Alec turned 23 months old on the 29th of this month.  Alec's attachment to the beach is amazing.  He will keep saying: "Beach, beach" until we walk to the beach.  Or: "Go, peace!" (read: Go please?)

On May 3 he decided that he wanted scream.  From that time forward, when he is happy, he screams.  When he doesn't want to nap, he screams.  When he is playing, he also screams.  I thought: great, he will tire quickly and go nap easily.  I thought wrong.  Nap time passed, and he still screamed his head off.  School was off that day due to large-scale demonstrations organized by the Catholic Church.  It was the largest demonstration in Timor since independence. So, of course  Alec screamed that wanted to go to school that day,

See you later, Mom!

and the mini pool on our backyard instead.  And yet, he still screamed while he was splashing the water.  I thought Alec has been screaming happily all day, missed his nap, and will probably will go to bed early.

 WRONG.  We didn't sleep until around 11.30 that night.  We then woke up S-I-X  A.M. the next morning.  We also found out that Alec's right-big-bottom molar is coming in.  Perhaps the screaming made him feel good (or better, at least!)

Going to school is something Alec loves tremendously.  He has his biological clock so that every day at noon he will gear up and put on his shoes, hat and little backpack.  Now he will not go anywhere without his little back pack, not even to go grocery shopping.  Alec still copies EVERYTHING Mom says. When she calls Dad Alec follows her around saying "Zhawn?  Zhawn?" 

I often let Alec play in the front seat whenever we get home after driving around town or after I pick Alec up from the play group because he refuses to get out of the car. He now manages to get the key in the ignition and can almost start the car!  He often says "Whoa!"   We never taught him to say that but out of the blue he knows how and when to say it.   Alec has started associating me with going outside because I always pick him up for his play group at lunch time.  So every time I come home he always says :"Go? Mom?"   He will kept saying go (more quietly) in a lower and lower tone until he just whispers go as he is told no.  He then goes off to find his dad so he can start it all over again. He is learning that he can get away with anything if asks enough people.

Alec can now wash his hands without help.  Whenever we ask him to wash his hand he goes to the bathroom, steps on his potty training stool, turns on the tap, washes his hands and dries them with a towel.  The routine repeats every day.  Alec also still loves looking at his own pictures in the computer and saying : "Babe-bees!  Peace"

(read: Babies, please) For the last few months Alec has been getting excessive compulsive. Let me explain what I mean.  Example number 1:  When Alec drops some water from his sipper cup, he immediately goes looking for a towel so he can wipe the floor. He then puts the towel back.  Example number 2:  Nicky, our next door neighbor's dog ran around the house and flipped the corner of our carpet.  Alec fixed the carpet so lays perfectly flat.  Example number 3:  Alec loves finger painting at school.  He doesn't, however, like the mushy, dirty feeling of paint on his hands, so he cleans them repeatedly. After he finishes he dips his fingers back in the paint, begins painting, and then washes his hands again.  Example number 4:  When we were making the 11 hour drive to Kupang, Alec gets sick from the winding road and threw up.  He was fine and acting like nothing happened, but as soon as he saw his messy shirt, he cried.  He was all happy again when we helped him put on a clean shirt. 

Learning Gravity. 

Unfortunately nothing scared this kid away.  He cried because the nanny screamed when he fell (picture No. 1)  But he loved the rush at the end and wanted to do this over and over and over again.