Battles

Struggling a bit here. It's always so much harder after being gone for a while. Story goes like this:

Mama and Bub are getting along great...he's learned that she loves kisses, is good at playing trucks and is the best wrestle partner. Life is grand.

Then Mama has to leave for work. Maybe it's just all day...for 4 or 5 days... but she's home at night. Or maybe she's gone for a week or two. Either way, she's gone.

And when she returns, Nash wants nothing to do with her. I mean, aside from the initial 5 minutes where she's the hot new game in town (aka someone new to show off to). Other than that, he's constantly asking for someone else...even when I'm in the room and we're playing, he's not satisfied with just me. He doesn't listen to me...acts like there's no way in hell I'm in charge of him. Cries, throws tantrums...or, in the case of today, falls asleep on the bedroom floor because Mama said he had to get in the bed for naptime.

Maybe it's just terrible twos. Or maybe I'm slowly losing this battle. i mean, who knew I would have a kid that would constantly test me...test my patience, my innovation and my emotions. He just doesn't seem to care much about me most days...and despises me the rest because I'm trying to be strict with him. And everyone's watching. Asking themselves, well gee...he's usually not like this. Yes, I know. It's me.

It's part of a woman's role in life to be a good mother, raise great children and take care of her family. And I feel like I'm failing at that part. Or at least failing by comparison. My husband is more patient. But he's also more lenient. I'm a little hot-headed, but I stick to my guns. Sometimes feel like I'm on team all-alone-out-here-on-discipline-island...but then I'm barely home anyway so what does it matter what rules I enforce or if I slip him a piece of candy every time I see him.

I'm losing. And part of me wants to concede the battle and say, it's all yours. But I know I could never do that. So I'll continue on...failing, losing...

Nash is 2 Years Old!!

I can't believe it.  The day has come that my baby is, ahem, no longer a baby.  Like, officially, people!  There's no mistaking it now...he's a full fledged boy and has the 'tude to prove it!

Here's a rundown of Nash at 2 years old ::gulp::
Height: Just shy of 3 ft (35.75")
Weight: 29.4 lbs
Hair: It's a tad darker now, but still hovering in the dark blonde/light brown category
Eyes: Still hazel
Teeth: He finally has one of his two-year molars poking through!  That makes 17!
Clothes: All 2T
Shoes: Still size 7

Talking:  I had to put this one first because it is, by far, the most noticeable (and amazing) thing about this last month.  He is forming complete, multi-word sentences now and can carry on full conversations with us.  I would estimate that I can understand a good 90% of what he says.  And I swear, he learns so many new words every day that we can't keep up.  He's talking about things he's never seen (like snow) and recalling things that happened way earlier.  Not only recalling it, but he's able to tell us about it later.  He's expressing so much emotion these days, and I can see his little imagination really opening up.  He knows all of his body parts, some colors, can recognize images (and in many cases, name) in his favorite books (even obscure things like sandwich or table and chairs).  And he's learning now the difference between boys and girls (boys have wee wees and short hair...girls have, er, something else and long hair).  He tries to count (really only says two and six over and over again) and repeats things over and over again until everyone acknowledges what he's said.

Personality:  He's still this supercharged ball of hilarious energy.  I swear, if we didn't force him to take naps and go to bed at night, he'd probably just run in circles until he literally passed out in exhaustion.  He's go-go-go all the time, which really wears out whoever is in charge of watching him that day.  He's feisty and funny, yet shy too.  We're starting to notice he gets shy in front of people, and his teachers even pointed out that he prefers to stand in the back of the class to do things like sing or dance.  Funny since he's a total freakin ham when it's in front of people he knows.  Like, he literally shows off and acts up when there's more than one or two of us in the room paying attention to him.

We're still dealing with some anger issues, but I just have a really good feeling all of that will melt away as he continues to learn how to express himself.  He's learning that he's not supposed to hit people (with his hands or toys) and that hurting people isn't nice.  He sees us getting upset and walking away when he is too physical, so I think that's helping.  He still has his freak outs though, and we've all learned to protect our faces when he starts swinging or gets worked up.

