:: Two and a Half ::
[06.30.11]
I'm not quite sure where to even start with this post! I have so many things to remember. I have been telling myself that I need to sit down to write these things down for months now and am just barely making the time to do it. I feel like a big time slacker mom right now but hopefully I'll feel better having this done!
Drake is now almost two and a half. His actual half year mark isn't until the end of July, but we're close enough to count it! It is still unreal to me that my little one is this old already, but I'm happy to report that time seems to be slowing down, just a tiny bit. It seems like he has been at this stage for longer than all those before.
So far, the "terrible twos" haven't been too terrible, knock on wood. I can't say that these last few months have been a cake walk with Mr. Drake Weaver but all in all, life has been good. He has become such a funny little boy.
His vocabulary has exploded as of late and is pretty dang hilarious! Some of his new favorite phrases are: "I sure do," or "I sure did" He uses these all the time now when you ask him if he liked something, had fun doing something, if he loves someone or something, etc. He has started saying, "I don't know," and using it correctly when you ask him something. He'll also say, "I don't know that kid or car or whatever. "How 'bout again" or just "how 'bout..." is also a regular. He sounds like a Canadian when he says it. Lately while playing his Buzz game he has been saying, "second place!" when he finishes a level. I honestly have no idea where he picked this one up. I could see him hearing "first place" somewhere but second place??? "Dang it" is also a favorite around here. He started this one a few months ago and has since added to it. Now he says, "bum dang it." Horrible, right!? I asked him the other day what bum dang it means and he just looked at me and said, "bum dang it mom!" and gave me the "duh" look! I had to bite my tongue to not laugh. Obviously "bum dang it" isn't the most horrible thing he could be saying but I've been trying to ignore him when he says it because I definitely don't want to encourage it.
Today while we were out working in the yard, he repeated something that he said a few weeks ago and I about died! A few weeks ago, I was standing at the door to the garage and Otie ran out into the yard. Drake was standing there with me and saw Otie run out and proceeded to yell as loud as he could, "get that freaking dog in here!" I was so mortified then and hoped that when I didn't even acknowledge the fact that he had said it, he wouldn't think to say it again. Well, I was wrong. Today, Otie ran over to the neighbor's house and you bet Drake yelled again, "get that freaking dog." Obviously he has heard Chris and I say that and obviously we need to clean things up and be more careful!
This week he has started with the "I not's." Everything is, "I not" do this or "I not" do that. Today I told him he'd need to go to his room and shut the door if he couldn't be nice and he responded with, "I not go to my room for time out and shut the door," hands on hips, and with the most stubborn face you've ever seen! This might be the death of me! The last few months have also been filled with endless, "I need my dad, I need my dad come home, I need to nug dad, I need my daddy back," etc. To say that Drake is a daddy's boy would be an extreme understatement. My son is OBSESSED with his dad and asks for him ALL DAY LONG and continues to say "I need my dad," even when Chris is home and in the same room.
[08.16.11]
Continuation of the "two and a half" post...
My son is no longer a baby or toddler. He is really and truly a little boy. He has gotten so big these last few months and just this last week especially, I have been amazed at how much of a little boy he is. He is growing up so quickly! It's hard to believe he is now closer to three than two! Here I go again with trying to recap the last few months of his life...
Back in March, we moved Drake to a "big boy" bed. We kept him in the toddler version of his crib until we moved a few weeks ago. For the most part, he did really well with it but towards the end of our time in Orem, he began to have a hard time sleeping in the little bed. He has gotten so long and thrashes like a wild man in the night. I think he just ran out of room. Every time he ended up in our bed, he slept like a rock and always positioned himself horizontally between Chris and me. Definitely not the most comfortable for us, but he was obviously the happiest that way. Nowadays, after making the move back to STG, Drake is sleeping in a queen size "big boy" bed and has been as happy as a clam. He has all the room he needs to thrash and sprawl and has slept better these last few weeks than he has all summer long. I'm pretty impressed with my little man and how easy it was to transition him from his crib to a bed. I really expected it to be quite the fight and have been sweetly surprised with the ease of it all. Having him in a queen has definitely been nicer for everyone. Now Chris, Grammy and I have room to "nug" and read books at bed time. (not all at the same time, on different nights!)
Speaking of "nugging," Mr. Drake Weaver sure does love to "nug!" Not so much with me, but always with Daddy and usually with Gram. He has his special spot on his daddy and quite often falls asleep there. (sprawled across Chris' chest with his head stuck right in Chris' neck. Definitely not comfortable for daddy, but daddy NEVER, EVER complains!) Drake also loves to pull the nug card at bedtime. Our standard bedtime routine consists of books, music and always, always nugging. There is not a night that goes by that we don't hear, "I need to nuggie ya!" Pretty priceless, really!
