Two-and-a-half Years Old
At just over 2.5 years old, W is so much more verbal than at my last post. I have lost count of his words now, but he says all the colors of the rainbow and uses colors as adjectives (ex: "white truck" or "why-yay (yellow) truck"). He uses verbs for "walk" and "eat" when he wants to go for a walk or when he's hungry. Today, while I was getting my adjustment at the chiropractor, he walked in and said, "Mama, poopoo." I checked his diaper and made sure to finish up my appointment quickly because there was a diaper that needed changing pronto.
My absolute favorite is when he wants to call the grandparents on Google Hangouts. He's confident enough now to call them and say "hi" and (mostly) show Mimi his bottom and say "poopoo." (I swear I did NOT teach him that.) He also likes to call Mimi and get her to watch him do all sorts of things, typically jump around on the couch or whatever daredevil stunt amuses him at the moment. I'm just glad that he is speaking!
Besides that I got him to do sad and happy faces on command! I thought that'd be something he'd do when he was about 5, but he surprised me. I tried to teach him Surprise Face, but he didn't try. I'll try and see if I can get a picture of him doing Happy and Sad Faces because it's a hoot.
Life with a 2.5-year-old is fun, but also very challenging. He weighs nearly 31 pounds and is quite strong. It's difficult to hold him when he squirms and wriggles away, and whatever you do avoid getting kicked. He's quite headstrong and willful, which is a blessing and a curse. I find it much easier to try and reason with him and convince him to do what I want than attempting to force him. Nap times are pretty much a daily struggle. He doesn't want to stop playing, but he's obviously (well, obvious to me) exhausted and won't settle down to nap. I brought him to the bed to nurse and lay down, but he would sip-sip and then bounce away. So, I asked him, "Do you want to nap here (in the bed) [he can say "here"] or in the car?" He promptly responded, "Cah," so I scooped him up and put him in the carseat and we were off. I got on the highway and before the odometer hit 6 miles, he was out. I drove home, got in a workout, wrote another blog post (in addition to this one), and he's still napping in the car seat.
The stress I feel when W doesn't sleep is off-the-charts. It's a combination of anxiety and anticipation of the future because a tired toddler means lots of screaming, fussing, and no chance of negotiation or reasoning. I often lose patience with him after hours of having to deal with Tired Toddler. When he's rested, he listens, responds, and interacts with us, which makes things go so much smoother.
Right now, we're heading into 2.5 hours of nap time, and I am thrilled. This morning, I had hoped to nap while W napped but realize now that I don't really need it. I've had down-time (translate: ME TIME), and the weight that has been bearing down on my chest and shoulders has lifted. Looking back over the last week or so, he's been unusually clingy, almost like he has separation anxiety. Not sure what has caused that, but his last 2-year molar came in within the last month, so that might have something to do with it--though, I'm really just speculating at this point.
He's getting quite tall and is starting to outgrow his 2T clothing. I swear, next time anyone asks what size clothes to get him, I'm gonna say 2 sizes over what he's currently at. He's growing so fast!!! I may have to go to the consignment sale in July to get him more 3T summer clothes and some 3T and 4T winter clothes.
Oh, as far as sleep goes, night weaning has finally been achieved. He goes to sleep around midnight and doesn't get milk again until around 6:30-7:00. That gives me a large chunk of sleep. Sometimes after he nurses, I can go back to sleep until he wakes for good around 8:30ish.
My day tends to go a little smoother when he wakes between 8:00-8:30, but I like to get up then and let him sleep until he wakes around 9ish because I get some alone time.
Oh, he's waking up. Nearly 3 hours later. WOOHOO!!!
My absolute favorite is when he wants to call the grandparents on Google Hangouts. He's confident enough now to call them and say "hi" and (mostly) show Mimi his bottom and say "poopoo." (I swear I did NOT teach him that.) He also likes to call Mimi and get her to watch him do all sorts of things, typically jump around on the couch or whatever daredevil stunt amuses him at the moment. I'm just glad that he is speaking!
Besides that I got him to do sad and happy faces on command! I thought that'd be something he'd do when he was about 5, but he surprised me. I tried to teach him Surprise Face, but he didn't try. I'll try and see if I can get a picture of him doing Happy and Sad Faces because it's a hoot.
Life with a 2.5-year-old is fun, but also very challenging. He weighs nearly 31 pounds and is quite strong. It's difficult to hold him when he squirms and wriggles away, and whatever you do avoid getting kicked. He's quite headstrong and willful, which is a blessing and a curse. I find it much easier to try and reason with him and convince him to do what I want than attempting to force him. Nap times are pretty much a daily struggle. He doesn't want to stop playing, but he's obviously (well, obvious to me) exhausted and won't settle down to nap. I brought him to the bed to nurse and lay down, but he would sip-sip and then bounce away. So, I asked him, "Do you want to nap here (in the bed) [he can say "here"] or in the car?" He promptly responded, "Cah," so I scooped him up and put him in the carseat and we were off. I got on the highway and before the odometer hit 6 miles, he was out. I drove home, got in a workout, wrote another blog post (in addition to this one), and he's still napping in the car seat.
The stress I feel when W doesn't sleep is off-the-charts. It's a combination of anxiety and anticipation of the future because a tired toddler means lots of screaming, fussing, and no chance of negotiation or reasoning. I often lose patience with him after hours of having to deal with Tired Toddler. When he's rested, he listens, responds, and interacts with us, which makes things go so much smoother.
Right now, we're heading into 2.5 hours of nap time, and I am thrilled. This morning, I had hoped to nap while W napped but realize now that I don't really need it. I've had down-time (translate: ME TIME), and the weight that has been bearing down on my chest and shoulders has lifted. Looking back over the last week or so, he's been unusually clingy, almost like he has separation anxiety. Not sure what has caused that, but his last 2-year molar came in within the last month, so that might have something to do with it--though, I'm really just speculating at this point.
He's getting quite tall and is starting to outgrow his 2T clothing. I swear, next time anyone asks what size clothes to get him, I'm gonna say 2 sizes over what he's currently at. He's growing so fast!!! I may have to go to the consignment sale in July to get him more 3T summer clothes and some 3T and 4T winter clothes.
Oh, as far as sleep goes, night weaning has finally been achieved. He goes to sleep around midnight and doesn't get milk again until around 6:30-7:00. That gives me a large chunk of sleep. Sometimes after he nurses, I can go back to sleep until he wakes for good around 8:30ish.
My day tends to go a little smoother when he wakes between 8:00-8:30, but I like to get up then and let him sleep until he wakes around 9ish because I get some alone time.
Oh, he's waking up. Nearly 3 hours later. WOOHOO!!!
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