Summer: Orion!

The kids are changing fast.  Here are bits and pieces I've scribbled down on the backs of shopping lists, on my phone, or in my brain.  Part I: Orion!

O can't make a kissy face, so blowing out candles is entertaining

Orion is two!  He's been singing Happy Birthday for months for friends so when it came time for it to be his birthday he thought it lasted for days and days.  We totally supported that vision of his birthday by providing three different muffins/cupcakes, and by having celebrations at daycare (they did that one), at the daycare potluck on his actual birthday (made a rhubarb cake), at home that morning (rhubarb muffin), with an actual cupcake a day later, and with Tata and Boo a week later.  

About a month after his birthday, Orion gave up his last (almost token) nursing session in the mornings, shortly after we moved his crib to his own room.  He's now used to that and we hope we are now on the gradual road toward better sleep.  At bedtime* we all do tooth brushing together, and D and I alternate doing O and R's bedtimes.  Orion gets a sticker for going to bed from awake in his crib the night before (this is only a few weeks old and man those stickers make him proud of it), we read books, rock in the chair with a song or two, then he lies in his crib for a long time asking for everything under the sun (mama arm, Rion pet mama, no hold hand, no blanket, big bed, Rion own room).  He likes to stroke our arms when he's tired in a way that's really sweet.

Orion has the strong autonomy streak I expected but didn't see in Ronan at this age.  He wants to climb up into the car by himself, climb up into the car seat by himself, do the buckle by himself, etc.  This makes transitions slow, but mastery fast.  O is a confident climber and a bit of a dare-devil.  It probably helps that he's tall for his age -- still in the 98th percentile for height.

Tantrums came on the scene within a week of turning two, and sometimes the world is so upsetting there is nothing to do but lie face down on the floor and cry.  This is pretty infrequent, and usually after just a few seconds of anger he wants comfort and then can move on.  Unless it's really inconvenient--in which case, of course, all bets are off.

O's articulation is getting much easier to understand -- sometimes painstakingly clear in a way that shows just how hard he's working at it (he says backhoe loader with such concentration and care).  Other words are still adorably obscure until you know them, like dando dige (which is sometimes Daniel Tiger and sometimes dandelion), pankpank (which is both pancake and blanket), or fuffuwhy (butterfly).  

Personal pronouns have come on the scene:
I can't  
We are home
You reach it

O in the O! (A few months ago)

Found her (on O's first phone call chat I kept hiding and telling him on the phone where to find me)

Some phrases I hear a lot:
is that?  (=what is that?)
Mama watch
Mama come here
Up on mama
Oatmeal and applesauce
Do self, Rion self

And sometimes they get strung together in more interesting ways:
Whip cream please.  Lil bit more.  Mama help last bite.  One more.

July 3:
A: Do you see moon up in the sky?  
O: Orion reach it!  
A: Oh, it's much too high.  
O: Orion ladder


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*Super mundane, but I wish I'd documented this the first time so I remembered what to expect.  In this case, maybe this will show us how far we've come?