Halfway to THREE!

The babies get an update post every month...why not Brody this month? After all, he'll offically be 2 1/2 years old on March 28th. That's kind of a big deal!

When I think about the six months that have past since Brody's 2nd birthday, a few things come to mind.

#1 - Um, where did those six months go?!?! Can I have them back please? Every day I think about how fast the time is going by. Someone I work with once told me the saying, "The days are long, but the years fly by." I am really understanding the true meaning behind this. There are stressful days where it seems like the day will just never end, but then we conclude another week or month and I think, "Where did the time go?" I think this is God's way of reminding us that we need to live in the moment and truly cherish every second of our time here with our loved ones.

#2 - I am SO PROUD of my little man! He didn't just have to adjust to one new baby in the house...he had to adjust to two. Twins. I can't even imagine what was going through his mind when we brought these new little people home. His world as he knew it up until that point was most definitely rocked! The good thing about his age though is that now he doesn't even remember what life was like when he was our one and only. This is all he knows, and he has turned into a remarkable big brother. He has come a long way from throwing toys and tantrums six months ago...to dishing out hugs and kisses to his brother and sister, showing them how his toys work, and coming to get me when one of them is upset/crying. If I had a dollar for every time Brody has had to hear the words just a minute, I might possibly be able to stay home another year, LOL!

Some of my favorite big brother moments:

#3 - His speech progress has been nothing short of amazing! He could say about four words on his 2nd birthday, and now he is trying to repeat everything and uses words together to form short "sentences." He seems like a completely different person now than when he had just turned two. He definitely seems happier now that he can communicate with us. I think he used to get so stressed when he wanted to tell us something and couldn't make us understand. We certainly have more work to do, but his therapist is very happy with all the progress and reduced his private sessions to once a week instead of twice. Yay!

#4 - I really need to give Brody more credit. I always think things are going to turn out badly because of my feelings or nerves...for instance, his early intervention class. Back in December, Brody cried for the entire two-hour class. I feared this would continue on for months, but he adjusted quickly and now loves to go every Tuesday and Thursday morning. I am so glad we entered him into this class for many reasons. One of which being that he now knows what "school" is and what to expect there, so he should transition easily to preschool (which is in the same building). I'm not sure yet where he will be next school year. He has a late September birthday, so he will either be in this EI class again or he will begin preschool! Crazy, huh?

#5 - Ahhhhhhh...the potty. Is there such a thing as only being poop-trained?? Because maybe 8 out of 10 times he will tell us that he has to poo and then sit down and go beautifully, LOL! He's gettin' there. Some days he wants to go on the potty many times, other days he doesn't. We don't often put him in normal underwear. Some days, our house can be a little hectic, and potty training quite honestly becomes one more thing to worry about--especially when Kris isn't here. Originally I thought this whole process would take a matter of weeks or a month, maybe two. But I'm fine with where we're at. It's kind of like we're letting him take the lead and go when he wants to go!

*Brody's Favorite Foods:
1. Chicken!
2. Most fruits--especially blueberries, red grapes, cantaloupe, pineapple
3. Most veggies--especially cucumbers, bell peppers, peas
4. Spaghetti
5. Cheese
He will try almost anything but still has days where he takes a few bites off his plate and wants nothing more. Irritating, but normal...and on these days I have to remind myself to relax and that he won't starve to death!

*Brody's Favorite Activities:

1. Playing outside!
2. Cleaning (still), helping in the kitchen, as well as with other various tasks around the house.
3. Listening and dancing to music
4. Being chased around the house...he loves to run, and he is FAST!
5. ANY project involving paint, crayons, colored pencils, markers, pens, etc. He loves to create his own works of art, and it is pretty neat to just watch how quiet and focused he is during these times.

Some recent pics of Brody at 2 1/2 years. He is dancing in the first few!

Hard to tell from these, but he really shakes those little hips back and forth like crazy!!

Cup practice...

And just being my handsome boy...

Here he was holding a balloon while the air rushed out of it.

So, to wrap this up I will say that Brody is one great kid! He usually listens and follows directions when asked. He rarely has tantrums or time-outs anymore, and when he does it usually has more to do with how tired/hungry/etc. he may be feeling. He is fun...and funny...and sweet...and loving. He is moving into the I-want-to-do-it-myself phase. Things like getting dressed, brushing his teeth, holding books and turning pages during story time, plus many more. HE wants to do it--not Mommy or Daddy!

I have just a few goals for Brody before he turns 3:
1. Continue working on table manners, which are mostly good except for yelling YYYYYUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM!!!!!
2. Fully potty trained
3. Keep practicing please/thank you/you're welcome.
4. Lowercase letter recognition. He's got capitals down, but now he needs to match them with their lowercase counterparts!
5. Chore list and schedule. I want to make him a very basic chore list so that he can start to feel good about contributing to our household, and I'm also looking for the perfect little calendar/schedule for him. I found one at One Step Ahead that I like, but I'm not sure that's the one I'll settle on. http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=536384&cmSource=Search We're not exactly sure what we'll be doing for child care next year, and he'll be attending school again, so I just want something so that he'll feel organized and know what to expect each day.  It's also great practice for learning days of the week, months, and seasons.

Most people know how much I LOVE the newborn/infant/baby stage, but the toddler-almost-preschooler stage is pretty darn wonderful. It's now more apparent than ever that Brody is his own little person with his own thoughts, ideas, feelings, likes and dislikes. He makes me laugh every single day. I love to see that smile, and I love to watch him explore and become interested in new things. I know he will be wonderful at teaching his little sibs everything he knows. (The good, the bad, and the annoying, ha!)