At Two

Here we are... February 21, 2012.  TT is 2 years and 6 days old.  Time has flown by.

He had his annual physical this morning and he's growing big and strong.  He's.... wait for it..... wait for it...

38.5-inches tall and 33 lbs. and 6 oz.

So to those of you who have told me he's the size of a 4 year old, I say "ha!!!".  The average 4-year old boy is 40-inches tall and 40-lbs.  Sure he might be the size of some 4-years, but not the average one.  I know, you say tomato I say tomat-oh.  I will agree that he is the size of your average 3-year old.  In fact he's almost exactly the same size at two that RR was at three.

But physical growth aside; TT is changing so much every day.  He is less and less a baby and more and more a toddler.  Some days it is very obvious that he has entered the terrible-twos.

He is very strong willed and fiercely independent.  His speech is coming along which is wonderful.  We couldn't be happier with how this skill is finally blooming.  His speech therapist is really committed and connects well with him; which I think greatly helps.

Right now his favorite toys are Imaginex guys and their vehicles/houses; trains; his shopping cart, trains, cars, his trampoline, and did I mention trains.  TT is a total train head.  He also deeply loves his stuffed puppy, muscial seahorse, Baby Dee, and stuffed Goofey.

He is currently teething his incisors  all four seem to be coming in at once.  Which is typical for TT.

He still refuses to sleep anywhere but in his crib.  We (Husband and I) are not ready to switch him over to a toddler bed, but we know the time is knocking on our door.

He is climbing stairs on his own, getting onto the furniture and he loves, I mean LOVES, going down the slide.

His favorite food is probably a tie between meatballs, apples, bananas, cheese and sausage.  Actually he loves all food; expect green beans and peas.  He used to like peas... oh well.  And yup, still breastfeeding.

Sleep has been wonderful lately, but I have heard this is this thing called "2 year sleep regression".  I'm keeping my fingers crossed we don't go through this.

And lastly, on my little TT update; he is in LOVE, super EXTRA insane LOVE, with wearing things on his head - blankets, hat (Husband's Red Sox one in particular), buckets, bowls, baskets, toys... to him anything is a hat.

Dipping

The baby has entered the world of dipping sauces.

Any time he sees one of us using any sort of condiment he needs to get in on the action, it's to the point where he expects something to dip his food into.

Husband prefers to give him ketchup for dipping, because well that's what Husband prefers.

I on the other hand prefer to give him just about anything but ketchup to dip.  I've come to realize I think ketchup is for french fries and french fries alone.

Earlier this week when we went out to celebrate the Big Boy's last day of school, the baby got chicken tenders and orange slices.  So I got him some honey mustard to dip with.  Everything got dipped in honey mustard that evening.  The chicken, the pickles (ehn, but OK I suppose) and the oranges (ewwww in my book).

Husband prefers ketchup on his hot dog, I'm a mustard, onion and relish kinda gal.  So the baby gets all of those to dip and play with.  Just like his big brother, who likes his hot dogs with the works.

Ranch dressing seems to be great with just about everything; and blue cheese is great for dipping celery in.  There's a reason they serve it with your wings you know; the shape is perfect for holding the blue cheese chunks in.  Salsa and hummus are also great on everything, but the blueberry syrup we only pull out of breakfast food.

Some times he does great with dipping, so nice and neat and purposeful.  Other times he dips with his fingers on one hand  and eats the food with the other.  Just like how sometimes he eats with one hand and holds his fork in the other.

I love this age, watching him grow and learn and develop his own little foodie-personality.  With any luck he'll still like experimenting with food flavors at  3, 13 and 33.

He loves food.

YUM!!!  Corn on the cob.

Avacado.

Licking onion dip off the spoon.

Food Glorious Food

(I wrote this blog post last night, and I have had scenes from Oliver! in my head since the; thanks for this posting.)

When Monkey turned 6 months we slowly started the weaning process and introduced solids into his diet.  We are doing what is called "Baby Lead Weaning".  If you want a generic description you can check here on Wikipedia.   Basically you let baby feed themselves table food, Monkey insists on using a spoon.  Sometimes he can get it out of his bowl himself, most times he can't (we need to get him a lower sided plate); but he still insists on using a spoon, unless say it's corn on the cob or such.

We started with oatmeal (one of mine and Turkey's favorites) unflavored.

And since then he's had:

Corn on the Cob (along with frozen nectarines in his mesh bag - those things are great for teething)

Watermelon

and Cottage Cheese.

And he's also had cream of wheat (yum!!!), peaches, and green beans (which he likes raw, but not cooked; just like his dad), cantaloupe, Cheerios, mashed potatoes, creamy-ranch cucumbers, acorn squash and avocado (man, was that messy).

He gets very excited when he eats and sticks his arms and legs out straight and grunts and shakes as he waits for the food to get to his tray, or if he looses his spoon (he loves his spoon, it is the  funniest thing; especially considering he won't hold his own cup).

To Monkey food is a wonderful thing, he loves it.  I am so glad we waited till he was 6 months old; as he was ready for solids at that time, very ready.  He knew what food was for and that he wanted it.  And like his big brother, he is proving to be a very good and adventurous eater.

6 Month Spray

Monkey had his 6 month well baby visit at the pediatrician today; and it went wonderful.


He is now 17 lbs. even (45%) and 28 inches (90+%).  He's following his growth curve wonderfully.  He is a full inch taller than his big brother at this age, although their weights are almost the same.  He got 3 shots and a drink vaccine.  He took his shots like a champion, not crying till the second one, and then calmed right down when I nursed him (another wonderful reason to nurse your baby if you can).

His doctor was pleased with how well he was sitting and standing, and told me not to worry about him not rolling much or scooting. Some babies (like his brother) do these things late, and others skip scooting and crawling all together.  She was also very happy that we were still breastfeeding and was OK with our solids feeding plan (a cross between Baby Lead Weaning and purees that are not really purees aka, mashed up table food).

He goes back at 9 months at which time Monkey will also join us for their flu shots.  (I am hoping Monkey sees what a tough guy his baby brother is for shots and doesn't have a freak-out attack.)  

And since the weather was so nice and I didn't have to work until 1pm, we went to the spray park to play.  It was a blast.  I'm glad we got to enjoy the weather before the hurricane comes.

Monkey checking out the fountain.

My boys posing for a quick picture.

Run Turkey run.

He really loved the water.

More running.

Getting into the swing of things.

Climb Turkey climb.

 

One last splash before leaving.