23 Months!

My darling boy will be 2 years old this month. I can't believe it! I'm not exactly sad, just continually amazed that this tiny person has grown from a baby into a little boy so quickly before my very eyes. Connor has changed so much recently and I wanted to record a summary of his life today, before the 2s hit us and he grows up even more! :(

And yeah, this is long and more intended for my own memory keeping but if you enjoy reading it, well that will be great too. :)

EATING

Connor has at least become more predictable in this area. He's still not a big breakfast person, so I fix him a little plate of cheese, fruit, and either crackers or toast and he nibbles on that in the morning. Lunch is rather similar in that it seems like he just nibbles. He loves cheese, fruit and veggies and rice. Meat is still hit and miss. He really likes fish though.

Right now, his favorite meal is creamy potato soup.  He LOVES it! He's also much more expressive about his likes and will give an enthusiastic "mmmm!" while he's eating. :)

We're still laying off the chocolate and sugar as much as we possibly can. So, Connor doesn't really have a sweet tooth. He recently had ice cream and seemed to love it---for about 4 bites! Then he was done.

He loves to eat whole apples, orange slices and bananas. Blueberries, grapes, strawberries and plums. I swear, shopping in the produce section with Connor is actually stressful for me at times because he always sees something he wants no matter what other snacks I bring along. He spots a basket of strawberries and lunges for it, yelling. More often than not, we arrive at the register with a half basket of strawberries and Connor with a red, sticky face!

PLAYING

Connor still adores all of his cars and trucks and airplanes and helicopters. Nick has a huge collection of Hot Wheels and every month or so, he'll pull out a few new ones for Connor. But recently, Connor has gotten much more into other pretend play. He loves his farm and all the animals, as well as his dinosaurs. He likes to make the animal noises (especially Moo!) and everything roars. I mean everything. He'll see a picture of a dolphin or a lady bug and say "Rooooaarrrr!". It's pretty hilarious. At least he does say "moo" when he sees a cow and "meow" for a cat! lol

Connor also loves his puzzles. He's had a few for about a year now, but only in the past couple of months have we found him sitting at his play table on his own, taking them apart and putting them back together. He's really good! I watched him tackle a new one at the chiropractor's recently and I was blown away by how fast he figured it out.

He plays great on his own, which is so nice to see because I haven't wanted to try to force that as a habit. He's a social kid and loves to be near us, but we're together ALL day long and it's neat to see Connor choosing to go into another room for awhile and sit and play on his own.

NAPS

Naps are finally at a good time! We slowly worked our way up to getting Connor past lunch and down for a later nap. We had it rough for awhile; he'd be asleep by 11:30 until 2:00 and skip a real lunch! Now, we all eat lunch together, then Nick goes to work and Connor goes down for his nap at 1:00 and sleeps until about 3:00.

NIGHTTIME SLEEP

Still smooth and uneventful, even when he was sick with a cold. He usually sleeps 11-12 hours a night.

TALKING
Connor has always been chatty, so we knew he was very communicative. Just in his own babbling language. We were a wee bit concerned as he got closer to the 2 year mark. But lately he's been doing a lot better. Recently, he's started to say "yes" and "no" really clearly and at appropriate times. He says hi, bye, daddy.

He still communicates in his own way though. For example, the other day he wanted an apple. So he brought me a book that has a page with a girl eating apples. He found the page, showed it to me and pointed at an apple. I asked him if he wanted an apple and he said "yes!".

Today, Nick told me Connor said "apple" and then got one out of the fruit drawer. He's also been saying "thanks" when we do something for him or give him something. It sounds more like "tanks" though. :)

PETS

As most everyone knows, we lost our sweet cat Harvey last month quite suddenly. He got very sick in a matter of 2-3 days and the vet tried all kinds of things to no avail. We had to decide to have him put down. There wasn't much discussion about being there with Harvey at the end; we're a family. We all went to the vet together and we were all petting and holding him as he slipped away. We cried. We held each other.

Connor did not know exactly what was happening of course. He did not get really upset, but he was solemn and calm and quiet. He gave Harvey a hug and kiss goodbye. After it was over and we went home, we spoke of Harvey but didn't get upset about it in front of Connor.

