We spent Thanksgiving in Orlando at aunt Anne and uncle Butch's place, like last year. We had a wonderful time with the Flinns, aunt Theresa, aunt Lucky and Kevin, and in the end everyone thanked us for bringing Nikolas along--he was the life of the party! He was constantly running around the house, playing with cars and balls and trying to sneak out to the pool area that was strictly forbidden. In his room he figured out how to turn on the TV and even found the 'play' button for the DVD player to watch Bambi. And of course he chatted with everyone. The usual Thanksgiving meal didn't appeal to him too much until ice cream appeared--then he stuffed himself beyond belief.
On the drive back, Robb sang him a song and when it was over Nikolas said, 'Good job, daddy.' He is a comedy... A few days later, after he had fun feeding me some apples and cheese from his tray that he didn't want anymore, he said, 'Good job, mommy'!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Counting and reciting (and going down the slide)
Nikolas said, 'I love you mommy' and 'I love you daddy' (daddy taught him)!
He is stringing words together now: 'daddy auto' (daddy's car, when he sees it in the garage),
'daddy kuci' (daddy at home), 'daddy kapa' (daddy's hat), 'necu bobe' (I don't want blueberries),...
He is finishing lines of songs and poems. I tested him with about 5 poems that I often recite to him, and he finished every line! Yesterday I pointed to each finger on my hand waiting for him to count to 5, and he did it. That was the first time I heard him count in Serbocroatian. He's already been saying 'four, five' in English to denote counting, and usually for multiples he would use what sounds like the French ' deux'.
As for any boy, it's not all about academics. Here is Nikolas loving the slide at his friend Kyle's house:
He is stringing words together now: 'daddy auto' (daddy's car, when he sees it in the garage),
'daddy kuci' (daddy at home), 'daddy kapa' (daddy's hat), 'necu bobe' (I don't want blueberries),...
He is finishing lines of songs and poems. I tested him with about 5 poems that I often recite to him, and he finished every line! Yesterday I pointed to each finger on my hand waiting for him to count to 5, and he did it. That was the first time I heard him count in Serbocroatian. He's already been saying 'four, five' in English to denote counting, and usually for multiples he would use what sounds like the French ' deux'.
As for any boy, it's not all about academics. Here is Nikolas loving the slide at his friend Kyle's house:
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
trains, legos, music...
All of a sudden, Nikolas started acting older than I've been used to during summer. He rediscovered Lego blocks and now loves stacking them (he has a few Lego cars on which he stacks blocks as high as possible and calls them trains or trucks). He also enjoys stacking wooden blocks that have been sitting in the living room for the past 6 months and he is finally playing with them now. The train tracks that he wasn't all that interested in when I bought them a month ago are now his regular game first thing every morning: he'll put them together and then push little trains along them.
Today he went down a slide completely on his own. He didn't even wait for me to stand next to the slide. He used to be afraid before and I had to hold his hand as he slid (he'd always smile at the end!), but now he is brave enough to go alone. He even went down a longer slide in Jyoti's apartment complex where I absolutely didn't expect him to go even in my presence.
He finally says 'lopta' when he refers to a ball. He's been saying 'ball' forever now and just wouldn't use the Serbocroatian version. Yeay :)
Now the best part: he started singing and dancing (ok, turning in a circle) to the 'ABC' song. He will sing a few parts correctly too, like 'HIJK', 'QRS' (though he says 'cute' for Q), 'W'. He refers to the song as 'HIJK'.
And then there is the 'Old McDonald Had a Farm' song. He has a toy that sings this song and makes different animal sounds. He'll never skip singing 'E-I-E-I-O', and he also repeats all of the animal noices, making me laugh every time, it's too cute! We recently started going to a music class where he listens to songs, taps, plays little rhythm instruments, dance.... the first couple of times were not very successful as he wouldn't participate (he still wants me to dance with him in my arms when the music comes on, with the exception of the 'ABC' song), but now he relaxed a bit and he will listen to the stories and songs attentively, and even tap, clap, and play the kids' instruments.
We both got a cold these last few days and have runny noses :( But the important part is that Nikolas just learned how to blow his nose so I could wipe it. I put a pillow in his crib for the first time to elevate his head and let him breathe more easily, but he still seems confused about what it's doing there and won't sleep on it.
