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Daddy's Little Boy - September 9, 2010 (2 Years 3 Months)
Our son definitely has characteristics of both of us. I like to think that he has the best qualities from each parent. Our son is definitely a little engineer and extremely observant like Daddy. If I drive to a place one time and I drive back our son immediately says something that indicates he recognizes where we are...this should come in handy as I believe by next year my son will be able to tell me how to get to and from places since I'm completely directionally challenged and usually I rely on my TomTom completely.
When we went to the mall today, as soon as we walked into the mall he immediately asked to go play. He's probably only played in the mall playground a few times but he knew he wanted to go play again. We were pretty busy so I wasn't planning to take him over to the play area but he remembered where it was and when we were in the vicinity of the playground he started running to it. Unfortunately for him, it was closed for the day. Then as we were leaving the mall, he started hopping and saying, "hop, hop" and I finally realized we were passing the area where the Easter Bunny was located last Spring and was probably one of the last times my son was at the mall. I had to explain that the Easter Bunny only is at the mall during Easter. He was disappointed that he couldn't see the Easter Bunny today. (To Top)
Learning ABC's and 123's - September 7, 2010 (2 Years 3 Months)
My son has been more interested in "learning" recently. It is amazing to watch children as they "learn" constantly since they are continuously absorbing everything around them. So when I say he's interested in "learning' I'm specifically referring to learning his numbers and ABC's and other things through books. My son loves to count as documenting in Counting to Seven and can count easily to ten (usually skipping the number seven) and then after ten I believe he knows thirteen, fourteen, and eighteen but it is hard to understand he does seem to add a "teen" to the end of various numbers. Throughout the day, if he sees several of something he asks to "count" and he proceeds to count the number of the things he sees.
My son previously wasn't real interested in learning letters. He always liked the letter "O" and knew a few other letters but this week he found a book that had magnetic letters and he had fun putting the correct letter on each letter shape. It was more of a matching of shapes than identifying the letters but I would tell him what each letter was and use a word that he knew. For example, "M for Mommy." The next day when he got the magnet book out he remembered the word association with the letters, he would point to the "M" and say "Mommy" or the "A" and say "Apple." Sometimes he said the letter too but he seemed to remember the word association more than just the letter. This book had lowercase letters and I actually think he can identify capital letters easier but some of our ABC books got packed up for our future move to our new home so we'll have to keep using the lower case magnet book for now.
My son also had fun looking at the Sesame Street book about Colors and Shapes. He started identifying his colors back at Easter when we were dying eggs, we knew he knew some colors but were surprised he knew every color we used to dye eggs. I guess now is the time to start "teaching" him more about letters and numbers when he wants to sit down and learn. So far my philosophy is to do things when my son is ready and so although the majority of his day is simply playing (and learning at the same time) I guess occasionally I need to make time to sit down and go over some preschool learning books with him. (To Top)
Labor Day Weekend - September 3, 2010- September 6, 2010 (2 Years 3 Months)
We went camping at the beach with MomMom and G-Dad to celebrate Labor Day Weekend. Saturday was a beautiful day except it was very windy and so we were only at the beach for a few hours as the sand was blowing too much. Our son did have fun building octopuses with his octopus mold. On Sunday morning we played at the swimming pool so our son could take a nap at the camper before going to the beach in the afternoon. That worked out well as he was able to eat lunch at the camper since it is hard to feed a toddler at the beach. He had a great time making more octopuses in the sand once we got to the beach. He kept asking to make them since it was the only mold he saw and thought it was really cool. Mommy forgot to actually bring the mold but Daddy did a great job making octopuses from scratch.
Our son also had a fun time learning to play paddle ball. He was able to use both hands and hit the ball very well. He did it for a long time. His arms must have gotten sore as the paddle was practically as big as half of his body. Our son also had a good time being buried in the sand (mostly just his legs) for the first time. The only time our son got upset was when he saw some kites in the sky as he knew MomMom had a kite but we hadn't brought it to the beach and so he wasn't a happy camper when he didn't have a kite to fly.
In the evening we had a fire and our son tried his first smore (made with organic graham crackers, natural marshmellows and Hershey's chocolate) he actually didn't really eat the smore at all but he did enjoy the graham crackers. He liked to help hold the roasting stick in the fire with Daddy's assistance. Mommy was nervous the entire time that our son would trip and fall in the fire but we all made it through the evening without any injuries.
