When this jolly old elf asked Ivan what he wanted for Christmas, he said, “I’m a dragon!” Still adorably confused about the differences between Christmas and Halloween. Ezri said she wanted a Daisy Duck. The band on her head has reindeer antlers on the sides.

In the last week or two, Ivan has started speaking more often in full sentences. He uses prepositional phrases and even the past tense. Upon picking him up from day care he reported, “I played bad guys with Miguel.” It isn’t a complex sentence, but it’s got past tense and is standard English and I could understand what he was telling me about his day.

He has started calling his sister something very close to “Ezri.” I will miss him calling her “Every.”

me: “Ivan Miller Blau! it is time to get in the car NOW.”
Ivan: “NO! I AM NOT IVAN MILLER BLAU. I am NOT.”

“I stop crying.” He has started announcing when his meltdown has ended with this statement. There’s also, “I stop screaming.” He also likes to tell us, “I happy,” and “I laughing.”

While standing on a white piece of paper, “Hey, YOU, get off of my CLOUD.”

The kids were playing with my Beatles “Yellow Submarine” figurines, so I decided to put some Beatles songs on. Ivan’s reaction: “I like these Beatles singing!”

An old one from our vacation in Montana, Ivan awakens me to sob, “Amanda, it’s dark. It’s dark!” He has two night lights that he has unplugged from the wall – one clutched in each of his hands.

“I pooping. I pooping. It hurts. Kiss it.” Ivan narrates his constipation. The kiss he got was on his head. Ivan had his first poop in the potty this week. The constipation gave him a lot of warning. He also wore underwear afterwards to celebrate. It’s a small step, but he may soon be climbing aboard the potty train.

Ivan’s one and only joke that is currently on infinite repeat is:
Knock Knock!
Who’s there?
Sarah.
Sarah who?
Sarah-mouse-in-the-house. (he runs it together like it is one word which makes it unintelligible to those who aren’t already in the know).