Today he went down a slide completely on his own. He didn't even wait for me to stand next to the slide. He used to be afraid before and I had to hold his hand as he slid (he'd always smile at the end!), but now he is brave enough to go alone. He even went down a longer slide in Jyoti's apartment complex where I absolutely didn't expect him to go even in my presence.
He finally says 'lopta' when he refers to a ball. He's been saying 'ball' forever now and just wouldn't use the Serbocroatian version. Yeay :)
Now the best part: he started singing and dancing (ok, turning in a circle) to the 'ABC' song. He will sing a few parts correctly too, like 'HIJK', 'QRS' (though he says 'cute' for Q), 'W'. He refers to the song as 'HIJK'.
And then there is the 'Old McDonald Had a Farm' song. He has a toy that sings this song and makes different animal sounds. He'll never skip singing 'E-I-E-I-O', and he also repeats all of the animal noices, making me laugh every time, it's too cute! We recently started going to a music class where he listens to songs, taps, plays little rhythm instruments, dance.... the first couple of times were not very successful as he wouldn't participate (he still wants me to dance with him in my arms when the music comes on, with the exception of the 'ABC' song), but now he relaxed a bit and he will listen to the stories and songs attentively, and even tap, clap, and play the kids' instruments.
We both got a cold these last few days and have runny noses :( But the important part is that Nikolas just learned how to blow his nose so I could wipe it. I put a pillow in his crib for the first time to elevate his head and let him breathe more easily, but he still seems confused about what it's doing there and won't sleep on it.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Halloween
Our little Thomas the Train on the way to the faculty kids Halloween party at UF:
With so many people and so much happening at the event, Nikolas was a bit dazzled, but he enjoyed the games and especially his outfit (this is the first hat that he didn't even try to take off).
Back in our neighborhood we went trick-or-treating for the first time!
Although he doesn't know what candy is, he grabbed handfulls and put them into his pouch.
With so many people and so much happening at the event, Nikolas was a bit dazzled, but he enjoyed the games and especially his outfit (this is the first hat that he didn't even try to take off).
Back in our neighborhood we went trick-or-treating for the first time!
Although he doesn't know what candy is, he grabbed handfulls and put them into his pouch.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
September-October
My project for this period has been to encourage Nikolas's social life, since he's been showing interest in other kids all summer. He is old enough to understand that he should share toys, that he shouldn't feel threatened if I'm paying attention to other kids, or if other kids are playing with his toys. So far we are on the right track! He really enjoys seeing Abby, Aagneya and Kyle, and he calls their names every day. When I drive to the apartment complex where both Abby and Aagneya live, he excitedly calls either or both their names knowing he'd see them in a few moments. We usually let them run around grassy areas or play in the kids' zone of the gym. Nikolas and Aagneya are the most independent ones in the group--they'll find something interesting to play with and won't open the door of the gym crying for mommy. Of course, when we are outside, that just makes it a bit harder on me now since I have to chase him all over the place and in the end carry him back home or to the car because he refuses to go back in. So yeah, 'ouside' is definitely one of his favorite words!
Nikolas and Aagneya:
A few times we went to a kids' gym, Sun Country, which is a place for kids' gymnastics where Fridays are open play days. Last spring Nikolas wouldn't move away from me when I took him there, but now I have to keep him in sight or I'd have to go search for him in several separate play areas that he'll go off to explore on his own. He loves the trampoline, a big bucket filled with plastic balls, and a balance beam on which he'll walk up and down a dozen times. The one thing he is a bit cautious about is the slide. He'll only go down if I stand by and hold his hand at the beginning, never on his own.
The other social location for Nikolas is the kids' club at my gym. I like to leave him there with either April or Bailey who adore him and whom he openly likes best. He calls them Aeba and Bailey. He used to cry for a few minutes when I'd leave him at the gym (he stopped just a few weeks ago), and he first kicked this habit if one of these girls were there to welcome him. They got him hooked on coloring so I bought him colored pencils and markers so he could indulge at home.... or he'd incessantly repeat 'color, color, color...!'
Nikolas, lounging on mommy's belly:
When I ask him, 'Where are the babies?', he points to the belly and now also lifts the shirt and kisses it :) I can't help wondering what he makes out of it.