On Monday we went to the Ocean City Boardwalk and got steak hoagies and pizza for lunch. It was another beautiful beach day and so after lunch we went to relax in the sand. Our son made more octopuses with Daddy and then asked to fly the kite (which this time we remembered.) But when we got the kite out to fly it, part of it was broken. Once again we had an unhappy two year old. MomMom was nice enough to go get another kite and our son got to pick out a cool Cars kite. Finally, our son was able to fly the kite. He really enjoyed holding the string. He did it for awhile, at least 15 minutes :) and then moved onto something else.
Shortly after that we had to pack up to get on the road to drive home. It was a great Labor Day Weekend celebration.
Please refer below for some pictures of our trip. Note: Burying your child in the sand can be very dangerous as the sand can close in around him and also letting your child play near a fire is also an extremely dangerous activity. Use your own judgment when allowing your child to do these activities.
Preparing for Baby - August 31, 2010 - September 1, 2010 (2 Years 3 Months)
I decided to buy a baby doll to use to help my son understand some things before his baby sister arrives. I tried to explain that his baby sister will look like the doll after she comes out of Mommy's belly. I know I will not be able to completely prepare my son for life once his baby sister arrives but I also feel it can't hurt to try to explain some things prior to her arrival.
My son happened to notice the breast pump machine that had just arrived in the mail and asked what it was. I explained that it will help Mommy get milk to give the baby. I showed him the machine and also a baby bottle and explained that when Mommy isn't feeding the baby directly I can pump milk to put in a bottle for the baby. My two year old seemed to understand this process. He asked if he could feed the baby and I gave him the bottle and he started feeding the baby doll. He kept asking mommy for some milk and I said he'd have to pretend now but he liked to go over to the machine and pretend to fill up the baby bottle. During the day, when we would go into the kitchen to eat breakfast and lunch, my son would ask to bring the baby into the room with us. Daddy didn't quite understand when he got home as to why our two year old son was playing with a baby doll but Mommy hopes some of these efforts will help ease the transition of a new baby sister as much as possible. Please refer to a picture below.
Selective Memory - August 23, 2010 (2 Years 3 Months)
It is nice to be able to see how my son remembers and can communicate with Daddy about our daily activities. Daddy can ask him what did you do today, or what did you eat for lunch and actually get a correct response. This doesn't mean he always tells exactly what happens. Sometimes Daddy will look at me to see if it is the truth and I'll be shaking my head no. That is the fun of being a kid, sometimes the truth gets stretched and or completely made up.
The other fun part of being a kid is to have a selective memory. My son may forget that I just told him not to drive his trucks on the dining room table but he doesn't forget that I told him before he went to bed at night that we were going to go to the pool the next day as the first thing he said to me when he saw me in the morning was not "Hi Mommy" but "Pool?" (To Top)
Pool, Making a Cake, Friday Outing - August 17-19 (2 Years 3 Months)
This week we continued to get settled into our apartment. On Tuesday, we met up with friends from our old neighborhood at the swimming pool. Our son had fun seeing everyone as we hadn't gotten together in awhile due to being busy the past month with the new home search and then the move. It is fun to watch him get so excited to see people he knows especially when he remembers everyone's names.
On Thursday, sine we were home waiting for Verizon to show up, we decided to make lemon bars. My son enjoys helping bake. He does an excellent job sifting the sugar, mixing the batter, and also greasing the pan. The bars were actually a little too sweet and he didn't really want to eat them once they were done but he did have a good time making them.
On Friday, we decided to go out for a treat. Mommy just really wanted a night off from cooking :) and we still had a gift card left to use. Our son actually ate most of his dinner, we don't eat out often and usually when we do eat out he doesn't eat much of his meal unlike at home when he usually eats really well. After dinner, we did a little shopping for baby sister at Babies R Us picking up some things for her future arrival and our son got another special treat of going on the Elmo Ride. Lastly, we ended the night with an ice cream. I don't think a toddler could ask for much more than that? Wrong. Our little guy was disappointed he didn't get to go to the party. When we were leaving we passed a bar with a lot of people partying outside and I told our son that was a party and then all he kept saying was he wanted to party. I guess you can never completely please a toddler. :) (To Top)
Having Some Fun - August 14, 2010 (2 Years 2 Months)
We took a break from moving and unpacking boxes to simply enjoy the day as a family. We decided to go to a local water park designed for preschoolers and elementary kids. It was a fairly overcast day and not nearly as hot as it's been which was good in the sense the place was not very crowded but it was almost on the "too cold" side of things. We still had a great day. Our son wasn't quite as adventurous with the water slides as he had been with amusement park rides but part of that could have been he didn't have a friend to show him what to do. By the afternoon he started to get the hang of it and he enjoyed some of the slides and toys to play on in the water. For a few pictures, please refer below.
