I’ve been a bit remiss in updating the blog with cool things about the kids lately, and although the kids aren’t mastering new skills at the mad rate they did when they were babies, they still do a lot of cool things. Let’s take Roddie for instance…
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>He’s a bike riding machine! Once he figured out how to make the pedals go around, he really took off on his bike! I had been planning to get him a balance bike this year so he could keep up with Norah, but at this point, he can ride almost as fast as she does (though he gets distracted more easily). Suffice to say, I now wear running shoes when accompanying them on a jaunt about the neighborhood, and look forward to the day in the very near future when I’ll need to take my own bike!
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>This little man knows what he wants, and that’s that. He’s becoming very independent, insisting on doing things on his own – everything from getting dressed in the morning to choosing his own spoon. He literally becomes irate if you try to help him when he wants to do it himself.
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>Bed time, oh bed time! For the sake of historical accuracy I must report Roddie is HORRIBLE at bed time. It generally takes close to an hour before he finally settles in and falls asleep. Norah was always very easy with the bed time routine (not so for nap time) and we really had no idea how good we had it. I think part of the struggle for him is that he naps during the day, as most kids his age do and he’s just not ready by 8:00. He’s always seemed to need less sleep than Norah, who no longer naps most days. This presents some challenges with them in the same room! Roddie’s favorite tricks at this time include the usual milk, water, potty requests as well as a few more unique numbers like “sing my baby song” (a combinations of hymns I sang to him as a baby because that was all I could remember one day – only I can perform this number), “sing the church song” (Were You There, may only performed by Matt), “my blanket is bunch-ed”, “I want stars/animals up”
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>As a counterpoint to the bedtime blues, he’s become incredibly affectionate, and I, for one, LOVE it! He will come over to me spontaneously, hold my cheeks in his hand, give me a kiss and say “I love you Mommy” (it comes out I Yuv you – he only does L for Lap) He loves to snuggle and does not hesitate to give Norah a hug (especially after he spontaneously wacked her with a shoe or toy…)
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>I’ve been working with him on pronouncing things correctly – mainly L’s and K’s. He would tell me he wanted to sit in my yap at story time, so I started trying to get him to say Lap… L-L-L-Lap! He’d reply with “L-L-L- Yap! Mommy I said it right!” We eventually got there, but he won’t use the L sound any other time. I’ve let it go for now, he’ll get there…
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>He finally grew into size 3 pants, seemingly overnight. It seems like ages ago when his size 2 shirts started to get too short, but the pants were just fine. The size 3’s we had in the closet were way too big around the waist in addition to being too long. Just before the weather turned to shorts, it seemed like all of his pants were suddenly too short! I pulled out the 3’s and sure enough, they fit. It’s surprising how much bigger a little boy looks in bigger pants… I don’t remember this with Norah, but Roddie all of a sudden looks so much bigger/older now that he fills out those pants!
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>He transitioned into preschool earlier this month. While this marked the end of my highest paying daycare years, I think it was probably even more significant for Rod! A few months before the transition I was a little worried about him being ready, but by the time the big day came, I was confident he would be fine, which, of course, he was! We have known his teacher in the toddler room for virtually the whole time we’ve been at our daycare, and we love her. The preschool teacher started just as Norah was aging out of that room and I really didn’t know her. Roddie didn’t immediately warm up to her, but he didn’t take long either. Preschool means a higher kid to teacher ratio and that they are expected to do more things for themselves – a good fit for our little man! It also means that he’s the youngest of the almost 3 to 4 year olds instead of the oldest of the 1 to almost 3 year olds. They start working on some academic skills, and best of all he gets to share outside time with the big kids, including his big sister! This is often makes the daily highlights when I ask him about his day J
All in all, he’s doing great! As much as people complain about the terrible twos, it’s my favorite age (at least of those I’ve experienced so far! ) Learning to express themselves, growing independence, and fully making the transition out of babyhood and into childhood. I’ll miss babyhood, sometimes, but I am also really looking forward to this next stage with the two kids.
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