He has picked up a whole bunch of English words recently--some from daddy and some from the gym (mostly from April, who is impressed by how quickly he learns and how well he pronounces words, so she particularly enjoys teaching him). He caught me by surprise when he said 'apple' instead of 'kabuka', 'bird' instead of 'pitsa', 'truck' instead of 'kamion' (with the real English 'r' when he can't say Serbocroatian rolling 'r' yet), 'book' instead of 'kniga',.... then there is 'keys', 'bottle', 'color', 'milk', 'basketball' (to add to baseball and football), 'train', and so on. Among edible items, his latest favorites are smoothie ('moody'), broccoli ('boccoli'), and to top them all, chocolate ('chokolada'). Robb says he's noticed that Nikolas talks to me and my family in Serbocroatian more and to him and his family in English.
He started singing the 'ABC' song about a month ago, it's hilarious! He often sings it to himself while he is flipping through books or playing with the train set or something, when I'm not right there with him. I'm not sure if he got it from the toys that play it or from the gym, and in the second case, I'm not sure if he is singing 'ABC' or 'Twinkle, twinkle little star' that has the same melody, because among the 'words' he says I thought I first recognized '... how I wonder...' from 'Twinkle, twinkle'.
So I thought, if he is learning the song, maybe he'll learn letters alone too! I showed him a few simple letters in books, and he quickly remembered several of them and was able to recognize them later on: A, O, S, K.
We got him a basketball hoop that we keep inside so he can play with it whenever he wants. This is true: the first time I let him throw the ball into the hoop, he made it in the first or second try!
Another step stone is coordination: I watched him as he disassembled a few pieces of a train track and rearranged them differently, fitting them together perfectly! I was late to catch it on video :(
He loves putting on our shoes. For himself, he'll call 'shoes on!' to go out, and around the house he'll put our shoes on his feet whenever he has a chance.
Nikolas and Aagneya:
A few times we went to a kids' gym, Sun Country, which is a place for kids' gymnastics where Fridays are open play days. Last spring Nikolas wouldn't move away from me when I took him there, but now I have to keep him in sight or I'd have to go search for him in several separate play areas that he'll go off to explore on his own. He loves the trampoline, a big bucket filled with plastic balls, and a balance beam on which he'll walk up and down a dozen times. The one thing he is a bit cautious about is the slide. He'll only go down if I stand by and hold his hand at the beginning, never on his own.The other social location for Nikolas is the kids' club at my gym. I like to leave him there with either April or Bailey who adore him and whom he openly likes best. He calls them Aeba and Bailey. He used to cry for a few minutes when I'd leave him at the gym (he stopped just a few weeks ago), and he first kicked this habit if one of these girls were there to welcome him. They got him hooked on coloring so I bought him colored pencils and markers so he could indulge at home.... or he'd incessantly repeat 'color, color, color...!'
Nikolas, lounging on mommy's belly:
When I ask him, 'Where are the babies?', he points to the belly and now also lifts the shirt and kisses it :) I can't help wondering what he makes out of it.He has picked up a whole bunch of English words recently--some from daddy and some from the gym (mostly from April, who is impressed by how quickly he learns and how well he pronounces words, so she particularly enjoys teaching him). He caught me by surprise when he said 'apple' instead of 'kabuka', 'bird' instead of 'pitsa', 'truck' instead of 'kamion' (with the real English 'r' when he can't say Serbocroatian rolling 'r' yet), 'book' instead of 'kniga',.... then there is 'keys', 'bottle', 'color', 'milk', 'basketball' (to add to baseball and football), 'train', and so on. Among edible items, his latest favorites are smoothie ('moody'), broccoli ('boccoli'), and to top them all, chocolate ('chokolada'). Robb says he's noticed that Nikolas talks to me and my family in Serbocroatian more and to him and his family in English.
He started singing the 'ABC' song about a month ago, it's hilarious! He often sings it to himself while he is flipping through books or playing with the train set or something, when I'm not right there with him. I'm not sure if he got it from the toys that play it or from the gym, and in the second case, I'm not sure if he is singing 'ABC' or 'Twinkle, twinkle little star' that has the same melody, because among the 'words' he says I thought I first recognized '... how I wonder...' from 'Twinkle, twinkle'.
