Two-Year Update

Once again, I am using the days between Nathan's gestational birthday and his actual birthday to do some updating and reflecting over the last year. This second year of his life has been decidedly less eventful than his first. I need to remember that for the next time around: it gets easier!

Here's what Nathan is up to these days:

1.) Talking. Constantly. We stopped counting words he knows shortly after he turned one, because he learns them so fast now. Several a day. He's talking in complete sentences, and using pronouns and possesives. He knows his colors, can count (he knows all the numbers up to ten but rarely gets them in order, since he usually thinks nine comes after four), and [2.) Loving things that go] he can tell you the difference in pretty much any kind of truck or bus or machinery on the road. Seriously, we have moved way beyond just truck or tractor -- now when we drive along, he's in the backseat saying things like go by city bus and ride the church bus and it's a big garbage truck and yellow dump truck and oooooh it's a huge cement truck and I see the front-loader and two bulldozers (Nathan actually knows the differences between
bulldozers and a backhoes and front-loaders better than I do... I would just call them all tractors, but whatevs) and bicycle or the perennial favorite go by bike! Anyway, the boy can talk. And I must say that being able to have real conversations with him is a very fun stage for me.

3.) Learning to dress himself. He can't really do it yet, but he is starting to take an interest in putting on his own clothes. He knows the basic concepts behind putting on shirts and socks and shoes, and loves to try to do it himself. He also likes to pick out his own clothes. Which basically just means asking for his Thomas the Train shirt every day (he's usually flexible on wearing something else if that one is dirty, so he's not too stubborn about the clothes-choosing thing yet).

4.) Reading books. This is probably where he learns so many new words. We read lots of books, and we get a fresh batch from the library every few weeks. And 5.) Playing with his other simple toys. He still prefers books, balls, trucks and blocks more than pretty much anything else. A good story (with new words to learn!), or a big tower, or driving a truck up the arm of the couch while making vroom noises, those things keep him entertained the longest. Fancy and hi-tech, this child is not. Once again I have to note that simple toys are best, kids don't need all the stuff that people assume they will love.

6.) Running. Yes, after a massive delay in walking (about 18 months before he would do it regularly), we had another little delay on the running thing. But he can do it now, and run he does. A lot. Though we were told that his gross-motor delay should be gone by the time he turned two, and he would be "caught up" by now, he's still a little behind -- which is fine by us. He can go up steps (with assistance, not on his own), but going down is still a little rocky. He can climb up on the couch, but still not into his high chair. But he's improving all the time, which is what matters. I think he is just still more interested in working on other skills than these. He's really good at some things, and not so good at others... which no longer causes me any amount of stress.

7.) Sleeping -- kind of. Although Nathan has acclimated really well to the big-boy bed, he still is waking up a lot at night, as he has for the past few months. I am not kidding when I say that his newborn stage was easier than this (which is why I try not to complain about this too much). But he still stays in his bed from about 8pm to 7am every day (with visits from mommy in the middle of the night, several nights a week), and takes a 2-3 hour nap (depending on how he slept the night before), which means he's getting what he needs. He sleeps with a ton of animals (we tell him he can take two, but when we leave the room he goes and gets more), and he loves his "grandpa" pj's (yes, the prisoner ones).

8.) Eating. I would still call him a somewhat picky eater, since veggies continue to be a challenge (one that I will do better at trying to meet, I promise), but some of Nathan's favorite foods are applesauce, sweet potatoes, spaghetti ("noodles"), pineapple, bagels, shrimp (yes, really), scrambled eggs, yogurt, any kind of bread/pastry/muffin, whatever kind of chicken Daddy happens to be eating, baked beans, sloppy joes, and milk. And he pretty much insists on feeding everything to himself, which he is surprisingly good at.

9.) Being only 7% naughty. Nathan is actually a pretty obedient kid. He's really easygoing, and he buys into rules and structure. But occasionally he can be stubborn (we still hear a fair amount of no want to) or throw a tantrum like any toddler. So then he ends up in time-out. So far the discipline thing has been a non-issue though, I really must admit.

10.) Loving the water. Bathtime and pool time are some of his favorite things. He asks to go swimming almost every day. (He pronounces it go swimmint? which is pretty darned cute.) He likes to dump water in and out of buckets and cups (again with the simple toy thing!), and blow bubbles into the water. He's got the Bumgarner water thing, that's for sure. Since ten is a nice even number, and this post is long enough already, I'm stopping there. :)