On our way home from the water park our son fell asleep. We had unsuccessfully tried to have him take a nap while we were at the pool. He was so exhausted from the day and probably from the past couple weeks that we put him to sleep in his crib soon as we got home and he slept from 4PM - 10PM at night. We didn't wake him up as we weren't sure if he was just going to be out for the night. When he woke at 10PM he was in great spirits and we actually taped some funny video of him. The video of him counting his fingers described in Counting to Seven below was actually filmed at this time. Then after finishing a big bowl of cereal, our son thankfully went back to bed and slept until 8AM the next morning. (To Top)
Hello Apartment - August 13, 2010 (2 Years 2 Months)
We moved into our apartment a few days ago and we are very happy with our new space, at least for the next few months before we move again to our single family home. We know our son is slightly confused as he's been touring all of the various houses with us and we are fairly sure he understands that we will eventually be moving into one of those. So the easiest way to explain it to him is to say that shortly after his baby sister is born we are moving to our "big house." So now when he starts talking about the house, he says, "baby sister, big house." (To Top)
Goodbye Home - August 12, 2010 (2 Years 2 Months)
Today, we said goodbye to our first home as a family. Erik and I moved into our townhouse a few months before we got married and we raised our son for the first two years of his life in our townhouse. We loved our townhouse.
We've been thinking for awhile that we will eventually need to move to a bigger home especially with another baby on the way and we finally decided about a month ago we might as well move now and take advantage of the low interest rates. So we found a new community to move to and signed a contract on a new home contingent on selling our current home. Shortly after that we put our home on the market and one day after listing we had a contract which we subsequently accepted. Less than 30 days after that we settled on the home and so today was our final day in our first home as a family.
We had Erik's dad visit this week to help watch our son and also help Erik move some of the bigger things since there is only so much pregnant Mommy can do. And after cleaning everything out of our house we took our son to each room of our house and let him say goodbye to each room, just as we said hello to each room of the house the day we brought him home from the hospital. Mommy got a little emotional. We had a lot of wonderful memories in our first home and were sad to pass it on but we are looking forward to many more wonderful memories in our next home.
Dancing - August 8, 2010 (2 Years 2 Months)
Our son has always loved to dance. I'm looking forward to eventually compiling the first two years of video I've been taking of him. Here is a recent clip Daddy took on his phone of our son dancing to music and Daddy was packing for our move. (To Top)
Counting to Seven -
August 5, 2010 (2 Years 2 Months)
Our son is having fun counting. He likes to count things in his book. One of his counting books which we read today, he counted perfectly up to the number seven without any help from Mommy. The first page, he counted "one" monster. Then the second page, he counted "one, two" and then the third "one, two, three..." and so on until we got to seven. After that he started mixing some of the numbers up. This doesn't mean he always counts perfectly, sometimes he likes to start with the number three and go from there but he has the general idea.
Here is a video the following week when he first counted his fingers and then counted Daddy's fingers.
Magic Show - August 4, 2010 (2 Years 2 Months)
Today we went to another one of the Children's Summer shows. Nana was visiting so we all went together. Mommy didn't think to bring blankets as I thought there may be benches to sit on but it was out in the grass. Fortunately, I had some brown paper grocery bags in the trunk and so I put those on the ground and our son sat on one of those.
The show was very good and perfectly geared to small children, probably best for 4-5 year olds. My son enjoyed the show. We made it through half of the show and then he was starting to get antsy and Nana and all of us were pretty hot due to the extreme humidity so we decided to leave.
Later that day while shopping in the grocery store, my son saw the brown grocery bags, put one on the floor and decided to sit down. I guess he figured Mommy used one earlier in the day so it must be what you do when you need to sit on the floor. (To Top)