Well, not to be overly dramatic, but as Michelle alluded to, Alex has been a handful at times over the last couple of weeks.
I’m sure some of it is entering “terrible twos” territory, and some if it is that he’s been fighting a little bug, but I’m not used to dealing with such moodiness. Just last month he started tending to get very unhappy if he wasn’t wearing clothes or pajamas with cars or trucks on them. Sometimes I feel like I’m a personal assistant to a Hollywood A-lister!
It’s amazing how much he’s learning, though. He’ll toss off words and phrases that we never knew he knew randomly, for instance. They’ve been working on the alphabet song at his daycare, apparently, because we didn’t exactly make a habit of singing it with him at home, but one evening he just busted out with the first few letters of the familiar tune. He’s starting to notice a lot of things that he’s personally interested in that we don’t, like the big truck passing on the overpass a quarter mile down the road or the fire truck on the shelf in the corner of a picture in a book. (You might have noticed a theme here; he’s big into trucks and construction equipment.)
So we don’t want to sound like it’s pity party time around here. It’s our first time with a two year old, but apparently this kind of thing comes with the territory. Nicky, Alex, and Michelle are all generally healthy and happy, and that makes me about the luckiest guy in the world.
It seems like just yesterday that we celebrated Alex’s 1st birthday in China, and now our Alex and Olivia have turned two. Where does time go? This year Alex had a joint birthday party with Olivia at Olivia’s apartment’s club house. Auntie Vivian and Uncle Eric got very nice birthday cupcakes for them. Can you count how many cupcakes in the following picture?
Alex and Olivia need to practice how to blow out the candles before their third birthday party.
大家给易峰和Olivia唱生日歌。
After Christmas, Alex is becoming a pro at opening presents. 开礼物对易峰来说已经是轻车熟路了。
“I love chocolate cake with chocolate icing.” 易峰喜欢巧克力蛋糕。
Alex might not be feeling very good lately… he’s had some sniffles and a cough, and obviously he has more tantrums than before. He’s been giving daddy and mommy a hard time. However, my dearest Alex, I want you to keep it in your heart that Daddy and Mommy love you forever, and love you more each day because when you feel good and eat well, we see you share toys with your friends, say Thank you when somebody helps you, kiss and hug Daddy, Mommy, and Nicky, help as much as you can in the house. We are very proud of you!!!
From this week, our two-and-half-month-old little baby started to sleep in his own room. Just like his big brother. I feel a bit lost to see Nicky’s crib was moved out from our room last Sunday. I know co-sleeping is not good for either of us, but I have to admit I love to cuddle with my babies and sleep at their side, look at their angle like faces, and listen to their snoring, even grunting. For one moment, I very regret my decision to let my baby go. Fortunately, Nicky has done a fantastic job so far. He is not difficult to put down into the crib after I rock him to sleep. He sleeps 7 hours at night. Only needs one feeding each night. I am so released to see him doing so well. Encouraged by his little brother, Alex sleeps better this week too. Last week he got a fever for half day and was very challenging for a couple of days afterward. When I am writing this post, Alex and Nicky are both resting in their own rooms. Sleep tight, my babies. Sweet dream!
Nicky smiled to me right after he was born when I held him in my arms. From then on, he smiles every day. Recently he coos so much when we talk to him. Very cute.
Last Saturday, while Nicky and the rest of the family was hanging out on the patio, Grandpa taught Alex how to hit a nail with a hammer.
现在该自己动手了。
Alex studied very hard and paid attention to every detail.
“爸爸，我在钉钉子呢，别老让我看照相机！”
“Hey, enough with the camera, I’m working here.”
敲一下，再敲一下，没见过谁钉钉子笑成这样的。
I know what you’re thinking–that the above pic looks like Alex is busting out a grimace of pain, and that I’m a bad dad for distracting my son with the camera and causing him to hit his finger with the hammer.
Just kidding… I’m sure you picked up on that being a laugh.
Happy New Year, Alex and Nicky! Although sometimes daddy and mommy are frustrated with your crying and tantrums, every day we feel that we are in love with you more than the day before.
时间过得真快，２００９年一眨眼就过去了，易峰，易天，新年快乐！！！爸爸妈妈每天都爱你们多一点。
Alex is better and better at using his good manners. He says “Thank you” and “Please” all the time. When Nicky cries, Alex even helps his parents saying “No Cry, DiDi” and rocking the snugli. He likes to tickle his little brother and laugh and laugh. Yesterday Nicky smiled back to Alex for the first time. Nicky is such a smiley boy. He smiles and coos so much everyday.
Alex is starting to talk a lot. One day last week Alex pointed to our penny jar and said “money”. I have taught him to say “money” in front the camera because I believe the word “money” makes his smile better saying “cheese”. I didn’t expect him to understand what money is. Apparently, he figured it out by himself. Last week, I heard Alex sing the alphabet song by himself, which was taught at daycare. From then on, Alex and I always read A to Z when we go out in a car, and we can repeat it again and again.
Alex loves vehicles. I called my mom and told her that one night Alex gave Daddy such a hard time to put on his pajamas. I was worried he might have some skin problem. It turned that Alex doesn’t want to wear any other pajamas without a car, truck, or tractor on them. We only have two pajamas that meet his requirement. His brother is not picky about clothes yet, but he sure uses lots of blankets and bibs due to spitting up. We are working hard to keep the laundry running to make sure our boys have clean pajamas and clothes every day.
Of course, Alex has tantrums, just as any other kid at his age. My ongoing experience is when he is very mad, 50% of his anger is a tantrum, and the other 50% is just frustration because he cannot articulate what he means yet. One example. One time Alex’s sippy cup fell down from the dinner table to the floor, and daddy helped him pick it up. Alex said big “NO, NO” and became unhappy. Then he knocked the cup over to the floor. Right before “Alex, please don’t do that” slipped out of my mouth, Alex got down from his chair, picked up the cup, and put it on the table. Then I asked him, “oh, you wanted to get the cup by yourself?” Alex nodded “Yes”, and then everyone was fine. I also encourage Alex to say “help, please” when he is frustrated. That seems help a lot too.
