Jon

I titled this update simply "Jon," because that is what I hear a lot of these days. Jon has his name down, and he also understands possession. So this is a taste of his ramblings:

"Jon plate, Jon sippy cup, Jon fork" (at meal times, pointing to everything on the table)

"Jon ball?
"No, sweetie, not your ball."
"Jon ball?" (now reaching and grunting a little bit)
"No, sweetie, that is the store's ball."

He has also fused the words "please" and "Mama" into one, so whether he is talking to me or not, this is what he says:

"More Elmo pleasemama?"
"More banana pleasemama?"
"Up pleasemama?"
"Come pleasemama?"
"Go in Daddy car pleasemama?"

At least the kid is hopefully learning some manners : )

Speaking of manners, we are definitely in full-on testing mode at home and at school. The past week or two at school, Jon has been put in time out for not following directions or trying to wake up his friends during nap time. The teachers always say that he is not be malicious or mean, just doing his own thing and not following directions. At home, Jon responds pretty well to time outs, although sometimes it does take two in a row for him to either follow directions or discontinue negative behavior. I know he is too young to have rewards or consequences at home for his behavior at school, but I'm looking for suggestions to help him follow directions when I'm not around. We talk about obeying teachers like we obey Mama and Daddy, and his teachers are on board with counting/timeouts like we do at home. Thankfully his teachers have kids of their own and (at least to my face) tell me that they understand that testing is age appropriate and he is not really a trouble maker.

To end on a funny note, we thought maybe Jon didn't understand what "No" meant, because he would answer "No" for questions which it seemed obvious the answer was "Yes," for example:

"Jon, do you want to come inside?"
"No." (always said in a nonchalant, 'I'd really rather not,' tone of voice)
"Jon, do you want to stay outside?"
"No."

But the other day, Jonathan and I were trying to figure out who would change the last diaper of the day, and this made us laugh:

"Jon, do you want Mama to change your diaper?"
"No."
"Do you want Rar (the name of his dinosaur stuffed animal) to change your diaper?"
quick head turn and smile "Yes!"