32 Things about Iyyar (more when I think of them--stay tuned)

1. Iyyar insists that he does not comprehend the word "no." If you say it to him, even very firmly and even at volume, he looks at you with complete blank innocence and keeps doing whatever it is he's doing. So, for example, when he's banging a toy against the wall (which he knows full well he is not allowed to do), and hears "no," he'll look at you with those big eyes and just keep banging, because, you know, he just doesn't understand that word. But he loses a lot of credibility when you take the toy away and he starts howling, "NOOOOOO!!!!"
2. It is very obvious that Iyyar has a big brother. Yesterday, I was in my room folding laundry, and Iyyar was playing with a plastic toy dinosaur in one hand and a plastic toy dog in the other. He was standing next to the bed with them, and then I realized that he was making growling noises and pretending that the dog and the dinosaur were fighting each other. There is just nothing to be done about testosterone, is there.
3. Iyyar will still eat most things, with the exception of raw fruits and vegetables (he will eat bananas and cherries, but I think those are the only ones). He's not quite as indiscriminate as he once was, though.
4. He screams for anything I am eating or anything he sees me preparing, even if he has, at that very moment, the exact same thing on his high chair in front of him. Because, clearly, whatever I have must be better.
5. This is why he eats peanut butter on a slice of whole wheat bread for breakfast most mornings. He sees me making Barak's sandwich and NEEDS ONE NOW.
6. He needs to suck the tag of a blanket to go to sleep.
7. He loves putting on shoes and socks. He won't usually come when I ask him to, but if I tell him it's time to put on shoes and socks, he's there. Yesterday, I had him mostly dressed but hadn't gotten his socks on yet; he went over to his drawer, found a pair of socks, and brought them to me.
8. He loves challah and will always ask for it if he sees it. "Alla! Alla!"
9. Bamba is probably his favorite thing to eat. Sometimes Barak tortures him by saying, "Iyyar, Bamba! Bamba!" just to get him all excited, when in fact there is no Bamba to be had anywhere.
10. He gets along very well with Binyomin, who is here sharing our babysitter in the morning. He calls him Naya. When Binyomin is not here, sometimes Iyyar points at his booster seat and tells me, encouragingly, "Naya! Naya!" I wonder if he thinks I can somehow produce Binyomin for him, when he does that.
11. He is still very very into the cat. Whenever he sees Emese, he points her out to me with great delight. "Cah! Cah!"
12. He's starting to really enjoy looking out the window. He shows me the cars and trucks. He also asks for trucks sometimes. "Chuh! Chuh!"
13. He knows that all the good toys are in the armoire, and frequently campaigns for me to open it up. "Openih! Openih!"
14. He's realized the utility of "please" and "thank you." Like Barak before him, he's gotten to where it's pretty automatic. He'll hold out an empty cereal bowl imploringly: "Bee! Bee!" and then accept a full bowl back with a polite, "gay goo." Sometimes he'll wake up in the middle of the night thirsty and I'll go in there to hear a plea for water. When I give it to him, he'll collapse back into bed with his prize, but there's usually a "gay goo" before he falls.
15. If you walk past a light switch holding him, he will try to turn it on or off. If you walk past a mezuza with him, he will try to wrench it off the wall.
16. Iyyar LOVES the phone. If you let him, he'll walk around the house talking on it, having quite a plausible-sounding conversation that is mostly gibberish with the occasional, "Hewwow?" and "yeah!"
17. When Iyyar gets annoyed, he tosses things off the side of his high chair. He is beginning to get the threat of "Iyyar, if you drop it, it's all done," because when he hears it, he starts just banging things around his tray instead of actually tossing them. Unfortunately, because he now understands that dropping things on the floor is a surefire way to lose his tray and everything on it, he sometimes starts heaving things overboard when he wants to get out.
18. He's also started hitting, and, as a logical consequence, getting (very short) time-outs in his crib. He thinks this is the cruellest and most outrageous thing every. He's been hitting a lot less.
19. When Barak won't share his toys, Iyyar will sneak up behind him, grab his kippa and run away with it giggling. He knows he'll get a rise out of Barak that way, every single time. Sometimes he'll go into Barak's drawer, find a kippah, put it on and wear it around.
20. He loves being tickled. If you tickle his tummy and stop before he's ready, he'll pat his tummy with his hands to tell you to keep doing it.
21. He's really into Lego lately. He's gotten pretty good at putting it together and taking it apart, and sits there doing so while caroling, "geh go! geh go!"
22. He likes sitting on the couch, but can't climb up there by himself, so he'll come up to me and pat the couch cushions while saying, "up! up!" until I lift him up.
23. He's just started asking me to read him books. Yesterday he brought me "Brown Bear, Brown Bear," handed it to me (I was sitting in the rocking chair in their room) and turned around so that I could pick him up facing the right direction to sit in my lap and be read to.
24. He seems to be past the phase of shoving way too much food into his mouth and resorting to sucking on it because his mouth is too full for him to be able to chew. It's been a while since I've seen him sucking on a mouthful of bread.
25. He did, however, choke on too much ravioli this week, and threw up what seemed like a whole day's worth of food all over the floor, his clothes and shoes, and his high chair. I bleached everything and disassembled the high chair to clean it, but I feel like the kitchen still smells like vomit.
26. He seemed totally unperturbed by all of this and wanted more ravioli about thirty seconds later.
27. He still fits into his little blue baby shoes. The soft leather baby shoes/slippers from Target, though, are really on their way out.
28. He's really, really cute when he's sleeping. And most of the rest of the time.
29. His hair is getting to the point where it really needs to be cut, but I'm putting it off.
30. His favorite trick these days is closing the door. If I'm in the bedroom, he'll go out into the hall, closing the door behind him. He pulls it shut with one hand until the door is almost shut, then stands on his toes to reach the knob so he can pull it the rest of the way. All the time, he's saying "Bye!" and, sometimes, waving.
31. He also likes to shut the gate to the kitchen. I don't think he's yet realized that the only thing he accomplishes by doing this is limiting his own opportunities for unfettered motion.
32. He likes eating cereal and milk with a spoon. If I just put dry cereal on his high chair tray, unless it's a really high-value cereal like Puffins he'll express very great disgust.