"ya," has officially replaced all of the "you's" in Drake's vocabulary. Everything ends in a ya. "I need to nuggie ya, I need to come with ya, I need to see ya, I need to help ya," etc. It's been pretty funny to watch this evolve. I'm sure he hears us say ya, but I guess I never really realized how often we said it. Funny, the things the littles pick up on!
Who would have thought that my little bug would genuinely have a favorite color at only two and a half?? I sure didn't, but he surely does! Green, green, green. Drake Weaver LOVES green! He pronounces it gween and usually wants all things gween. When we moved, Gram let him pick out new bedding and you better bet that he picked the gween one without any hesitation. Tonight when Chris asked him what kind of treat he wanted, Drake responded with, "a green one." It was perfect!
We have been doing lots of swimming lately. Swimming is the activity of choice most days, especially now that we are back to the oven that is STG. I am so grateful that Drake loves the water as much as he does. He could stay in the pool ALL DAY LONG, no joke. He has really gotten the hang of kicking around the pool with his wings on and is perfectly happy to entertain himself as long as he has a few cars that he can put down the slide before he goes down. Before we moved, we played at the city pools. I was a little skeptical of the whole public pool thing, only becuase we have always been spoiled, having the Weaver's pool to play in, but I was again very surprised at how much fun we had. Drake loved most of them and never wanted to leave. He was even a super brave boy and would go down the slide at the Scera pool with anyone that was willing to take him. His two favorite slide partners were daddy (of course) and then Bah. (a very close second to dad) Swimming lessons are an absolute must for next summer. I really should have done it this summer but I never got around to it. As much as I love having a fishie for a son, it does make me really nervous. He needs to be able to float on his own, ASAP!
Due to spending so much time in the sun this summer, Drake's hair is as blonde as can be and his skin is so very tan. He looks like he belongs in California on the beach. His tan lines are some of the best I have ever seen! There is nothing cuter than a dark little back and a super white little bum running around! I am so grateful that he has his daddy's skin and not my poor freckled mess. I can only hope that the freckles don't start to appear later on down the road!
Drake has still yet to become a good eater. He's actually still pretty horrible. His food of choice is still about the same, with only a few additions here or there. I feel lucky if I can get him to eat a few times a day and most of what he consumes is fruit, cheese, and sometimes some crackers. Fruit snacks are still a staple, as well as soy milk and V8 fruit juice, but other than that, it's hit and miss with most other things. He has been liking cereal and "nok" (milk) lately though. When he's in the mood to eat it, he'll eat a lot, but he's not ever consistent. Veggies are pretty much non-existent in his diet, which worries me, and so is meat. He's always up for a good ol' Costco hotdog but you can't really count that! I may end up with a vegetarian that only eats fruit. How sad would that be!?
Mr. Drake Weaver is certainly an independent soul. He loves nothing more than to tell me, "I need do it by myself." He will rarely let me help him do anything. Some of his favorite things to do "by myself" are... Turning on the vacuum, turning on any light, turning the bath water on, turning his "usic" on, blowing on his food, buckling the big buckles in his car seat, brushing his teeth, etc.
Speaking of his "usic"... He sure does love it. It's a race to the cd player every night to see who can turn the music on first. For the last six months or so he's been listening to a funky lullabye cd that both Chris and I are completely sick of but that Drake seems to like. I decided this afternoon that it was time for a change though. He's been loving his disney movies lately so it seemed fitting to create a new bedtime arrangement with the songs from Beauty and the Beast and Tangled. (yes, I do realize that both can be and most likely are considered "girl" movies, but Drake loves them so we watch them! I am anxiously awaiting the release of the new Lion King movie so my husband will get off my back about the girl movies!) We'll see what kind of response the new "usic" gets tonight at bedtime.
Just this week, little Mr. Weaver started to sing songs with me. Well actually, it's only one song (Five little monkeys jumping on the bed) but it's darling, nontheless. He will only interject during the "bonked his head" and the "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" parts but he sure does give it all he's got! He is a very stern doctor!
Since moving back to St. George, we have been much more consistant with taking Drake to the nursery. I was super nervous about how he would act the first week but he completely surprised me and was perfect. He cried for two seconds when we first walked in but it was short lived. He played the entire time and was not anxious to leave when I picked him up. Every time since then has been easier. Today he waltzed right in and didn't even look back. I was floored! I am so grateful that he has adapted so easily to a new nursery and seems to really love it. The nursery leaders are darling, which I'm sure helps quite a bit. Either way though, I'll take it! Yay for nursery!
