And to our surprise....

Just like the ENT told us...Jack's speech would likely all of a sudden "pop." His recognition of words and verbal instructions has been above average for his age, however his speech was a little slow to develop. They weren't concerned about this at all, especially because his hearing was so limited prior to getting his ear tubes. Mike & I stayed vigilant...and encouraged him to use his words. We didn't want to stress him out, as we were at ease because the doctors were not concerned. And then, just like that, it clicked.

Now we have a little chatterbox! His vocabulary is just exploding, which is so cool! Not only can he say a ton of different words, he can also put together some great sentence combinations. We're pretty proud. My what a difference the ear tubes made in his world. A year later, his hearing and speech is completely caught up, actually a little more advanced than the average 2 1/2 year old.

Some highlights of his expanded vocabulary:

1) He knows all the days of the week and says then in order. We were stunned.

2) He can count to 10, although he doesn't like the numbers "7" & "8," so those get omitted and replaced with "No." We don't know why he has a big gripe against these two numbers, but its consistent every time he counts. Here's how it goes: "One, Two, Three, Four, FIVE (usually said with a lot of excitement), Six, No, No, Nine, Ten."

3) Animals...he loves learning the names of animals.

4) Colors...he knows Red, Green, Blue, Yellow (might be his favorite color right now), Orange, Black, Grey, and White. It so cool to see him recognize these colors on items.

5) Vehicles...these might be his favorite items right now: Car, Truck, Chu-chu for train, Motorcycle, Police Car, Firetruck, and the coveted "School Bus!!!"

Adventure World

While in Maryland over Presidents Weekend, we took a little excursion. As you can see, somebody had a blast at a place called "Adventure World." This is a frontier-themed kids attraction near my parent's house. Jack discovered the bouncey house and really seemed to like it. Mike and I were both surprised about this-- quite a change from his first experience with such an inflatable. He even went down a huge blow up slide (I think this is the biggest slide he's ever been down).

New Words

Jack is doing really well picking up new words. The tubes in his ears seem to be working quite well and his speech is getting much, much better.
We're amazed by his word association and recognition. For example, we can be looking through a picture book and we'll ask him to point to a tree. He'll first point to the photo of the tree in the book-- and then point to the backyard and over to the front yard, because we have trees in both areas. He'll do the same with words like "door" and "banannas" (especially when he has one for dinner before our reading time. I love the connections he makes.

New words he's learned this past month:
-Umbrella
-School Bus ("Bool Bus")
-Bananna
-Grandma
-Hi Pop (which must be said in combination at least 3 times a day)
-Nonna (or as he says is "No-No" with a big smile)
-Moon
-Star
-Pizza

Four Generations

This past weekend, we had the chance to go home to Maryland to spend time with my family. It'll be the last time we get out there before the twins arrive (can't believe they'll be here in about 3 months!). We took advantage of the 3 day weekend and had a really relaxing time.
It was great to spend time with family. We got to see my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and my grandma....it was truly terrific. Nothing makes me more proud than to see how well Jack interacts with family. He's not afraid-- and really seems to thrive in social situations. He's laid back, carefree, and genuinely happy.
Some of the best moments were watching him play with his Pop. Boy is there a special relationship there. Don't get me wrong-- he's super close to many of his relatives...but what he and Pop has is really special. They play on the same level-- and their interactions are just so neat.
It was also terrific to see Jack with his Great Grandma....she couldn't believe that he recognized her from the moment she got out of her car. He went right up to her and gave her a big hug. I think this melted a couple of hearts at the same time.
Mike developed a game where we post photographs on our refridgerator of family and very close friends. We spend a good amount of time each week identifying the photos so that Jack can place a name with a face. He's then able to point to the person who's name we call out. Its another example of his word association--as this then seamlessly translates over to when he sees the actual person in the photos.
While we were in Maryland, he could identify his aunts, cousins, Grandma, Pop, their dog, Kody, and of course, Great Grandma. Everyone was blown away. I'm just happy he knows how many people care about him.

School Bus

Our new game as we go to school in the morning is to spot all of the yellow busses. It might be his favorite activity on our commute for Jack, even trumping eating two of his prized cereal bars!

And he's quite the spotter...calling them out from far away. He must have his Dad's perfect vision, because its rather impressive. We still have to work a little on his pronunciation, as he refers to a school bus as "bool bus," but I'm thrilled with his fascination with them.

