These neat toys Ivan found in the kitchen promote motor skill development, problem solving skills, and teach causal relationships.

Watching Ivan figure out that the cans only stack with the correct side down was fun. He really was able to build.

Hearing him say “Whoah!” when the cans fell down means this toy is probably good for promoting verbal development too.

Ivan really likes muppets and especially Grover.  At the toystore at a stand of fingerpuppets he was pointing and making a “eh! eh!” noise of wanting, I handed him fingerpuppet after fingerpuppet.  He let me know I was wrong in guessing what he wanted by taking each fingerpuppet and then emphatically hurling it to the ground.  Finally, I gave him the Grover fingerpuppet and he smiled and said, “Gro-gah.”  He carried Grover throughout the rest of our visit to the store, though he was willing to let go and return it to its friends before we left.

At first Grover just meant the blue muppet of that name, but now it seems to mean any muppet and he also says it when he points to other cartoon characters.  So, now shopping in Target he will begin bouncing excitedly and saying, “Gro-gah! Gro-gah!”  I will look around and see a pair of Elmo slippers in view in the shoe section.

I think the Grover-loving began mostly with a number of Ezri’s Sesame Street books and a collection of small board books with Sesame St. muppets that we carry around a lot.  He likes to flip through the books and find Grover – pointing at the blue muppet and saying “Gro-gah!”

Here is a list of words we have heard Ivan use.

Gro-gah (Grover)
Babeee (Baby but used for all photos of humans or actual humans)
Da (Dad)
Bah-ah (Battle)
Cheh-Cheh (cheers while raising his bottle or sippy cup to clink)
Crah-Crah (clap, clap, clap – part of the fingerplay roll, roll sugarbabies)
Whoah! (when blocks we have stacked fall down)
Eh-eee (Ezri)

This is Ivan finding Grover in one of his books.  The sweatshirt is a hand-me-down.  Somehow, we do have a lot of Sesame St. around here.

The whole family enjoys a dinner out at Major Restaurant.

Ivan does not like strawberries. He loves apples. I was feeding him strawberry pieces and to show him how delicious they were I ate one saying “yum.” He looked at me and smiled wide. He picked up a strawberry piece and held it up towards my mouth. I took it and ate it. He proceeded to give me all the remaining strawberry pieces until he had only apple chunks left on his plate. Problem of what to do with that unwanted strawberry was solved.

You know the parent trick of sniffing a baby’s bum to determine the need for a new diaper. It is never really pleasant, but it is effective. I have a new work around. I call in the big sister and say, “Ezri, can you sniff Ivan’s bum and tell me if he smells poopy?” Ezri is quite good at this big sister job. Just as effective / less malodorous for me. Why didn’t I think of this months ago?

Look carefully and you can find both Ivan and his big sister playing in this castle.

The truly amazing thing is that after this mess-making spectacular, Ezri got out her sand pail and shovel and declared herself to be “Beach Girl” proceeding to pick up all the kibble and put it in her bucket. Thanks, Beach Girl.