Connor now seems to be more attached to Josie, who has spent a lot more time with us after Harvey died.

LEARNING

Connor still loves to be read to and can be counted on to grab books and bring them to us the minute he wakes up. We don't have set reading times, we just make sure to sit and read a few books together at least once a day. We go to the library and Connor will pick out a few books. Lately, he's enjoyed counting books a lot. We count together whenever we can, be it wheels on a tank or flowers in the yard. It is really cute to hear Connor count. He isn't clearly saying "one, two, three" but in his own language, his tone and cadence and the way he's pointing at things you know he is "counting".

Connor counts the wheels on a tank at Ft Carson

Although clearly talking is coming along slowly, Connor is great at expressing himself. He'll say "ooh!" and "wow!" and "Whoa!" when he sees something amazing. He'll say "whee!" if we drive down a hill and yells "yay!" when we're playing Wii sports and winning. :)

When strangers say hello to him in the store or wherever we are, Connor always launches into a long conversation complete with lots of hand gestures. At least he's able to clearly say "hi!" and "bye!" to them! :)

CHURCH

We found a church we like and have been taking Connor to Sunday School. I was nervous, being new and knowing no one. I don't trust just anyone with my child, but the church has great classrooms for the kids that are very large and open. I liked that there were windows on all sides, so you can easily peek in. That also means anyone inside can't hide much, which is important. We peek in at Connor before picking him up and it's cute to see him playing with other kids.

OBEDIENCE

I get asked a lot if Connor is a handful, has a bad temper, and is getting into the "terrible twos" all mostly by family and friends not nearby to observe him first hand.  I guess being a boy with red hair has him stereotyped a bit as being really mischievous with an Irish temper. ;) Anyway, no he is really quite amazing. He's energetic for sure, but he's pretty obedient. I've had to be strict about lots of things mainly because I have a disability and I can't run after him in public. I can't sprint through a store or down the street to chase after a toddler. Connor had to learn to obey and stay with me, otherwise we'd never go anywhere. He really understands that this is just life for us. He is very obedient about holding my hand when we're out and not running off. I am very proud of him and very pleased.

Of course, he isn't perfect. We have times when I need to remind him to stay near me, and I usually bring our stroller on long outings just in case he does get tired and wants to be uncooperative. We once did a hike that was a bit too long for him. He decided to sit down on the path and not stay with me. So, I plopped him in the stroller. He wasn't happy but I certainly can't carry a 27 pound toddler a mile through the woods. Overall, he does really great though.

And tantrums? I guess he has them. There isn't kicking and screaming (uh, yet?) but every so often he'll throw himself onto the floor in protest and just look at us. We shrug it off and leave him alone. He never gets his way and usually that ends it fast. Once, he tried this on me in a pet store. Luckily it was not crowded at all, so I left him on the floor and started to walk away. Connor jumped up and ran after me, still pouting but he stayed with me after that. I don't know if any of this will actually help later on. I guess we'll see. 

OUR SCHEDULE
7:30--wake up
8:15ish--breakfast
9:00-11:00--we sometimes run errands, go to the library, or go to the park. Once a week we see the chiropractor in the morning. If we are at home all morning, it's play time. Connor also watches PBS for awhile. He loves Dinosaur Train and Clifford the Big Red Dog! :)
12:00--lunch. A little more play time.
1:00--nap   
3:00/3:30: get up
4:00-5:00--we clean up. Usually Connor helps me in his own way or plays nearby while I finish up laundry or picking up. He plays puzzles or with his cars or reads at his table in the kitchen while I make dinner.
5:30--Dinner. 
6:30--We usually read a few books to start winding down.
6:45-7:00--bath
7:15-7:30--bed time

On weekends when Nick is home, we usually stick to meal times and nap/bed time pretty well but often it has to be really flexible. If we have a zoo day or other long outing, Connor misses his nap and will just sleep in the car for a bit on the way home. On some rare occasions, we'll be out at night and arrive home later and Connor goes to bed late. He takes these changes in stride and it never messes up his normal routine.

It amazes me to see how different things are these days. It seems like forever ago that Connor was a tiny baby who napped every two hours! :) Remember THIS? Oh God, my baby! Can I have another one now?! :)