2.5 or 30 months

How is it possible that you are halfway to THREE?? Talk about mind blowing. You are SO big now!

You got a haircut not too long ago, and that short hair made you look COMPLETELY grown up. You just seemed to grow an inch with that haircut, looking taller and thinner. You are talking so much, you are so big! You are now 28 lbs, walking and talking and learning every day.

 

You are learning more and more about self time outs. You are pretty good at throwing fits, but we are able to tell you to go to your room and not come out until you are calm. You usually will walk into your room, shut the door behind yourself, cry and then come out with a better attitude. You tend to spend less time in there at night because it's dark. ;) You are having trouble learning to control your frustrations and understanding what we mean when we say "if you obey and do this, you get this". We know you don't understand that reasoning, or that by obeying things will just be easier in the end. But if we keep at it, hopefully one day it will click.

 

You are right on track clothes wise - you are wearing size five diapers, size 5.5 to 6 shoe, and wearing 2T clothes and pants. You can still fit into some smaller 24 month things. Depite only wearing a 2T - you are still just seem like you are enormous. We walked into your room to wake you up a few weeks ago and we both stared in awe at how much space you took up in your toddler bed. You are so tall and long, it is just amazing. (since I wrote that, you have transitioned to your "new" room, and love your new queen sized big boy bed! The plus side about a bed so big is that you look small again!)

 

You normally go to bed around 815 and we wake you up on weekdays around 545 and nap 2 hours a day. On the weekends you will go to bed later and sleep in, but it's still not much more than the 9-10 hours. You will, however, take a three hour nap on the weekends if we let you.

 

You are pretty good about going on the potty when we put you up there. You go in the mornings and in the evenings before bed and on the weekends before and after nap. You still don't really tell us when you need to go, or when you need to be changed. We are still working on that but haven't decided to push you on it just yet. You will go sometimes at school and lately your Grandpa will promise you treats after school if you go on the potty during the day.  You are pretty cute when you have success on the potty, you will sit there and clap your hands and excitedly cheer for yourself saying "Yay! I did it!".

 

Oh eating, eating. You are SUCH a picky eater. You must get this from your picky eating father. If you had it your way, you would still eat just baby food. In fact, more often than not when you refuse the food we are eating we offer you a pouch and you will gobble it down. At least you are still getting your fruits and veggies, but boy do you have to be so darn picky?! You will eat fruits without an issue but seem to still have texture issues. Things that you loved previously you aren't as much of a fan now. Like mashed potatoes, or beans, noodles or even corn. That used to be all we could get you to eat, now you quickly turn up your nose. You will eat almost any and every option of pouches. Whatever keeps your little belly full! Your favorite snacks are Mommy's cheerios - peanut butter and strawberry yogurt burst, chips and puffs. You are still a big fan of strawberries - fresh or freeze dried, and could probably eat those for every meal. We have decided this year to grow extra strawberries in our garden because last year they never even made it inside before you would gobble them down.

 

You love to play hide and seek, chase your daddy in circles around the house and read books. You are addicted to Mickey Mouse and Bubble Guppies. You enjoy playing outside in your playhouse and your Daddy just added a chalkboard inside that you love to draw on.

 

You LOVE to count and are exceptionally good at it. You can count to fifteen and sometimes higher. You recognize numbers and can match them to the amount - (like if there are five balloons you can pick the number 5 that goes with it). You have your own tape measure that Daddy bought you after you loved your 2 dollar toy one from Toys R Us this Christmas. You carry it around and you and Daddy count on it all the time. We are still working on letters and your ABC's, but we are making quite a bit of progress, You can now recognize a good 15 of them or so. You are also really good at shapes and naming them. When we ask you to draw them you usually draw a pretty impressive line. ;)

 

You are so cute these days, following directions. Your Daddy will tell you to go find me and tell me something. Half the time you won't remember what you are supposed to say and will get distracted by what I am doing - like collecting hangers to go back to the laundry room. But on Valentine's Day before we left the house, you ran to tell me "Happy Valentine's Day!" And it was just precious. Just heart melting. And what was so cute was that you ran it so close together it was hard to understand, and I asked you to repeat it and it was a no go as you ran back off to find your Daddy.

 

Your manners are one of the sweetest things about you. We will get you more of something and you will say "Thank you Mommy" or "Thank you Daddy" and it's just adorable. We love that you are getting so good at these, and you are even able to be semi pleasant when you DON'T get your way. You'll ask for something 'please' and then if the answer is 'no' or 'in a minute', you'll answer in your sweet little voice "oooohhhhhhkaayyy" and take it as it is. I wish this was the case all the time, but it sure isn't. You're still learning little one! When you don't get your way, you will hunch over at your shoulders, slump your entire body posture, let your arms hang and proceed to whimper like a puppy. Come to think of it, this is something I need to get on video! ;)

You had your first trip to the Aquarium and you loved it. You touched sting rays and saw all kinds of cool fish. You had a blast, and we were so lucky to get to go for free with our cousins!

You also got to meet your newest cousin, and you were just so sweet with her. It makes me so excited to get a glimpse of the kind of big brother you will be!

We get so much out of watching you grow and learn each day. It's hard to put into words just how much you mean to us, but you are the light of our lives little boy, and we can't wait for what is to come!

Love you to the moon and back!

Mommy