So I thought, if he is learning the song, maybe he'll learn letters alone too! I showed him a few simple letters in books, and he quickly remembered several of them and was able to recognize them later on: A, O, S, K.
We got him a basketball hoop that we keep inside so he can play with it whenever he wants. This is true: the first time I let him throw the ball into the hoop, he made it in the first or second try!
Another step stone is coordination: I watched him as he disassembled a few pieces of a train track and rearranged them differently, fitting them together perfectly! I was late to catch it on video :(
He loves putting on our shoes. For himself, he'll call 'shoes on!' to go out, and around the house he'll put our shoes on his feet whenever he has a chance.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
18-month dr. appt
Height: 33.5"
Weight: 23lb
Below is Nikolas's vocabulary that I collected at month 18. Just as I was about done, Nikolas got into a new phase where he was able to repeat and remember pretty much anything we told him. It doesn't make much sense to note down new words from now on because they are almost impossible to capture in totality. He still can't roll his R's.
Vocabulary at 18 months:
1 mama
2 daddy
3 deka (great-grandpa)
4 baka
5 deda
6 da (yes)
7 ja (yes)
8 no
9 mo (voda/mlijeko-water/milk)
10 boba/bobe (blueberries)
11 sija (sira-cheese)
12 kabuka (jabuka-apple)
13 nami-nami (yum-yum/hungry)
14 ouside (outside)
15 macsa -- ranije: mai (maca-cat)
16 bow-wow (pas-dog)
17 mamuna (majmun-monkey)
18 muuu (cow)
19 zeka (rabbit)
20 picsi (ptica-bird)
21 pita (zeljanica-spankopita)
22 cookie
23 ti (TV)
24 tutu (auto-car)
25 amion - ranije: a-mo (avion-airplane)
26 pape (shoes)
27 shoe
28 I see you
29 bye-bye
30 gotobo (gotovo-done)
31 gusi (guster-lizard)
32 tui (tree)
33 bau (ball)
34 sto (table)
35 paka (patka-duck)
36 kokoda (kokoska-chicken)
37 slon (elephant)
38 noo (nos-nose)
39 iii-aaa (magarac-donkey)
40 Mia
41 Abby
42 meko (mlijeko-milk)
43 kucsi (kuca-house)
44 su-sen (sunce-sun)
45 mi (mis-mouse)
46 buba (buba, muha, bubamara-bug, ladybug)
47 beba (beba, dijete-baby)
48 pingin (pingvin-penguin)
49 kafa (coffee)
50 pi kaka (yuck)
51 kaki (pooping)
52 all done
53 kikaboo/peakaboo
54 ka-boom (kad nesto padne ili udari)
55 fubaal (football)
56 bejbaal (baseball)
57 vusi (vruce-hot)
58 ba'nana
59 bado (balon-baloon)
60 niga (knjiga-book)
Weight: 23lb
Below is Nikolas's vocabulary that I collected at month 18. Just as I was about done, Nikolas got into a new phase where he was able to repeat and remember pretty much anything we told him. It doesn't make much sense to note down new words from now on because they are almost impossible to capture in totality. He still can't roll his R's.
