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| Carsten Andrew - 2 years old |
I haven't given an update on Carsten in a while - mostly because of our crazy travel schedule. I know, it's a rough life. So, here we go:
Talking: He's talking in sentences since he was about 21 months. The day before Mom and Dad Huisman left at the end of May, Carsten said his first sentence. Andy asked him a question about who planted the flowerbox, and he said "I did it!"So, there we have it. Along those same lines, he told his first story to us. Here's what happened to create the story: my earring had fallen out onto the floor and he pointed to it and said 'I missed it!' (2nd sentence btw). And then I said, "Thank you Carsten. You found Mommy's earring!" And then he replied, "I found it!" (3rd sentence). Later on, he found me to tell me his story and said 'Missed it!', and then he pointed to the floor and said 'I found it!'. This is his first story to us, and he's repeated it several times since then, which we love. Actually, when I wear those earrings now, he usually points to the floor and either says 'I missed it' or 'I found it'. I find this very adorable. All in all, it's super fun to have him talking with us and it makes me fell a little less like I'm just talking to the stroller when we're out because he now replies back to me. He also now can express many preferences and needs. He also can and does repeat pretty much everything we say now, so we have to be a little careful sometimes! :)
Sleeping: He's a pretty good sleeper. Except that his naps aren't always as long as I'd like or as long as he needs. Also, he still seems to be a pretty light sleeper, which necessitates that nap time is a 'quiet' time for me. He's still sleeping in his crib and to date, has not climbed out despite being quite tall for the crib. I think he's pretty good at following rules even when I'm not around (see next point).
Type A personality: There's been a few indicators that we have a bit of a Type A personality on our hands (no one should be surprised by this). 1) He generally follows rules even when we're not around and will even go so far as to tell himself 'NO' when he's thinking about doing something that he isn't supposed to do (we LOVE this and hope it sticks around for a while :) ). 2) He puts things away in the right spot, and insists that it be done that way. When Andy does it incorrectly, he says 'uh oh' and puts it in the correct spot. 3) He points out the things that are out of place. When we leave a child lock undone, he says 'UH OH' until he gets our attention so we can come over and close it, and he doesn't open the drawer even though we've left it unlocked.
Favorites: His favorite thing of all is his blanket, which we usually require to stay in his crib but sometimes he's allowed to snuggle it around the house. The spatula has been a 2nd rate toy for a while and has been replaced with his toy tractor and digger, both of which were Andy's toys when he was little. Carsten LOVES all things related to construction equipment (especially diggers and dump trucks), airplanes, helicopters, and trains. This makes our train rides go very quickly as Switzerland seems to have a lot of construction at all times. At home we see a lot of helicopters and airplanes, so we're constantly running from one side of the house to the other so we can see them.
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| Digger just down the street that Carsten loves to see. |
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| 'Look over there!' |
Memory: He has an excellent memory and he's also developing a good spatial memory. He knows where all the diggers and cranes are on the Forchbahn and tells us when they are missing (even for weeks after it is gone). He's also really good at remembering things that he's not supposed to do, and even better, he generally doesn't do them. He can now 'fill in the blank' for most of his books and the songs that we sing him, which is fun because now everything is very interactive.
Playing: He loves to play outside and he's also really good about playing at church nursery and at the gym. In fact, he loves to go and today when we were leaving the grocery store he asked to go play at the gym which is right behind the grocery store. Carsten also loves playing on our deck, and he especially loves to play on our playground right outside (there's trucks!).
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| Playing trucks on our playground. |
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| Playing on the deck with water. |
Following directions: He can now follow multiple step directions, especially when going outside is involved (like 1) put your blankie away and 2) find some socks). He's also very good about holding our hands when we're outside walking, and this is nice because now we do not have to take the stroller everywhere.
Teeth: He has everything except his 2 year molars, but never fear, those are coming in at the present moment which has resulted in some interrupted sleep. He's also pretty good about letting us brush his teeth twice a day.
Scholastic achievements: Carsten has known all of his shapes since about 21 months, and he has known his colors since about 22 months. At 23 months, he could count to 10 verbally with us, and now at 24 months, he recognizes all the written numbers from 1-10.
Size: We won't know his exact measurements until his doctors appointment in about a week, but I can tell you that he's in 3T clothes and has been since he was 21 months. The 3T clothes fit him quite well, so who knows how much longer he'll be in them :).
Cats: It seems almost everyone has cats here, and the cats are allowed to be out of doors most of the time. Now that we've been here a bit, I know which cats below to whom, so I feel comfortably letting Carsten touch the cats that are nice. And he is THRILLED to be able to pet the cats. He's very gentle, and has only pulled the tail one time. :)
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| We taught Carsten to drag a stick so the cat will follow him :). |
We anticipate a lot more fun as Carsten is two, and he'll experience some major life changes as we move to New York in January. We love our little buddy!