On Friday, we were leaving to head out of town and happened to be home (and outside because the weather is beautiful) when an elementary school bus actually pulled up outside of our house. What a treat! Jack was in awe. He just stared and squeeled "Bool Bus" over and over again with a big grin. Too cute!

My Funny Valentine!

I call him that because Jack just finds ways to make us smile. He loves to laugh-- and absolutely craves making others around him smile and laugh. And truly, its one of my favorite characteristics about his personality. I hope it never changes because he is truly a delight.

This is the first year where Jack exchanged Valentines cards with his classmates. He also had a party at school and collected special treats. After school, he opened up the surprises in his treat bag and really seemed to enjoy it. He also loved opening all the cards he received-- both from his friends at school and from family. He loved opening the envelopes and really seemed to enjoy the process of getting to each card. He even seemed to try to read them.

We gave him some presents too-- Mike got him a stuffed dog that looks exactly like Boomer. Needless to say, its an instant favorite and goes with him to very important places (i.e. on long car rides). It also earned "crib stuffed animal status....almost instantly, which is also a big deal. I gave him some books that he really seems to like as well (they're part of his Leapster Tag Learning System). We also gave him a stuffed "Love Bug," filled with cereal bars (his favorite).

You could tell he felt pretty special with all the cards and thoughtful "I love you" items....

Toddler 3 Class

Jack is in the process of transitioning to a new class at school. Its kinda a big step as he's now in the Toddler 3 room, the last room before entering the pre-school level of classes. The director thought Jack would benefit from moving up a little early, especially with the twins arriving in a couple of months. We agreed there's no sense in putting Jack through a transition at school while undergoing a major change at home. It makes sense-- but I will admit, Jack really seems to miss his old class and classmates. In fact, every morning he tries to go in the "Green Door" to Toddler 2 instead of the "Red Door" in his new room. I'm hoping that this adjustment period is a rather short one. He's fine once the day gets started...once he's in his class, he does pretty well. Its just tough during "drop off" time. Its definitely good that this is happening now and not later.
His new class has a lot more structure. They have more reading time and craft time. On Wednesday mornings, Jack participates in "Sweet Pea Fitness," which is an hour-long gymnastics class. I think this is one of Jack's most favorite activities. This weekend, we saw for ourselves how much he's learning in gymnatics. He can do yoga positions like downward dog and can balance in a tripod position, lifing his leg towards the ceiling. He can even do a forward roll-- on command.
This room also has one other feature: a little toddler bathroom. And Jack's gone on the potty 4 times now. Pretty cool. This is surely going to help us with potty training.
So far so good :)

Mr Dental Hygiene!

Perhaps a career as a dentist is in Jack's future. Wouldn't it be hilarious if this actually happened?!?!? The reason I write this is because I have never seen a little kid who LOVES to brush his teeth as much as Jack does. And he brushes for a long time each time he does it. In fact, in the morning, I think he averages 2-3 different sessions of "Brusha-brusha" as we call it. The first one is after he gets dressed. Then, as we get ready to go to work and school, he is sure to join Mike & I as we brush our teeth. We make funny sounds as we brush and he thinks its hilarious.

The kid has 3 toothbrushes-- and just loves to clean his teeth, which is so great. And I must say, he's super cute when he brushes. He gets so proud of himself as he climbs up on his step stool and turns the cold then the hot water on, then grabs his toothbrush. He then finds his Thomas the train tooth paste and tries to open it. This is where he needs our help, but he's got the system down. The only bad part is that he loves to keep the water running, so we're not really doing a good job conserving water with this, but we'll work on that as he gets a bit bigger.

Happy New Year

Its a little sad to see 2010 go away-- it was just a terrific year! Jack's personality just took off. We just love how its unfolding. He truly is emerging as a funny, well-natured toddler. He's really started to talk and its so cool to see him interacting with others. He's a genuinely happy kid, which is just great.

Of course, he does have his "kinda terrible twos" moments....if he doesn't like what he's being instructed to do, he'll shrug his shoulders and sometimes try to hit or even bite....but we're working though that.

I'm really glad we've been recording his development through writing...it will allow us to look back when he's older and remember with as much detail as possible, the litte things that make each year so great.

2011 is going to be a big year for our family...that may be a gigantic understatement. Jack will be getting 2 younger siblins...and we'll be completing our family this Spring. Yes, it will be a lot of change, but we will do our best to keep some things very constant....especially the sense of family and togetherness that adds joy to each day. I truly think Jack will be an amazing big brother. We can't wait to see what this year has in store for us. Happy New Year! May it please be another wonderful one :)