Two Years Old

Two Years Old!
Hello all. This post is coming a few days late, due to some illness in our family. But we are happy to announce that we have been parents for two years now! I mean, we are happy to announce that Canaan Kirt is now TWO YEARS OLD! Canaan turned two on Thursday, October 30th. We had a party planned for that evening, however Mommy and Daddy (and Uncle David) were too sick. We were thoroughly disappointed in having to postpone the party, but we were able to have a party on the following Monday night! I hope you enjoy all the info and all the pictures from the party!! And a thank you to everyone who sent gifts to Canaan, as well as a BIG thank you to Liv and Dave for bringing them to us!!
Also: this slideshow is a little long, so don't feel obligated to watch!

Proud “Academic” Accomplishments
Alphabet: Canaan can say all the letters of the alphabet, though he still skips “W” most of the time. He also can recognize almost all the letters if written for him. He has recently started to sing his ABC’s, though he won’t do it by himself, he always requires the help of everyone who is present when he performs. We will have to post a clip of this soon too; it is too cute.
Numbers: Canaan can count things, like the steps as he goes up or his cars he lines up, 1-10. Though he hasn’t been inclined to saying the number 7, he has finally started to recently. He can also recognize all the numbers 1-10 when written.
Colors: Canaan can recognize the 10 basic colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, white, black, brown, and pink. In fact, he loves to talk about everything using these color words!

New Words
The past few months have brought an onslaught of all kinds of new vocabulary. While Canaan tries to repeat so much of what we say, whether he understands it or not, I try to just include the words that he says on his own, not just words he randomly repeats. I know I won’t be doing this much longer, since his vocabulary seems to be increasing by a word or two every day, but I know certain people who hold him dear to their hearts like to know what all is new. One thing, it is interesting to look at some of the new words and see what types of new discussions we’ve been having lately: for example the verbs hit, throw, bite, bump, hurt or a few nouns like oven, timer, and microwave! And, since there are so many, I won’t put his pronunciations for all of them. Most of them are the word, just without the first letter (he’s been leaving off first letters these days), or they sound similar to the word, to the trained Mommy ear! So, here are his newest words in the past month that I can think of, though I am sure I am missing a few:
Verbs: line up, blow nose, hit, throw, bite, bump, hurt, see, hide, have it, sing, walk, open, broke, watch, clean up, crash, fly, paint
Nouns: train (not just choo-choo), plane (not just air), fire truck (not just truck), tracks (train tracks), legs, arms, hands, mouth, face, pants, shirt, jacket, board, ladder, oven, timer, microwave, oatmeal, towel, shampoo, room, piece, page, crayon, careful
Prepositions: (he loves prepositions)- next, around
Adjectives: dark, messy, other,
Misc: oops, bless you

New Favorites
So, here are just a few favorite phrases or activities that Canaan has recently.
Peas and Corn- For the past week, whenever we ask Canaan what he wants to eat, he always replies with “Peas, Corn.” He loves most vegetables, while having a distinct dislike for all fruits, except for eating a banana and drinking orange juice. If his yogurt comes with tiny bits of fruit pieces, he spits them back out at us!
“Mommy play you.” This is a cute phrase he says all the time these days. He hasn’t got the correct personal pronoun yet, but he has been more and more frequently asking that people play with him. So, whoever is the coolest person in the house (Chi, Auntie, or Uncle David always top Mommy and Daddy if they are around), then he will be tugging on their pant leg and asking them to “play you” (with me)!
“Na-Nan have it.” This new phrase, though just a couple days old has been used frequently. He has discovered a way to express that he wants something and we should give it to him to see!
Crayons- Coloring with crayons is a new favorite pastime. Sometimes it is just carrying around the crayons that he likes so much. But he loves his crayons. Since arriving in Ukraine, I have had a hard time finding crayons, which is strange to me. I have looked just about everywhere I go, but have only managed to find them in one store! But, I did find some great crayons for little hands. They are small, but fat, and have no paper on them, which tended only to get in the way before. Many times Canaan will pull his crayons out of his box one by one, make two circles or lines or scribbles with each one, and then put them down on the table in a nice, neat line. He will go through every crayon like this, making a few strokes and then putting it down in line with the rest that have been used! He is so funny like this! He also likes to group the colors, pulling out the four shades of blue crayons, choosing to color with the two shades of yellow at the same time, etc. It is so cute and funny to me!
Playing with Friends- Since we now have our teammates near us, we have been spending time with them recently, as well as trading off babysitting, etc. Canaan has taken note of this and wakes up most mornings wanting to “Go Chi’s house” or “See Auntie, David.” He loves his new friends and buddies and likes to play with them! This, I myself like as well. Though at times getting together young 2 and 3 year olds can take a lot of work for the mommies, since they are still having to teach their little offspring how to share and how not to hit, it is also very nice and rewarding to see them playing happily together and chasing each other playfully through the house! Of course, Aunties and Uncles are the best too, since you generally don’t have to worry about those issues with them! 