Tuesday, April 5, 2011

2 years old and acting like it







Can you believe it? Peyton just turned 2! It's hard to believe it was two years ago that he came to join our family. It feels like he's always been here. He's such a boy too. He loves his baseball and being outside. His knees are always skinned and he bumps his head several times a week. His legs are always several shades of black and blue. The theme for his birthday this year was camping and baseball. For the baseball he got a glove and ball (way too big for him, but he has hardly taken it off since he got it several days ago), Rockies pjs and a jersey along with tickets to the game on his birthday. That was a bust, though, with a freaky cold front blowing in forcing the game to be snowed out (it snowed 2 years ago too, on the night he was born, but it hadn't been 84 degrees the day before). We'll just have to trade in the tickets for another game along the way. He was disappointed, but took it well. As far as camping goes, he now has his own camp chair and and headlamp care of his grandma and a camelback to wear hiking. I'm not sure how much he'll get to use this stuff this year with the new baby due in June, but it'll work for him for years to come. He also got a Woody doll from Toy Story and is getting a bike helmet (we got a scooter on Craigslist for him, but with how much he falls he's not allowed to try it until the helmet gets here) from other family.

We went today to his 2 year well child visit. He weighs in at 25 pounds and is 34 3/4 inches tall, just shy of his Daddy's goal for him to be 3 feet by 2 years old (in order to get to 6 feet by adulthood-have you seen his parents? Not gonna happen). As usual, he was well ahead of normal in the motor development chart, doing a lot of 4 year old activities. He runs, jumps, rolls, throws, kicks, hits a baseball (from a tee or pitched to him) at a level well beyond what we would think possible. His climbing is only limited by his lack of height. He also loves to color and draw and is starting to talk up a storm, which is good because the temper tantrums he throws when we don't understand what he's saying are amazing. Speaking of tempers, he has one...big time. He gets frustrated easily when he can't do something right (like his mom) and has a short temper (like his dad). The terrible 2's have been upon us for some time now, and they aren't fun, but we know it's just a phase, and every time we successfully come up with a strategy for dealing with one of his triggers, it feels like a major victory as parents.

He seems happy now about the new addition that is joining our family in June. He kisses my belly and tells Sierra hi. He gets a "kick" out of her kicking him when he sits on my lap at night. We are dealing with a little bit of reverting to baby-like behaviors, cuddling more (which I'm not complaining about), wanting to be carried, and refusing to potty train even though he knows full well how to use the toilet, what it's for, and when he needs to go. That's probably the most frustrating. We really wanted him potty trained by baby time and with only 3 months left (and my energy for such things waning) it's not looking good. Maybe it'll just happen one day, like him starting to repeat everything we say (that happened overnight). We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Every day is a challenge, but a wonderful one. It's a journey we wouldn't trade for anything. And when you sneeze and hear a little voice say "tat-too" (bless you) or you give him a toy he wants and you get a "tankcoo" (thank you) and an occasional "I wuv you" followed by the most fabulous hugs and kisses in the world, you feel like your doing things right and he's on the right track.