That's our boy

It seems like Julian has picked up too many traits from his parents - the neurotic gene, perhaps? Yesterday I was driving with Julian and Bibby in the car, when Julian interrupted the conversation to reprimand me. "Concentrate, mummy!" he said. (He said the same to David separately when David didn't realise the traffic light had turned green.)

Then, two days ago, he also met 3 year old Banjo for the first time, at Nanna Minnie's house, and started showing him around her place. Taking Banjo to the kitchen, he pointed out all the dangerous spots. "You have to be careful - this is too hot. And you have to be careful here - this is too cold." Oy vey!

Cousins

 

Tonight, Fred and his family (sans Adam, who's in Sydney) said that officially Julian is one of their clan. I don't know if that's a good thing, but Julian definitely enjoys it! Of course, this means he will be ostracized in the humour department from the rest of the world. (joke)

Julian loves his cousins/ uncle. And he still addresses Rebecca - at least to us - as "Rebecca the Monkey." Jake is fantastic at playing with Julian and keeping him amused after Julian has fled the dinner table in the first ten seconds. Admittedly, this is partly because Jake is even more enthralled with Julian's toys than Julian is. Today, I bought a cash register for Julian, in the hopes of keeping him distracted for at least five minutes. It certainly worked its magic on Jake. As you can see, it's one big happy family.

 

 

New cousin Alex

 

Growing up

Julian's language is so phenomenal that I often forget I'm interacting with a kid. Sometimes, he still has these red-in-the-face, stamp-your-feet kinda tantrums, but lately he's realising that language is more effective at communicating his dismay. The other morning, he was setting up his Passover set, and had the Afikoman and wine out, even though the seder plate was not yet set up. I said, "Can I say the bracha on the wine now?" I could tell in a nanosecond that I'd made a serious error in judgement: Julian was not ready for me, and was about to blow his lid.

Or maybe not. Instead, he replied, "Mummy, I'm very disappointed that you wanted to say the bracha because I'm not ready. I'm Very Dis-Ap-Pointed," he said, just for emphasis.

A new development, too: he's back at creche. Just for two hours a day, twice a week, which is no biggie. At least, that's what Bibby our nanny pointed out to us, and added, "If he doesn't go to creche, it should be your decision, not his, but I think it would be good for him." We thought so too, especially since he starts kindergarten for two and a half days a week next year. So, I got Bibby to take him. Surprise: he had a great time. The next time, he started crying, but only until I left: the creche phoned me two minutes later to say he's enjoying himself. There's less drama each time, so I think the theatrics was only for display. Last time, he left with a big smile on his face and asked if he could have Ashley, his friend, over to play sometime. Our little boy is growing up.

PS I'm reminded that he's still a little boy in other ways: is reluctant to give up his nappies, his cot or his sleeping bag. And lately, he has a fascination for all things about poop. "Tell the story about when Ali made a cucki in the house," he says again and again. Sheesh.

Julian went to creche today! This began last Friday, when Bibby, our nanny, explained that Julian - who's nearly three years old - really needed to learn a) to negotiate his way with other children and b) independence within a social setting. He'll be at kindergarten next year for 2.5 days per week, and she said it would be fairer to him if we trained him a little now. Anyway, we're only talking about 2-3 hours at creche for two days a week, so it's not much.

She took him there on Friday, and stayed the whole time. He cried twice, but was quickly comforted. He later said he had a good time. Today when I said we were going there, he threw an Oscar-winning performance. Tears, temper tantrum, the lot. When we got there, he screamed his little head off. I was ready to turn around and leave, but the teachers said to leave him and they'd call me in five minutes if he was still crying. I felt comfortable with that. Especially since in the past, if I've left him with my mother-in-law, he's cried only until I've closed the door, and then turns off the tears like a tap.

Well, lo and behold - they phoned five minutes later, and he was fine. When David picked him up, he even wanted to stay longer. I feel good about this next chapter in his development...

Excited

 

 

 

Julian was very excited about his gardening gloves yesterday, and meeting his new cousin Alex, born May 12.

 

 

 

Julian always has a great time at shabbat dinner...

Julian had a haircut

 

 

Scenery

This was the view from nearly every window on our house this morning:

 

There were about ten guys in the garden, digging it up for all it was worth, installing new grass. And this is my son, glued to the window:

 

In other Julian news, he's developed a vocab quirk recently. Instead of saying "yes" and "no," he'll say "I do," or "I didn't." I'll ask, "Do you want to read a book, Julian?" and he'll reply "I do." It sounds like he's constantly repeating marital vows or something.

Every night, I say the Jewish prayer of Shemah Yisrael to Julian. Lately, he asks, "What's Shemah Yisrael?" and I answer differently each time. I'll say something like, "Shemah Yisrael is thank you to G-d for giving me a beautiful son and a lovely daughter and making them happy and healthy and so wonderful to be around." Anyway, yesterday David put Julian to bed, and he asked, "What's Shemah Yisrael?" David was thinking it over, and Julian replied, saying, "Shemah Yisrael is thank you G-d for my lovely baby sister, Zoe."

 

 

The many faces of Julian