2 and a half years

I missed posting last month (and this is now a month late, he turned 2 and a half on July 29th) so I'm going to talk about the past two months, although at this point Neil doesn't change so quickly that I think it makes a huge difference. With that said, though, wow, some days I just look at him and can't believe how BIG and GROWN UP he is. Seriously. Where did my little baby go?! I think having Nathan around just makes it that much more obvious.

Neil is really talking a lot better. He's always been good but now he's getting more distinct and he's definitely learning to communicate more by talking. I'm working with him on taking some deep breaths when he gets upset or mad. Part of doing that is when I get upset I'm telling him upset and saying "Mommy is going to take deep breaths right now to relax and calm down." Then I physically take deep breaths so he can see and hear and have him do it as well if he's upset. He still has the temper tantrums and there are still times I literally just have to walk away but it's getting better.

What's getting worse though? The independence. He wants things his own way. Now he picks out his clothes (by his choice and demand) and it's funny- it's not about what he wants, it's about something different than what we choose. What do I mean by that? Here's an example. If I pick a shirt for him to wear, he will say no. I'll ask what he wants to wear, and he'll literally reach his hand into the shirt drawer in his dresser and pick out the first thing his hand comes to. So clearly he doesn't care what he picked out. It's more about the fact that he chose it. I think we're in for some fun times as this develops more. I think this is what people talk about with 3 year olds.

We went through a regression with sleep- he is getting up at night multiple times instead of staying in bed. I seriously just want to throw him in the crib and say STAY THERE. When he did this before, we had to take him back to bed. But this time, at times. I can just say go back to bed, and he does. We still have the Ok to Wake clock thing but it doesn't help for going to sleep. I feel guilty at times, too, because there have been a few times he has needed a diaper change (pooped in his diaper) so he's had a legitimate reason to get out of bed. I'm trying to find a happy medium where somehow we get him to realize he has to stay in bed unless he really needs something, like a diaper change, he's sick, etc.

So no we are still not potty trained. We do have him at pull ups. We have diapers and think pull ups are a huge pain when he poops so at home we use diapers. But I don't think I'm going to order anymore. Note to anyone else- Huggies seems better than Pampers. It has velcro so you can undo it and redo it. So for now though he only has pull ups at daycare but we'll transition that when we finish the diapers he has.

Routine wise, we start bedtime at 7. It's bath as necessary, change diaper/clothes, brush teeth, read some books (usually with Nathan), then bed. We have the okay to wake clock set to wake up at 6:20 but most morning he's already up. Generally he does stay in bed until it turns green but if he hears us up and around he gets up before his clock turns green (indicating he can get out of bed).

Neil still loves to read and seems to be developing some friendships. He also loves his brother, tries to play with his toys (including sitting in his bouncer, which gets him yelled at big time). He loves dancing and when music is playing you can usually see him at least bopping along to the music, but most of the time he is really dancing. I love how inhibited he is at this point.

We are insisting on a high chair at restaurants, and since we do it regularly he seems resigned to it.

Neil also transitioned up at daycare to the next age room and that seems to be really good for him. He was ready to be with older kids. They're still around his age but they communicate verbally a lot better and he's learning new things. His new thing is that he wants to go to Hawaii. Hey, I'm all for that!

We are working on dealing with emotions- I want to buy some books that discuss different emotions. I started asking him how he feels, which he doesn't know how to answer, and found a youtube video that talks about taking deep breaths. So now when Neil gets upset I ask him to take a deep breath. He actual will do it and it seems to work!

Clothing: We are starting to use 3T shirts and pajamas. Some of the 2T pajamas are so tight on him! But at the same time he's still wearing 18 month shorts and pants. It's crazy. 2T pants still fall down on him.
Diapers: Size 5 (same as last month), and pull ups
Shoes: Size 7 (same as last month)
Weight: 29.5 pounds
Height: 36.75 inches