A two year old

:: TWO ::

On January 28th, my little son turned two.  It is incredibly unbelievable that two years have come and gone since the birth of this boy!  Some days, it seems like just yesterday that I was snuggling his brand new little body and other days it seems like he's been our two year old forever!  He is so fun at this age.  I am so grateful to have Drake in our home and for the opportunity I have had to be his mother for two years now!  What a blessing he has been! 

 Drake at TWO years ...

I know that every mother thinks that their child is the smartest.  I get that, I really do however; my boy is really pretty smart!  He surprises me every day with the things that he says and does.  Just this morning he told me what a triangle and square were.  I realize this is probably pretty common for his age, but i was amazed because I haven't really worked on shapes with him yet.  He has mastered colors and is working on counting but we haven't tackled shapes.  I know I've told him what the different shapes are but I honestly didn't think he was understanding.  I guess I was wrong!

He knows his colors.  He recognizes red, orange, "ellow," green, blue, pink, purple, white and brown.  Tonight he pointed out all of the colors on his jammies.  I ask him to show me colors all day long.  He probably gets sick of my bugging him, but he is getting so very good at it!  

He has been a "better" eater lately.  I still wouldn't consider him a good eater, but he has been eating more than just string cheese for a few weeks now.  His daily food intake usually consists of string cheese, a few clementines, melon if we have it, some kind of cracker or pretzel, dried cranberries (that he thinks are fruit snacks), bananas, actual fruit snacks, smoothies, and sometimes yogurt.  He is still obsessed with pop but has learned to like Sprite instead of Pepsi.  I still hate that he drinks it at all but I figure Sprite is better than Pepsi, or at least I tell myself it is!  He still drinks soy milk and still refers to it as nokie.  Not quite sure where he got that one, but whatever!

He is a climbing, jumping, running monkey.  He still tries to jump off of everything and still loves to take all of the cushions off the couch to jump into.  He has now realized that he can jump off of the stairs and has tried a few times.  Even though I tell him every time to only jump off of the last step, he always manages to dive off the third or fourth and bonks some part of his body and ends up crying. 

Whenever he gets hurt or thinks he's hurt, he immediately runs to who ever is close for a kiss.  He'll point to the area that's "hurt" and wait for you to kiss it better.  The best is when he falls on his bum and runs up and tells you to kiss his bum all better.  

The Goofy Movie, Shrek, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Toy Story and Cars are still the favorites around here.  I'm pretty positive that we have seen each at least 100 times!  Lately The Goofy Movie has been played over and over.  Mom got it for him for Christmas and he has been loving it.  It's really funny to see him love such an old movie that we all loved as kids.  

[04.17.11]

Okay... so I started this post well over two months ago and am just barely sitting down to finish it.  Pathetic.  Really, really pathetic.  My little boy has changed so much already since his birthday but I'm going to do my best to re-cap and remember everything.  Note to self... don't do this again.  

He is a full sentence talker, a broken record and a CONSTANT chatter box.  The kid hardly ever stops talking!  Chris and I have been amazed lately at the sentences he has put together and the things that he remembers and repeats.  Not all good things, I might add!  Some of his favorite lines are...

 "Where'd that come from?" when referring to a noise he hears. 

 "I try it again" anytime he wants to do something, watch something, or eat something again. 

"I need... 

daddy,

to watch fast cars,

to watch Mic, Cars, Goofy Movie, Shrek, etc. 

to see Grammy,

see B and Bah,

see Nipes and lissa,

melon,

cheese,

etc.  

He "needs" lots of things!  He has been saying he needs things for a few weeks now.  It's really cute and funny to see what he "needs!"

  "I want to play the park."  We hear this at least three times a day. 

 "I see Dylan and Monie and Amber!" 

 "That's making noise." 

"Biggie do it." Yep... still referring to himself as Biggie.

"I waked up."  In the morning and after naps, Drake climbs out of his bed and comes upstairs to find us and tell us that he is up.

I need to make a point to try to record his daily ramblings.  It will be priceless to have.  Even though sometimes I wish he would be silent for a few minutes, I know I will be missing his chatter before I know it. 

He has started saying "I love you."  It is the most precious thing in the world!  He can't quite say it right, but it's adorable.  There's nothing better than having your child tell you he loves you!