Physical:  Oh lordy...there's so much to write on this one, it's hard to know where to start.  From day one, Nash has been this incredibly physical boy.  Even during my first ultrasound, he was flipping and tumbling all around in my belly and the tech could barely get a pic of him!  He was super active while I was pregnant and NEVER stopped moving when he was a baby.  I remember the pediatrician telling us at his 4-month well visit that he was going to be an athlete...that he was already pulling himself up with his own strength and putting weight on his legs.  He sat up at a normal age, but then only a few weeks went by before he was crawling, and then standing up!  And he took his first steps right around 10 months.  And when he went for it...it was 8 steps and he was off.  There was no contemplation...he just did it.  And even now, he continues to amaze us with his physical abilities.

At the playground, he's able to climb every. single. one. of the obstacles.  We were there one day and he could climb up these tricky bars that this little 4-year old boy was AFRAID to climb!  Not my kid...he's completely fearless.  Which scares the everloving shit out of me.

He can throw a ball (any kind of ball, any size) literally RIGHT AT YOU.  I'm telling you, we've stood 5-10 feet apart and played catch (except he can't really catch yet).  He throws a football with a spiral.  And he just got a tee ball set for his birthday and he crushes that ball nearly every time.  We have to quick put the ball on the tee, turn and run so we don't get smacked with the bat.  He kicks...deliberate, timed kicks.  I was sad to learn they don't offer soccer for kids until age 3 because I'm telling you, I think he could do it.  Not to mention, my husband went out and bought Nash a few cheap left-handed golf clubs and cut them down so they're short enough for him to actually use.  And he's able to hit the little golf balls right off the ground.  There doesn't appear to be a sport he (a) doesn't love or (b) isn't good at.

 

Other notes:  He's become quite attached to his snugglies these days.  Every night and during naptime, his bed is so crowded with friends and pillows that it's nearly impossible for us to lie down with him.  And sleeping is still kind of a struggle...at least here.  When we had our own place and he had his bed, he did really well all on his own.  But once we came here and he has this huge bed, he wants someone to stay with him until he falls asleep.  Which can take FOREVER some times.  He loves trucks of all kinds, legos and anything that plays music.  He's finally over his Yo Gabba obsession and has taken a ravenous fancy to Team Umi Zoomi.  He literally asks for it every second that it's not on.  Thank god for DVR.

His eating is off and on, although he's generally very receptive to new foods.  He regularly eats fish (even salmon and blackened), spicy foods and healthy stuff.  But, just like any kid, he loves crackers, toast, candy, cookies, juice, etc...  We've struggled a bit these last few months because he's having trouble going to the bathroom.  Sometimes he'll go days without pooping and we can tell he's starting to not feel well.  He won't eat, he's irritable...and he tries and tries, but nothing comes out.  We've completely eliminated bananas and cheese and have cut out all but a splash of juice in his water.   We try to make sure he gets a lot of whole grains and fiber, but nothing really seems to be working.  Next stop:  doctor.  But when he does eat, he uses a spoon and fork nearly perfectly (left or right handed).  He can drink from a cup, but tends to spill it while walking around, so we still give him sippies.  The high chair is completely gone...it just sits in this old red, wooden chair Joe's mom has and eats at the table just like the rest of us. 

  

The other funny thing is how much he has taken control over his outfits.  He's begun requesting certain jammies (loves baseball ones and the ones with rockets or puppies) and won't wear anything else if he happens to see them in the drawer.  Also, he picks out his own shoes every morning and then Joe or my mother in law will form an outfit around the shoes.  Sounds awesome, right?  Well it would be if he didn't pick the same orange and brown pumas all the time.  He loves those shoes, but we are running out of brown and orange outfits to go with them!  He's can just about undress himself, although pulling shirts over his head is still tricky.  He's learning how to put his clothes on, but that's taking a bit longer that the undressing part.  He can pull his pants up, but he usually ends up only pulling up the front.  And we're teaching him to find the big hole for his head and the small holes for his arms, so he's getting it.  Still hates it when we make him get dressed though...he'd run around naked all the time if he could.

