Monday, March 11, 2013

Liam at 2

Liam turned two on February 2nd and to me, he fits the mold perfectly. He is as always all boys and all energy lately. Here are his stats from his two year check up:

Weight - 27 pounds, 15 ounces - 48%
Length - 36 and 1/4 inch - 90%
Head - 19.5 inch - 71%

And here is what he has been up to:

As mentioned earlier, Liam has started day care or "school" as we call it and has been there for a little over a month now. He still cries nearly every morning when I drop him off but now when I arrive to pick him up, he is pretty much just like "hi Mom" and continues playing.
We can already see little differences in his development since we started. He is talking so much more. Yesterday on the drive home, he was able to repeat almost everyone's name in his class! And he even said his name for the first time. He will also repeat the ABCs to me one letter at a time!

A new daily schedule has resulted in a new night time schedule though. We have had some trouble sleeping but are starting to get back in the swing of things now. Liam likes to bring every truck in his bedroom when it is time to settle down and sometimes getting him to sit and read a book is impossible. He then has to "rock mamma" or "rock dadda" for a good 15 minutes before we put him down. He has gotten better in the past few days but putting him down was resulting in a fit of tears that could last a while. And he has been/was walking up in the middle of the night screaming for now apparent reason. We keeping trying different things at night time and it seems to be solving the issue. Hopefully we will be able to move him to his big boy bed (all set up now in his big boy room) soon so we can get the nursery ready for the baby!

As I said, Liam is exploring all sorts of new words. He rarely likes to sit there are repeat words when you say them, but you will constantly find him slipping new ones into his vocabulary. I feel like I am always asking Keith, "have you heard that one before?". His most popular now are: I want _, No, Please, Truck, Bus, Buzz, Choo Choo, More, Dadda and Momma.

And speaking of trucks, buses and choo choos...these are his absolute favorite these days. We have a hard time leaving the house without each hands being occupied by some sort of vehicle. When its time to go to bed at night, he gathers as many as he can throughout the house and brings them all into his room. He usually falls asleep with at least one Matchbox car in his hand. And as soon as he wakes up, the first thing he says is "more truck".

The kid can eat these days. We receive daily "report cards" from school and nearly every day it says he ate all his food. This is great considering day care is introducing him to many new foods and almost every meal includes a veggie which he rarely wants to eat at home. Lately he wants to eat a big snack right when he gets home (after having snack at school around 3) and then still finishes everything on his plate for dinner. I am already having a hard time keeping food in the house. I don't know what I am going to do when he is 16 (and his brother is 14). :)

We have been tackling potty training lately. He is getting really good at using the potty when we ask him or just sit him on there. However he is still not to the point where he can recognize on his own that he needs to go. It would be truly amazing if we could get him out of diapers before the baby comes but I know that would be quite the accomplishment.

Just some little notes I want to remember: Liam hates his sleeve being pushed him. He is constantly pulling them down. I have been rocking him to sleep and while he is half asleep, he is still pulling down the sleeves on his jammies.
Liam loves watching "shows" on NetFlix. Some of his favorites are Bob the Builder, "Chuck" and "Backpack" (Dora). His absolute favorite thing to watch is "Buzz" (Toy Story) and also really enjoys "Light bulb" (Despicable Me), "Robots" and "Gnome" (Gnomeo and Juliet).
Another one of his favorite activities is handing a "tuck" to dadda or I and having us run around the house with him racing our vehicles on the walls, floor, table etc.

Liam is just at a great age right now and so much fun. Since he can actually somewhat follow directions these days, it has become increasingly easier to take him places (out to eat, zoo, Magic House) as he is not just sprinting away from us the moment we set him down.
He is extremely funny and he knows it. After he does something amusing, he has the greatest little giggle he gives himself.
He is so loving and is constantly giving us hugs and kisses. An occasionally temper tantrum occurs where he might hit one of us, but after time out, it is usually followed with a "orry" (sorry) and a big hug.

I am looking forward to the next year and this summer with Liam. I am anxious for him to meet his little brother and see what that chapter will bring to his life!