He is now sleeping in a "big boy bed."  As Bird documented last week, we went to STG for three weeks and decided it was just too long for him to be in the little port-a-crib.  Mom bought a kids air mattress at Costco so we blew it up and put him on it the first night we were there.  The first few nights were a little rough but after four nights, he was sleeping and staying in his bed like a champ!  I have to admit, I was totally amazed at how easy it was!  He still has a rough time, here and there and has to be escorted back to bed numerous times at night, but those times are few and far between.  Here at home, he is sleeping in his crib, without the front part.  The crib turns into a toddler bed but I decided not to buy the extra rail attachment because he doesn't need it.  He hasn't fallen out yet and I really doubt he will.  And besides, the mattress is only ten inches off the ground!  I'm so glad that this wasn't more of a battle but I'm kind of sad that my babe is big enough to be out of a crib.

He has been playing like crazy with his Transformer toy lately.  Tet bought it for him when she came last and he liked it then, but has found a new love for it and doesn't let it leave his sight for more than a few hours.  

He is SOOOO... stubborn.  I mean really, really stubborn!  He knows what he wants, when he wants it, and you better not try to tell him otherwise!  I realize that I'm getting a taste of my own medicine here, but some days I would really like my mellow little man back! 

He still wants, "mommy sing you," every night before bed.  His usual requests consist of "twinkle" first, "bitsy" second, and either "twinkle" or "popcorn" as the last song.  He always petitions for more songs after our three but I have to limit it somewhere or else I'd be singing all night!  He also listens to music every night as he falls asleep and he loves to turn it on before he climbs into his bed.

He has become very particular about his covers in his bed.  He refuses to let me cover him up.  I have to go back in after he falls asleep to cover him.  He started that around the time he started sleeping in his big bed.  I'm not quite sure why.

He can count to sixteen.  He is still typically really stubborn about doing it when I ask him to, but every once in awhile he'll ramble off his numbers on demand.  Usually though, he counts with me as we climb the stairs and lately I have caught him counting to himself as he is playing with his toys.

He is getting better with his shapes.  Yesterday we practiced triangle, square, star, diamond and rectangle.  He had a hard time remembering star and rectangle but he's got the others down.  He loves to play with his shape toy and can find all of the right spots for most of them. 

He has become insistent about climbing into his car seat by himself and buckling the buckles himself.  I have to admit, it's kind of annoying to me, only because I lack patience when we are trying to go places and it takes him a good long time to get it all done.  I need to try harder to be more patient.  

Drake has renewed his love for swimming and acquired a new love for bowling!  We have been bowling three times in the last two weeks and he has had a blast every time.  Last week we also went back to the Lehi pool for the afternoon.  He had a great time.  I had to bribe him with candy and still had to carry him out kicking and screaming.  He was in heaven!    

He is a park playing foolio!  He LOVES the park and wants to "play the park," every day, with out fail! The park up the street is a great park for little ones and we frequent it often.  Today we drove to Springville and visited the Hobble Creek park again and had a great time.  I'm so grateful that he loves to play outside.  I think it's so important for kids to be outside in the fresh air as much as possible.  And... when we're at home, he wants to watch his movies ALL the time.   He asks to watch something all day long.  It makes me crazy and I feel like a crap mom for letting him watch too much tv.  His typical day consists of at least one movie and a few episodes of Mic.  I try to make sure that we get out and do something active at least once a day but it's been hard during the winter with the cold weather and I can definitely tell that the tv has become too much of a habit.  Hopefully the weather gets nice and stays that way so we can spend more time outside.

We have yet to really attempt the potty training but I am planning to attempt it within the next month or so.  I keep telling myself to do it but then I remember that I have finals coming up, another week long trip to STG and other random stuff which will keep me from being able to stay home for a week.  I'll be honest, I'm not really looking forward to the process, but I am SO ready to be done with the diapers.  Holy crap... I hate diapers!

He is obsessed with watching "fast cars" on Chris' computer.  He asks to watch it at least fifty times a day.  Chris says it's like baby crack.  Horrible, I know.  "Fast cars," is simply a Ken Block Gymkhana you-tube video.  I have no idea why he loves it so much but he definitely does.  We need to find the actual videos that you can buy, but we haven't had any luck.  It is seriously so funny to see my little son so entertained by "fast cars."