No improvements in potty training.  He's only slightly interested in the idea and doesn't sit on the potty for more than 30 seconds at any given time.  He knows when he's going to pee though, so we're gently informing him about peeing on the potty...and tonight I even threw a few cheerios in the toilet and told him to squirt them with his pee.  He giggled and seemed to like it, but no action occurred.  Oh well...it will come.

There's so many more things to share, but it's late, this post is long and I still need to find our Elf, Choo, a resting place for the night.

Love you, big man!

23 Months

So much new stuff has happened this month, it's going to be hard to remember everything. Nash is talking up a storm...full blown sentences, carrying on conversations, recognizing and naming pictures in his favorite books. He's becoming such a little man, it's killing me on the daily.

Height:
Weight:
Teeth:
All 2T clothes (but sometimes the waist is too big)
Size 7 shoes still

Talking:
Like I mentioned, he's talking so much now. Hard to believe just 6 months ago, I was worried that he wasn't talking enough. He will literally repeat just about anything we say to him (today he met a little baby named Carter and easily repeated his name). He knows all these animals (zebra, penguin, and snake...not just puppy and kitty). He knows all the different kinds of vehicles (cars, trucks, trains, planes, helicopters, buses, fire trucks, scooters, etc.) and can identify tunnels, shovels, buckets, ladders and all kinds of other things when asked. He is making whole sentences of 4-5 words and can tell us what he wants (most of the time). The one thing he hasn't done (and his teacher even pointed it out) was sing a simple song. Not a singer, this kid.

Physical:
This has to be a category because my kid's a frickin prodigy. No joke here, people. He throws better than almost any kid I've ever seen. Like hard and straight. And all lefty. And he can kick, run down stairs, jump. He's got great balance too, so it's crazy. Joe is teaching him how to play golf (look out Tiger Woods, my kid's coming for you) and we're looking to get him into some kind of sport here soon. We saw a 3+ year old at the playground who couldn't climb the obstacle my kid could climb...it's insane. He masters the puzzles we have, throws legos together like it's his job and loves to help us do things like throw trash away or wipe his own face. He loves to "drive" the car and tries to help us carry bags. When he really tries, we can barely hold him...his strength is cray cray nowadays. He loves to be thrown, held upside down or swung around. He'll literally repeat Again, Again over and over until we thrown him upside down again.

Social and Emotional:
We're definitely struggling a little bit here. He's in full blown terrible 2's and is always testing his boundaries with us. He generally plays pretty well with others, but we got a report a few weeks ago that he clocked a kid in the head with a toy guitar. No bueno. We must have had three timeouts today alone...and while that doesn't seem like much, we generally reserve timeouts for the most serious offenses. We try really hard to make sure he eats and sleeps enough so there's no chance that's what's bothering him.

We're really trying to let him experience things and do things on his own, so he feels like he's in control as much as possible. We let him dress and undress himself, tell us what he wants to eat (to some extent) and give him options. And he's definitely an independent, let-me-do-it-muhself kind of way.

Likes and Dislikes:
Loves Nemo, Toy Story and any other high action animated movie (TeeTee, he says, when he first wakes up or we get in the car, where we have a DVD player). Loves anything to do with water, animals or sports. Loves going outside. Loves toast and french fries and bananas and corn on the cob. Loves his gummy vitamins and brushing his teeth. Loves his kitty and climbing, trucks and trains. Wants a tricycle like no ones business.

Hates bedtime, pasta, vegetables and diapers. Hates being told what to do and whenever he hears the word "no." Turns up his nose at juice and despises being strapped into his carseat. Doesn't like it when you try to help him do things.

As we rapidly approach the big TWO, I can hardly believe what a little man he has become. He's so strong and funny and smart, it's almost like he doesn't need me anymore. It's crazy to look at him and think that we made that just two short years ago. And they weren't lying when they said this is when it starts to get really fun. He's so much fun to be around, and I can't wait to show him new things and give him new experiences, since he's really at the age to notice and remember and appreciate all these new holiday and family traditions.