Little Blake

I know that we, as parents, and especially me, as a mom, a first time mom, we tend to see our kids as the BEST ones, the NOBODY is like you ones etc, which, generally is true, 'cause they are unique and so different, BUT, when most of the people around me tell me how smart, outgrown, unbelievable for his age Bryce is, I try to keep my grounds, look around and be realistic for what it's to come.
I know Bryce is special and I'm not saying it just because I'm his mom (trust me, I was born and raise in Romania, where we don't appreciate something just because that's the trend, you have to work at it), so even my little Bryce worked at it to impress me: first time when he started crawling at 5 1/2 months then developing skills and knowing what to do with things; he challenges himself every time we go to the park and takes on with no fear all the big, tall toys made for older kids, he puts the two and two together, makes connections, he talks a lot but still in his own language (which is cute).
So, that's how we get to the core of this story. You hear about those little toddlers who say all kind of things and you more or less believe it. That's until you meet one of them in person:
Yesterday, while we were playing in the sand this little cute, fair hair, blue eyes little girl comes to us and says:
"Hi"
Bryce looks at her and smiles while I answer back:
"Hi"
And then I ask her:
"What's your name?"
She says :
"Blake"
Although I completely understand the name, I just thought that maybe I just didn't get it so I looked at the nanny and she nods that's the name.
I continue my dialogue:
"How old are you? "Two"
She nods "No"
Then she says
"One - Seven"
I'm thinking to myself:
"17 months?? OMG, she's like fluent in English.
And then she confirmed it to me how fluent she was.
Perfect English in everything she told me or I asked her to tell me.
"Cup, sit, brown, fingers, red, spoon etc", I was just blown away.
Both of the parents were working, breastfed only the first 3 months and she was taking care by a nanny who barely spoke any English
Later that afternoon, I met this cute 8 years old boy who was fluent in English, French, Russian, Japanese, Spanish. Such a well spoken young man. I started speaking with his mom (a Russian) and asked her when he started talking being a bilingual kid. And she answered me " Later than the other kids. I thought I was doing something wrong". But she was not, as it turned out, the boy is absolutely fluent in 5 languages. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!
So, when I got to be all by myself and reflect a little bit I kind of realized that all kids are different and so unique. That, you, as a parent, are here to guide them and support them but that there are so many things inside of them that will concur to whomever he will be in life.
And as long as your feet are deep in the ground and you look around and recognize the best in others, you will be able to channel his goals to greater achievements.

Finding solutions

It's interesting to watch how his little brain is at work. He's like a little engine during day time, working and absorbing and working some more.
What I particularly admire at this point is his ability of coming out with solutions to solve problems:
- I remember this one: we have a little trunk by the wall; he sometimes likes to climb on it but other times he just likes to drop little books or pens behind it; after that, he wants to have them back so, instead of calling for my help, he takes a toy with a long handle and tries to shovel it behind and rescue the books fallen in there; Sometimes, the handle is too big to fit-LOL-but the intention counts.

Edit: another example: buni Myrna gave him a little bottle and some little fish crackers. He looked at every fish and put every each of them in the bottle, with the slimmest part facing down.

Few words

Well, I haven't say too many things lately just because you're keeping me bu-sy. :))
So, in between running and keeping up with you, knitting for "Funky Gavroche" (a label inspired by your energy, sweet little one) and some other miscellaneous stuff around the house, here's what I have to tell you:
-you're 16 months old already (boy, time flies, they're not kidding around when they're telling you that);
-you're just awesome; let me see if I can find all the epithets to describe you: 200% energy, fun, laughs, giggles, creative, inspirational, smart, curious, inquisitive, problem solver, naughty, sometimes a bit mischievous in a fun way, stubborn (OMG so stubborn), independent, like very independent, explorer, focused, still not a great sleeper-:)
- you still love the music; it's so interesting seeing it developing in you from the first days you were born; you play the drum every day, and the piano (for some reason it's not an everyday request anymore), then if I give you a spoon or something that resembles a stick you start banging as if imitating the drums; you ask to play the Romanian music cd and you love to dance and applaud on its rhythms;
-you bring me books to read to you but you kind of loose interest in the subject 2 sentences later. LOL;
-you talk and talk and talk, from 6:00 am (BTW, you're like a clock); I don't get all that you're saying (I know, you have developed your own language) but for some reason we're communicating in a great way (with some few exceptions when you prefer the scream instead of having a civilized conversation-LOL)
-you're not a tantrum thrower, yet (and I hope you'll stay that way); I don't know if me listening to you helps, or it's just you putting up with me (and my tantrums sometimes-LOL), bottom line is, we kinda of getting along with each other (maybe because we're both Leos? - LOL)
- you love, LOVE to socialize, to have as many people around you as possible, you just thrive around other kids and to be in the center of attention, in the spot light,
-you love outdoors so much that you could stay out 24/7, if possible; and when we go out no matter where, you just want to walk and walk, you look behind to make sure I'm following you and then you walk some more (you don't like that much to be carried nor strolled);
-even if I thought you don't hug me enough , you know exactly when to come and put your little arms around my knees or just throw yourself over my body laying on the floor;
- you love inventing games and playing with us; in fact, so far, you're not the kind of the kid to play by himself that much but to interact with someone all the time;
- you still wake up at least twice a night to eat and even if we're quite tired we still don't want to "train" you how to sleep all night long; we figure you will learn it eventually all by yourself just as you did with so many other things; we completely trust you in that and everything else you do;
Ok, I have to stop now 'cause you just woke up and of course, you need our attention. LOL

Understanding

Bryce is chasing an orange balloon in the tv room. The ballon flies in the kitchen.
Bryce turns his head to mommy:
Mommy (in RO): Bryce, where is the balloon?
Bryce (pointing towards the kitchen): Ba!
Mommy (in RO): Bryce, go and bring mommy the balloon!!
Bryce (leaving for the kitchen) : Ba! and I could hear him touching the balloon but he didn't it bring it to me.
The understanding is there, he makes the right connections, he's very aware of what words mean, that little brain is working and developing. Every day is the witness of a new discovery.

Frustration

I was aware in a way that, as Bryce is growing, more challenges will follow, especially because he is a very strong will kid.
In the last week, I can see a very unusual pattern developing. When time comes for him to have a nap, he becomes hyper focused on different objects, can not seem to calm down, he wants to be hold but then he's pointing all over the place and fidgeting in the same time, just putting him in the crib with the bottle doesn't seem to work either, not to mention the bouncing.
So, after 10-15 minutes of all this trying, I have to admit that I get frustrated and kind of annoyed.
Soon enough, my hubby comes from his office and he puts Bryce to sleep in like 5 minutes.
How weird is that? Should I just relax or let daddy do his job? :))

The "ehhhhen" phase

Ladies and gentlemen I present you "the ehhen"phase. It's very frustrating for mommy as most of the times he's whining about the forbidden objects and he doesn't want to give up on them. No matter how hard mommy or papa is trying to use the good ol' method of shifting his attention towards other activities not to mention the pile of toys, he's focused on the Other Thing.:)
I'm just very curious how much is just a stage in his development and how much is just pure personality.
More to come, I'm sure....