Vocabulary at 18 months:
1 mama
2 daddy
3 deka (great-grandpa)
4 baka
5 deda
6 da (yes)
7 ja (yes)
8 no
9 mo (voda/mlijeko-water/milk)
10 boba/bobe (blueberries)
11 sija (sira-cheese)
12 kabuka (jabuka-apple)
13 nami-nami (yum-yum/hungry)
14 ouside (outside)
15 macsa -- ranije: mai (maca-cat)
16 bow-wow (pas-dog)
17 mamuna (majmun-monkey)
18 muuu (cow)
19 zeka (rabbit)
20 picsi (ptica-bird)
21 pita (zeljanica-spankopita)
22 cookie
23 ti (TV)
24 tutu (auto-car)
25 amion - ranije: a-mo (avion-airplane)
26 pape (shoes)
27 shoe
28 I see you
29 bye-bye
30 gotobo (gotovo-done)
31 gusi (guster-lizard)
32 tui (tree)
33 bau (ball)
34 sto (table)
35 paka (patka-duck)
36 kokoda (kokoska-chicken)
37 slon (elephant)
38 noo (nos-nose)
39 iii-aaa (magarac-donkey)
40 Mia
41 Abby
42 meko (mlijeko-milk)
43 kucsi (kuca-house)
44 su-sen (sunce-sun)
45 mi (mis-mouse)
46 buba (buba, muha, bubamara-bug, ladybug)
47 beba (beba, dijete-baby)
48 pingin (pingvin-penguin)
49 kafa (coffee)
50 pi kaka (yuck)
51 kaki (pooping)
52 all done
53 kikaboo/peakaboo
54 ka-boom (kad nesto padne ili udari)
55 fubaal (football)
56 bejbaal (baseball)
57 vusi (vruce-hot)
58 ba'nana
59 bado (balon-baloon)
60 niga (knjiga-book)
Seattle-Dave and Kim's
After visiting with Sanja and Darko, we spent a few days at Dave and Kim's. Nikolas slept in Andrew's room. The boys were great with him. Andrew and DJ were his protective older cousins, and Austin was competition as he was close in age. Nikolas and Austin quickly realized the rivalry and started barking at each other protecting the toys they were playing with. As soon as one would see the other approaching, he'd yell 'NO!' and move their toy away. I've never heard Nikolas yelling 'no' like this before! They had good moments too when they copied each other's words and laughed together.
Nikolas loved the train tracks in the kids' playroom as well as the little covered police car.
Over the weekend we visited Remlinger Farms where beside farm animals that the kids could pet and feed, there were also various rides for all ages--trains, cars, canoes, marry-go-rounds, etc.
Yes, he fed a goat!
Nikolas, look where you are driving!
At the Snoqualmie Falls:
Mommy made crepes one morning and all the kids, including Nikolas, got to try them for the first time (and loved them, which made me happy!):
Kim and the boys:
Nikolas loved the train tracks in the kids' playroom as well as the little covered police car.
Over the weekend we visited Remlinger Farms where beside farm animals that the kids could pet and feed, there were also various rides for all ages--trains, cars, canoes, marry-go-rounds, etc.
Yes, he fed a goat!
Nikolas, look where you are driving!
At the Snoqualmie Falls:
Mommy made crepes one morning and all the kids, including Nikolas, got to try them for the first time (and loved them, which made me happy!):
Kim and the boys:
Seattle-at Sanja and Darko's
We had a full family reunion at Sanja and Darko's place: baka, deda, deko, Nikolas and I arrived all at once to stay with Sanja, Darko and Mia.
Nikolas and Mia clicked immediately. He acted like an older brother--took toys from her, but also gave her hugs and kisses and pushed her as she rode her little truck. Mia's shyness to males disappeared when it came to Nikolas. She watched him and followed him around the house. Of course, Nikolas was interested in her just the same and the two could often be seen playing on the stairs or jumping on the couch and babbling in their own special language that no one else understood but them, which actually sounded like real sentences spoken fast.
On the second day already, when I put Nikolas down to sleep, his last word was 'Mia' before he closed his eyes, and in the morning when he woke up he stood in the crib, looked at me and pointed at the door again saying 'Mia'. Hilarious! He called her every single morning from then on, even walked out of the room by himself once and went into Mia's room before I even realized it.
Sunday, 8/10/2008, our first morning in Seattle:
Sanja with the kids:
After breakfast, Sanja and I took the kids for a walk to the park and the playground--we kept dragging the kids away from the water as the swings at the playground apparently were not as interesting as the sand, water and the ducks:
Deda, playing with Nikolas:
Sanja, reading to the kids:
A walk to downtown Kirkland:
The boys...:
And the girls:
At the marina downtown, the main attraction was water and the ducks:
Acting nice and cute on the back porch (when not throwing toys down into blackberry bushes and pebbles all over the lawn (Nikolas), and not picking leaves and going up and down the steps, giving us scares(Mia)):
Daddy has already gotten Nikolas hooked on guitar. At home we have to hide it in the closet from him, but here he discovered a kid guitar, perfect!
He already has audience!
Baka, reading to Mia:
Milk always tastes better from someone else's bottle. Nikolas wouldn't even look at his straw bottle anymore, and Mia is not opposed to swapping either:
Happy grandparents:
Happier with the grandchildren:
Nikolas and mommy....