I have started taking him to the daycare at the gym.  I can't say that he likes it yet, but he's getting better.  The first time I left him, he screamed and carried on like you would not believe.  Luckily he calms down quickly and is okay for the remainder of the time there, but it's pretty heartbreaking to leave him like that.  The last few times, instead of going behind the fence into the play area, he has stayed up at the desk with the playroom ladies.  For some reason, he likes that better and usually ends up staying there and coloring while I'm at my class.  Yesterday we took his backpack with his own crayons and paper and he was perfectly happy.  It's kind of strange that he'd rather sit with the ladies rather than go play, but it's fine with me as long as he's happy.

 He has started treating Otie like a sibling and often acts jealous or annoyed with him.  It's kind of sad.  He is really particular about where he'll let Otie sit and he gets really upset when he thinks Otie is going to take his food or toys. (which he never does)  I realize that I may never be able to have lots of kids, but I hope that we can have at least one more, for this reason alone.     

  

He loves to "nug" (snuggle) Daddy and Grammy.  Occasionally, he'll let someone else nug him but his everyday favorites are Dad and Gram.

He still loves smoothies.  Thank goodness!  It's the only time I can get him to eat some vegetables.  He has also started to like eating pieces of bread if I cut the pieces into four sticks.  He calls is "bready."

When we were in STG, Amber and I took the kids to Swig a bunch of times after playing at the park.  We always got Drake and Dyl snow cones, which Drake loved.  He now refers to them as "ice cones," and asks for them all the time.   

Although the binkie is gone, the blankies are still around and are as haggard as ever!  They typically don't leave his bed and almost never leave the house, but they are still a staple for nap and bedtime.  I'm totally fine with this though.  I had my blankie until Big was born so I'm obviously not concerned about him having it until he gets sick of it!

Among the old favorites, we have a new favorite movie at our house.  The "prince movie," (Tangled) has become a regular on our list.  We took Drake to the theater to see is a few months ago.  He really liked it and after the show was over I asked him if he liked the princess movie.  Upon hearing me ask Drake that, Chris promptly informed me that it was not a princess movie, it was a prince movie.  So at our house... we watch the "prince movie," not Tangled and definitely not the princess movie!

He loves to ride the train at the mall.  He usually picks the green car to ride in and always wants to "I tried it again," when the ride is over.

He has a new found love for the shower.  He has been taking more showers than baths lately.  He typically gets a little nervous when I have to wash his hair with the sprayer, but other than that, he loves to take showers.  He also likes to come in when Chris and I are showering to tell us that we are "all clean."  He rips open the shower curtain as soon as he hears the water turn off and tells us that we're all done and all clean.

He still asks for boogey cream and itchy cream every night before bed and naps.   He has me put the boogey cream on his nose and tummy and we put the itchy cream on his legs.  The itchy cream is really necessary, unlike the boogey cream!  He has the most sensitive skin, just like Chris, and often gets rashy dry patches on his arms and legs.  It's kind of sad.  Luckily, the itchies clear up quickly with a little cream but I always feel bad when he wakes up and has marks all over from his itching.  

He has discovered fish tanks and loves them.  We went to Nordstrom the other day and discovered the fish tank in the kids department.  Nemo happens to be in that fish tank.  Drake was so thrilled and sat there and watched the fish without making a peep for a good long time while I shopped.  I couldn't believe how much he liked watching the fish.  I immediately called Chris and told him that we needed to get Big a fish.  We have yet to do it, but we may try it out this summer and see if he likes having a fishy.  

He is wearing size 2T and 3T clothes right now and is between a seven and eight in shoes.  He is easily 30+ pounds and gets heavier every day!  I can barely life him these days.  He is still a sturdy little man, built just like his daddy. His hair is still really curly when it's long and it grows like a weed!  I need to learn to cut it myself so I can trim it up every two weeks. 

Well... I think that about covers it for now.  I still have loads of pictures to catch up on, but that'll have to wait for another day.  It's a relief to have all of this written down, even though I'm sure I'm forgetting things!