wants a sandwich, he'll tell you it's wrong.
If he wants to dance and you're sitting down, you'll know that's not OK.
If he's hungry or thirsty or tired and his needs aren't being met, he will get the attention he needs.
He cares about what he wears, and who holds him, and what he eats, and what we play with, and who gets to win at wrestle mania. He's wonderfully, beautifully opinionated and I LOVE it.
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| SOOOO big! |
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| Here's my noggin'. |
For the record:
- He walks. All the time. All over the place.
- He eats almost anything. But he has to want it. There's no talking him into eating anything he doesn't want.
- He has 3.5 teeth. (2 on bottom, his 2nd top one is right there)
- He is wavering between 1 and 2 naps per day.
- He loves water. Specifically bathroom water. Mostly he loves the bathtub, but since there's a lovely bowl of water which is always full right next to it he isn't so picky.
- He is starting to repeat us more, but the only word he uses correctly day to day is "uh-oh". And it's the most adorably thing you've ever heard in your life. He also says mom (technically "momomomomomooooom") and dad (or "dadadadadada") and signs a bunch of things. Food. More. More food. etc.
- He really does love to brush his teeth (or suck the training toothpaste off the brush) when everybody else does.
- He never wants to be left out. He'll follow anybody anywhere and cries if he's physically restricted from doing what everybody else does.
I actually think that little john and my little Eli have a lot in common:) What a cutie!
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