Every morning deko went out for his early walk and returned with a bowl of freshly picked blackberries for the great-grandchildren. Once Nikolas discovered where the berries came from, he started asking to come along:
"Take me to the blackberries down there..."
Let's go pick berries!
"Yum!"
Deko, having a blast with his great-grandchildren:
We forgot our cameras when we went to the Children's Museum playground. We could spend a whole days there surrounded with kids and lots of toys to everyone's liking. The interesting thing was that Mia grabbed a doll and stayed close to Sanja, watching little toy fish in an aquarium and sometimes pushing a toy lawnmower. Nikolas, on the other hand, spent the first 15min pushing the lawnmower all around the play zone, observing kids' and parents' faces and trying to get their attention before moving on. Once he had the whole place scanned, he found the train table with trains and cars where he spent most of the time. Dolls and cars, boys and girls, it's interesting how they picked their preferred toys so early without adult intervention.
We couldn't wait for daddy to arrive to Seattle from a conference. The first day we all took a walk to the marina downtown:
Poor little ducks, it took them a long time to realize that Nikolas was throwing pebbles, not crumbs....
Love and hugs:
And a few more photos from the backyard:
The first of celebrations of deka's birthday, a few days early:
On the day of our flight back, stealing a few more moments with deka:
Nikolas and Mia clicked immediately. He acted like an older brother--took toys from her, but also gave her hugs and kisses and pushed her as she rode her little truck. Mia's shyness to males disappeared when it came to Nikolas. She watched him and followed him around the house. Of course, Nikolas was interested in her just the same and the two could often be seen playing on the stairs or jumping on the couch and babbling in their own special language that no one else understood but them, which actually sounded like real sentences spoken fast.
On the second day already, when I put Nikolas down to sleep, his last word was 'Mia' before he closed his eyes, and in the morning when he woke up he stood in the crib, looked at me and pointed at the door again saying 'Mia'. Hilarious! He called her every single morning from then on, even walked out of the room by himself once and went into Mia's room before I even realized it.Sunday, 8/10/2008, our first morning in Seattle:
Sanja with the kids:
After breakfast, Sanja and I took the kids for a walk to the park and the playground--we kept dragging the kids away from the water as the swings at the playground apparently were not as interesting as the sand, water and the ducks:
Deda, playing with Nikolas:
Sanja, reading to the kids:
A walk to downtown Kirkland:
The boys...:
And the girls:
At the marina downtown, the main attraction was water and the ducks:
Acting nice and cute on the back porch (when not throwing toys down into blackberry bushes and pebbles all over the lawn (Nikolas), and not picking leaves and going up and down the steps, giving us scares(Mia)):
Daddy has already gotten Nikolas hooked on guitar. At home we have to hide it in the closet from him, but here he discovered a kid guitar, perfect!
He already has audience!
Baka, reading to Mia:
Milk always tastes better from someone else's bottle. Nikolas wouldn't even look at his straw bottle anymore, and Mia is not opposed to swapping either:
Happy grandparents:
Happier with the grandchildren:
Nikolas and mommy....
Every morning deko went out for his early walk and returned with a bowl of freshly picked blackberries for the great-grandchildren. Once Nikolas discovered where the berries came from, he started asking to come along:"Take me to the blackberries down there..."
Let's go pick berries!
"Yum!"
Deko, having a blast with his great-grandchildren:
We forgot our cameras when we went to the Children's Museum playground. We could spend a whole days there surrounded with kids and lots of toys to everyone's liking. The interesting thing was that Mia grabbed a doll and stayed close to Sanja, watching little toy fish in an aquarium and sometimes pushing a toy lawnmower. Nikolas, on the other hand, spent the first 15min pushing the lawnmower all around the play zone, observing kids' and parents' faces and trying to get their attention before moving on. Once he had the whole place scanned, he found the train table with trains and cars where he spent most of the time. Dolls and cars, boys and girls, it's interesting how they picked their preferred toys so early without adult intervention.We couldn't wait for daddy to arrive to Seattle from a conference. The first day we all took a walk to the marina downtown:
Poor little ducks, it took them a long time to realize that Nikolas was throwing pebbles, not crumbs....
Love and hugs:
And a few more photos from the backyard:
The first of celebrations of deka's birthday, a few days early:
On the day of our flight back, stealing a few more moments with deka:
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