The Lion at TWO YEARS

Happy Very Belated Birthday, Robby!

That was literally you "yesterday" (last Thurs), but it seems like yesterday was: 

1 month, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months

At 2 years old you are so my child.  You are rambuncious, smart, curious, a dare-devil, sweet, but certainly willful.  You know what you want, and you aren't afraid to try and get it all on your own.

Physically, there's not much you can't do.  You can't hold up two fingers, but you happily tell everyone that you're two years old.  You're fairly good at saying what your full name is, but we're working on that.  I have all sorts of fears you'll get lost and not be able to respond.  You can at least tell your dog's name, and occasionally your mom and dad's names.

We're still working on undressing, which, surprisingly, you have not mastered.  It would make this whole potty-training experience easier.  As of when I'm writing this, you have gone to daycare 2 days in a row in big boy underwear.  You did great yesterday with only one accident.   

Your favorite foods are pretty much all bad for you.  And you're getting indulged way too much right now.  This is largely related to potty training, too.  You'll start small.  "Bean?" (jellybean) "Ok, if you go potty you can have a bean."  "Chocolate?"  "Ok, if you go potty you can have a chocolate."  *devilish look*  "Pop?" (popsicle) *sigh*  "Ok, if you go poopies you can have a popsicle."  Bribery at its finest.

You can be a cute little bugger, and you know it.  You'll run away from your dad and say, "Love you, Mommy" with a glint in your eye.  You are forever trying to push JUST to the limit of what you are allowed to get away with.  And, again, you probably get away with too much.

Saturday you got in trouble at swimming.  You kept jumping into the pool before the count of three and the teacher came over and reprimanded you.  OHHHH were you pouty.  It was nice to see you'd listen to her, though.  Must.  Be.  Firmer.

You were absolutely adorable on your birthday singing "Happy Birthday" over...and over...and over.  You can be a little obsessive at the moment.  You LOVE the movie Chicken Run ("Watch Chicken?"), your Mater and "Football Man" t-shirts, chocolate, "Ham" (Green Eggs and Ham - which we lost for a couple days and that was traumatizing), doing things your "self", now being forward-facing in the car, trucks, and the park.  You don't like being dirty, your environment being dirty, getting soap rinsed off you, diaper changes, waking up, getting licked by the dog, or mommy going more than a few inches away from you. 

You're my big man.  I don't know if that's really true or not.  We haven't had your appointment yet, but you're in 3T shirts, 2T pants, and 7.5 shoes.  You still like to be carried (oof!), but are happy to run more and more often.  I love that you're getting more independent, but already miss baby-hood a little.  I'm glad you're still a cuddler, though you're no longer a big fan of sitting on laps.  I wish I got to spend more time with you, but you're growing into a pretty great kid, regardless.  Happy birthday.

Trouble with a Capital T

I know I have no room to talk.  I was a terror.  And Robby's generally a good kid, but he's REALLY starting to push the boundaries.  Please remember that he is not yet 2.  (I haven't missed that many posts!)  Since I'm severely behind, though, here's a quick glimpse into our world.  


(see full image)

The cute:

Part of my mother's day present was a picture collage that Chris had made.  I showed it to Robby, and his response was, "Robby cute!"  Yup.  You are.  But, geez.  Big head?

The not so cute:

He escapes out of doors about 50 times a day.  At least he mostly goes out the back 2, which both lead into the fenced yard.  However, see above.  He's been trying to scale the fence.

The scary:

Two.  In two days.

1)  Yesterday, in approximately 30 seconds while I was changing, he climbed the toilet, opened the medicine cabinet, got the liquid ibuprofin, and removed the "childproof" cap.  Fortunately, Chris caught him at that point.

2)  Today, he climbed a couch to get to an open window, popped out the screen, and was climbing through, as he called to me, at which point I turned around and proceeded to freak out.

If my child survives toddler-hood it will be a miracle.  

