The Unusual Palate & Conversations of a 2 year old.

Matthew really has the most unusual palate for food for a 2 year old. Here are some of the types of food he LOVES.

pickled ginger,

Ikura salmon roe (we just call them eggs)

Roquefort cheese, from France no less.

Olives, any kind either green or black, marinated or spiced it doesn't really matter.

Balsamic vinegar

Serrano Ham
Coffee/Tea (he has the froth on top of Duncan's latte as the tiniest bit of caffeine sends him crazy)

I can't think of a single food that Matthew won't eat, even a bit of spice in a curry doesn't bother him which is great as it means we can dine pretty much anywhere.

Post Birthday lunch just the 3 of us, complete with Matthew's favourite Japanese foods.

I know I've mentioned in the past that Matthew vocabulary is expanding rapidly, and in fact we'd been warned that this is expected around the 2 year mark. But it's still very surprising and shocking to us that Matthew has suddenly gone from speaking 2 word sentences, babbling incoherently the rest of the time and singing random words to tunes he knows to conversing with us in 3-4 word sentences and sometimes more virtually overnight. Honestly, Duncan and I would tell you that it happened sometime overnight on Saturday right after his birthday.

Matthew said on Sunday morning;
'Mummy open the fridge'
and
'May I please have Jellybeans Mummy?
For a longest time, Matthew has been referring to himself as 'Moo Moo' which is my nickname for him and I'd thought that he had difficulty saying his name and words beginning with the letter 'M' but a few weeks ago managed to say 'Marshmellow' very clearly. On Saturday evening, on our way out to dinner, Matthew was not only say his name properly, but was singing 'Happy Birthday to Matthew' over and over again. When the parenting books say that kids can change overnight, they really mean it!

Phuket Pictures & bye bye Nanna and Pop

I had a teary Matthew in my arms when Nanna and Pop left in the taxi for the airport this afternoon. Bye the time Nanna and Pop rang from the airport to say they were about to board their flight home bound to Sydney, Matthew was yelling 'See Ya Nanna, See Ya Pop!'. He was still a little bit teary at bedtime though... very sad little guy. It's one of the downsides to living in a different country to family, especially grandparents. But I'm sure they are thankful that we are only an 8 hour flight away and not 20 hours.

Matthew has been a delight of late, even his teachers have commented how well behaved he's been in class. I'm sure that this too is a passing phase!

The trip away was very relaxing, most days were spent relaxing at our Villa punctuated by day trips out to the nearby islands for a bit of sightseeing and snorkeling or golf (for the boys) and massages (for the girls) or trip around Phuket island to visit some of the popular beaches and tourist spots. 

Here is one of my favourite pictures from our trip away to Phuket.

Kamikaze Matthew in the pool with Daddy and Uncle Tim (Unki Thim)

Matthew is pictured here being tossed to Daddy by his Uncle, he loved it and insisted on it about a dozen times by swimming away from his Dad to his Uncle with 'more please' until both had very sore shoulders and arms.

As a side note, Matthew's 2nd birthday party planning is in full swing. I'm making the cake again this year with the same chocolate cake recipe with choc granache, but this year it'll be in the shape of a rocket to go with the Buzz Lightyear themed party we have planned.  Matthew's party is on Saturday 28th which falls perfectly on his birthday. There will be plenty of pictures posted no doubt.

One last thing, Matthew is rapidly learning to speak in sentences and carry out conversations. I've been asked how many words Matthew has in his vocabulary now and I honestly can't tell you. He'll repeat or at least have an attempt at pretty much anything you ask him to say and is particularly cute at saying 'Marshmellow' and 'Octopus'. 

Biting (again) and lots and lots of singing

Oh dear... In the last week Matthew has reverted to the very nasty habit of biting again. Both at school and at home. I thought we'd put a stop to this but not so. In the span of a few days, he's bitten 2 kids at school and attempted to bite other kids as well. As his teachers are aware now of his tendency to nip at other kids in frustration if he doesn't get his way, they've been extra vigilant during class. It's almost always due to frustration that Matthew will lash out, eg not wanting to share a toy, wanting a turn on the bike or slide etc. In one instance, he took two bites at a girl because she was in his way when he was trying to wash his hands at the sink. All very negative behavior which I hope he will grow out of quickly. It's one of the downsides of being a parent to an over active, short tempered, bossy and impatient toddler.
On the upside, he's also equally happy, affectionate and sweet and his moods will yo-yo between the two to drive me absolutely mental. We've definitely hit the terrible twos.

Words

There's been so many new words in Matthews vocabulary lately and lots and lots of singing. He likes to sing 'Twinkle twinkle little star' in toddler babble (the tune is unmistakeable and I'm proud to say he's not tone deaf like his Dad!) and 'ABCD'. He'll recite 'A, B, C' and if we are lucky 'D' and 'E' as well but after that it's a jumble of letters mainly consisting of 'Bs' and 'Cs' for the remainder of the alphabet. We are also up to 4 word sentences and have heard him say 'more block toys please' without any prompting and 'more Buzz please Mummy'. As Matthew now understands lots of words and direction, we have to remind ourselves to watch what we say around him.

Edited to add: Duncan just reminded me that he also sings 'Row row row your boat' and another song that I like to sing to him called 'soft kitty'. For those of you who are fans of the TV show Big Bang Theory you might know it.

Poh Poh and Goong Goong have left Singapore to continue on their vacation to China but their visit left a lasting impression on Matthew. He greeted them both with a warm welcoming cuddle each and enjoyed having the added attention lavished on him. He loved especially to hovered over, sit next to, hug and crawl up on his Goong Goong frequently. He also enjoyed copying what Goong Goong was doing like taking out the batteries from the keyboard or what Goong Goong was eating for breakfast (and how he ate it). I enjoyed having my parents around as my Mum cooked, helped with housework and did all the laundry! It gave me lots of time to ponder over the issue of Matthew's biting :(  Pictures from their visit will be uploaded soon.