Xander Loves Venice

Yes, Xander loves Venice. We went to the zoo for a field trip with Venice's school. She ran off and played with a schoolmate. Xander was left with me. Looking around, he said, "Venice go?" I pointed Venice out to him and off he went, running to catch up with her yelling, "NayNay! NayNay!"

Today, Venice had an art show, after a week long art class. Xander and I walked in, he looked around the busy room and spotted Venice. He immediately started gyrating in his stroller, pointing and yelling, "NayNay! NayNay!"

The two of them play really well these days. Not all the time. But there are a lot more times now, when I can clean the dishes, get dressed, do some emails and the kids are playing together. I can hear them chasing each other, jumping on the beds, or playing some game Venice invented. I hear their laughter, squeals of delight and general happiness. This playtime usually ends with Xander in tears. The two of them fighting over a toy or he bonks into a table or wall. But it is great to see them playing together more and enjoying one another. It's also great for me and my 10 minute break!

Reading and Writing?

Both kids are keeping busy. Xander has found a love for drawing. He colors with crayons, pens and pencils. If left unattended for a few minutes, he loves to get a hold of something and draw on the walls, stools, doors and floors. I just don't remember Venice doing anything like this or having any interest. Is it that he's a boy? I'm sure it's mostly that I don't watch Xander as closely as I did Venice.

Both kids love to read. Xander can finally sit through a story. He loves anything that has moons in it. So I find myself reading "Goodnight Moon" a lot and the "Going to Bed Book" by Sandra Boynton. He also is now into the "Five Little Pumpkins" that used to be Venice's all time favorite. Venice continues to love reading with us. She loves to have us read her book after book after book. We've gotten a library card and have been using that a lot which sure helps on the book bills we've been racking up. Venice also likes to read to us more and more. She's on her way to learning how to read. She's definitely got a ways to go, but she's showing interest and can read a lot of stories she has memorized.

Xander's Word List is Growing

I found a document that listed all the words Venice knew when she was about 16 months old. I cross checked it with Xander's list and it was almost identical. They even pronounce words the same. For example, both say/said "pay" for "grape". The big difference is that Xander had a few extra words... words like; Dora, Boots, juice, lemonade, fries, and others. His vocabulary tells the tale of a second child and all that they get... so much sooner than a first child!

2 Word Sentences

So, yesterday I noticed that Xander is now speaking in two word sentences! Yay, Xander boy! Chris left for work in the morning, as usual, but this time Xander really took notice. At snack time he looked at me and said, “Daddy go.” Yes, Daddy did go to work this morning. Later in the day, Venice, who has been sick lately, was a bit cranky. So, when something set her off, she cried. Xander looked to me and said, “NayNay cry.” (NayNay is how he says “Venice”) Pretty exciting stuff, I must say.