The Lion at 23 Months

Can you believe we only have one more to go until 2?  He may be getting more opinionated (which I never thought was possible!), but man oh man, I must tell you.  I love 23 months.  Are we having tantrums, meltdowns, and battles?  You betcha.  But I'm also getting to have conversations.  And getting to talk about feelings.  And see him starting to learn CONCEPTS.  It's a pretty darn exciting time, I tell ya.

For the most part, I'm definitely picking my battles.  For instance, you see the shirt in these pictures?  Not a big fan.  But when he saw a metallic, Mater shirt at Wal-Mart?  WHOO boy.  Had to have it.  But, on an upside, the shirt that he MUST wear daily and has a meltdown if it's not clean?  "The Shirt" from Notre Dame this year.  (see the bottom photo)  He calls it "Football Man".  Chris is now on a mission to find a "Football Man" shirt from Penn State. 

He continues to LOVE trains, trucks, and sports.  I was a little surprised that at Target when we went to the birthday aisle and talked about plates, he chose the sports-themed one over Thomas or Cars.  Of course, we don't have a party planned, and I'm not sure if we'll have one, but mommy guilt is setting in on that front.  If the house really did pass inspection, I guess we don't have to worry about keeping it so clean anymore.  (For those not in the know, it sold after 2 days on the market with 3 people bidding on it.  We got full asking price.  We currently have nowhere to new to live.)

Lil man loves playing outside, and is very into doing things on his own.  Whether that's going on slides by him "self", climbing into the car by "self", pouring cereal, turning off lights, whatever the case may be.  All by "self".  

He is getting to be a fairly picky eater.  He steals whatever drink I might have (See the Gatorade above.  Another side, I was in urgent care AGAIN for yet another nasty bought of bronchitis, which fortunately did not turn back into pneumonia.  I'm just off drugs now.  Doing ok.)  He still likes carbs best.  Some fruit is still ok, but beyond that?  It's a bit of a battle.  Not really a fan of veggies or meat.  We have started letting him have Cars Gummy vitamins, which the only struggle with that is only letting him take one (since he has to get it "self").

I'm not sure how big he is.  He wears 3T shirts, and 2T pants, though they can be a little long.  His shoes are a size 7.  I think he's about 32 pounds?  Not sure.  He's not growing nearly as fast as he was, but it's still to fast for my taste!  I don't know WHERE my little boy went.

He pretty much says everything now.  He can tell you some words that start with a given letter (D is for dog), though that's not particularly consistent, and he is NOT saying his alphabet or counting more than, "Two Three, Two Three".  He will tell you he's TURNING two, and, miracle of miracles, I think he knows his colors.  I was convinced he was going to be color blind because of family history, but seemingly not.  He did repeat his first swear word a couple days ago, which was absolutely my fault.  Though it's his father's fault that he'll run up behind me, smack my butt, and yell, "BOOTY!"

 He's starting to develop a sense of humor, though his idea of a good joke is that a cow says "Oink".  He loves to have conversations back and forth, and they're surprisingly revealing at times.  A couple days ago he was telling me how his things had gone bye bye to the "new house" (packed for storage) and it made him sad.  I'm really worried about taking him away from his friends and teachers.  I imagine that's going to be hard.  They've been so wonderful with him, and at least they are continuing on the potty training mission, even if we aren't so good at home.  He's still only going probably 3x a day in a potty.  More frequent dry nights, though. 

Robby, you are mommy's little man.  I may have briefly fallen out of favor after the extended business trip, but you're back to being my perpetual side-kick when I'm at home.  I just wish it was more!  I only get a little over two hours a day with you, and that's rough.  I'm glad you still want to be around me every second of that time.  I'm glad you're such a good boy.  I wish I could take more credit.  I'm so thankful your daddy has been able to step up so well, though it hurts to not be the one there with you after school.  I hope two will be as wonderful as one, and that you remain my little man.