This last weekend our little fish discovered the joys of jumping off the rock at Grandma and Grandpa's. He mastered the slide last year and has been loving it, but the rock has seemed to give him a newfound sense of adventure. He is even more fearless around the water than he was before. Kind of scary.
Angry Birds, Angry Birds, Angry Birds... oh how Drake loves his Angry Birds! He thinks it's beyond awesome to be able to pull it up and play it all by himself. Sometimes I feel like a crap mom for letting him do it, but most of the time I am just so amazed at how well he navigates around the ipad. It is crazy to me how quickly he picks up on things. Fruit Ninja and the Rio version of Angry Birds are also favorites. He knows the difference between all three apps and loves to switch between them.
A few months ago, mom bought him some new "church" books. He is totally a creature of habit and was hesitant to give the new books a chance, but has since become obsessed with his prophet book and can pretty much narrate the entire thing. Just last night, I quizzed him about it while at Grandma and Grandpa's and he did surprisingly well remembering everything without it in front of him! Pretty darn cute, if you ask me.
Drake has become quite funny and he knows it! He has started to do the funniest things when he runs and is showing off for the family. He won't do any of his tricks on demand but when he does bust them out, it's pretty dang hilarious! The "pumps" and the "tricky run" are two of his most popular and we are constantly bugging him to show us. I was so happy to have caught the pumps on video the other day. Now I can watch it whenever I need a good laugh!
First names have become the topic of lots of Drake's conversations as of late. He loves to tell us what everyone's name is. He knows all of the correct names but he still calls the aunts and uncles by their nicknames, which I love! My very favorite though, is Bah's. When you ask him what Bah's name is he says, "Bear," instead of Jared! Sorry Bah, looks like you'll be stuck with Bah or Bear for good!
"Red means stop, gween means go, ellow means go slow!" One of the new things that he has learned. He likes to remind us all the time what each color means. Today when I laid him down for nap, he had to tell me all three before we could nug. He's getting really good with his colors. Recently he has started to point out cars that are the same as mine or mom's but in a different color. He'll say, "There's a white car lust like mommy's." It's amazing to me that he can pick out my car so easily and makes sure to tell me what color it is every time we get in.
This last month he has gotten really good at going potty in the potty. We attempted a month or so ago to do the legit potty training but I gave up after three hours and haven't really tried since, so all the progress he has made has been purely on his own. He now tells me all the time that he has to go potty and has learned the art of going on demand. It's pretty hilarious really! He knows that when he goes he gets a potty prize so he tries REALLY hard and will sit there forever if there's something in the basket that he wants. Sometimes I give in and give him a prize just for trying. Trying is part of the practice, right! Now that I am in school, I am really hesitant to move completely to undies due to my crazy schedule so we may have to wait until I have a break. Hopefully by then though, it'll be super easy to transition due to all his practice!
A few months ago little Mr. Weaver learned the difference between handsome and pretty. He now knows that boys are handsome and girls are pretty. Every few days we seem to go through the list of everyone we know and he'll tell me whether they are handsome or pretty. Yesterday Otie got a hair cut and Drake told me no less than a hundred times that Otie was handsome but that I was pretty. It was darling to hear him explain it to me every time! Otie was handsome because he got a hair cut and I was pretty because I was a princess. I was a princess because I was wearing a long maxi dress. Every time I wear it he tells me that I'm a princess. Last night before bed we were nugging in his bed and he told me that I wasn't a princess anymore because I had my jammies on. Oh how I love to be his princess!
A few months ago, I started going back to the gym regularly and would take Drake to the daycare at the gym. He had a hard time at first but quickly got the hang of it and soon really liked going. After a few weeks, he started asking me if I was going to "mouskersize" when I went to the gym. Mickey "mouskersizes" instead of exercises on the Disney Channel, which is obviously where he got it from. I was surprised though that he put two and two together. I don't ever remember telling him what I did at the gym, but somehow he seemed to figure it out and from then on, mommy and daddy mouskersized at the gym! Just this last week, he has started to say exercise and it kind of makes me sad! Hearing him tell me that I was going to mouskersize was so very adorable!
Well... I think that'll about do it for now. The very worst part about the catch-up game is knowing that you are forgetting things, and I know that I most definitely am, but I have to get this thing posted. It's been way too long in the making.
