Sterling...

Sterling...Sterling...Sterling...there is so much to say!

He is so grown up!!! And very independent!!! One of his signature phrases these days is, "Pa-weese, I yike do it myself." This goes for almost everything...

• getting his own dishes out of the cupboard
• getting the milk or juice out of the frig
• filling his own water cup
• getting up in his chair at the table
• picking up his dog and raccoon to take them to bed with him (if i pick them up then hand them to him when he asks to do it himself, he'll put them back where they were so that he can pick them up himself!)
• opening the door when someone comes - if you cone in and don't give him the chance to open the door for you, be prepared for a total melt-down!!! Yeah, it's not cute!!! I'm working with him on it! Our friends have graciously stepped back out so that he can have the pleasure of letting them in.
• even dressing sometimes - this is new
• walking...sometimes he asks to hold our hand and other times if we try to hold his he pulls away and says, "I yike do it myself." As if holding his hand means that he's not doing the walking : )

I really love it! He has become a big help!!! We can ask him to do almost anything. He often gets the diapers and wipes for me, or a toy for Thorin when I have him on the pot, a glass of water for us...or whatever! He's getting more and more able to follow through. It was so cute last weekend when he came into the kitchen and said to me, "We need more toilet paper." Tim was stranded in the bathroom : ) A few days later we were across the street and Tim was in our office working. I wanted to take the boys on a walk up to the little store that is in our neighborhood but didn't have any cash on me. I asked Sterling to go home and ask Tim for some money. He ran lickety-split across the street and disappeared into our house. Moments later he reappeared with several thousand dinar in hand (a few bucks). We get a kick out of challenging him!!! It's so fun to watch him get it!!

He still LOVES water!!!! He'll happily play in the hose, the sink or the shower for as long as we let him!!!

He loves candles!!! He's forever asking if we can light them!! He's diligent about keeping our candle holders stocked with fresh candles - he even straightens the wicks before dropping them in!

He is extremely verbal...always has been really!!! I don't know if I mentioned this before but back in the beginning of November last year it was like a switch was turned on and all-of-the-sudden he started putting words together. At first it was just 2 words at a time then we blinked and it was 7 word sentences - literally, within a few short weeks!!! He's very intelligible too - Tim and I aren't the only ones who can understand him. He can say pretty much anything!! Once he starts using a new word it usually only takes a couple days for him to perfect his pronunciation! When he struggles with a word I tell him to look at my mouth as I pronounce it and that does wonders!!! A few weeks ago the new word was 'do-dicious' (delicious), out of the blue, it wasn't a word either of us had taught him. A couple days later, while we were all still using his 'cute' mis-pronunciation, he had moved on to pronouncing it much more clearly! The biggest thing he struggles with is pronouns - he usually uses them backwards.

• 'I want you to hold me' comes out, 'Want me hold you'
• 'I want you to get me ' comes out, 'Want me get you'
• ‘Want me swing you’
• ‘Want me read to you’
• Etc…

It cracks me up when he wants to know someone's name cuz he'll point at them and ask me, "What's that?"

Sterling is at that age where he wants to know where the boundaries are and he loves testing them!! So, consequently, there are many many training moments in a day!!! He has started regurgitating a lot of what he hears over and over...some moments that have made me laugh...

• One afternoon I was in the kitchen making dinner and Sterling was playing with his fridge magnets. I was only half way paying attention to him until I heard him go to the utensil drawer to pull out a wooden spoon. He proceeded to spank his cow magnet. I asked him what the cow had done to deserve a spankin' to which he responded, "Cow throwing fits!" Again he picked up a magnet, this time the duck, and spanked it. Again, I asked him what the duck had done to deserve the spankin,' and he said, "Duck be disrespectful!"
• On another occasion the boys and I were eating our breakfast outside as the weather is finally warm enough! As I tried to feed Thorin one last bite he swatted at the spoon (the unattractive way he communicates that he's done) Sterling immediately piped up, "Do not throw fits, Thorin Tate!" followed by, "you need to think about your actions!" I could not help but crack up!!!

He's obsessed with whatever his brother has!!! It's like Thorin's excitement over a given object infects Sterling to the point that he just has to take it from Thorin!!! I have been teaching him a) that that's rude and not to do it! - this has been hard for him to grasp and remember!! b) that he can ask Thorin if he'd like to trade for another toy - he's got this part down pretty well and it's really cute watching him run to get a toy to trade c) that he needs to ask Thorin nicely! - this he also has a pretty good handle on...and consequently that you don't always get what you want even when you do ask nicely - this is another one that's tough for him to understand!

As far as potty training...well, often he'll go into the bathroom and put his seat on the toilet then holler at me, "mama I need go poo-poo!" Or he'll just tell me and we'll run to the bathroom together. With pee we're just getting started. He'll tell me he needs to go about 90% of the time but only about 10% of those times does he tell me before he has already started going : / So, we're workin' on it!

When he wakes up in the morning or from a nap he comes out of his room, stands at the top of the stairs and hollers down, "Hello?" And once we answer, he'll say, "You had a good nap-nap!!"

He loves 'hot chocolate' which is what he calls ALL forms of chocolate!!!! He'll spot it a mile away and ask for it. I'd just like to say, he is his father's son!!!!

Out of the blue he has started counting to 10 flawlessly!!! Tim was working on teaching him several weeks ago but gave up as Sterling didn't really seem to be interested. Then all-the-sudden he's counting to 10 all the time! He counts for himself a lot - like when he's getting ready to jump off the couch!

He knows all but maybe 4 or 5 of the letters of the alphabet! The streets in our neighborhood are marked with letters so it's fun to go over them as we walk to and from the playground! As we walk along he'll say, "What's that one?" then he'll answer his own question by saying, "Um, that one's B, for bird on a bike!" I love it and it always makes me smile !!

I'm sure I could go on for a long time...he's an endless source of joy and entertainment!!! But, I should probably go ahead and leave it at this for now for fear that the composition of this post will stretch into months! I hope you have enjoyed getting to know him a bit!!