Growth & Appearance: Your hair is long, past your shoulders and you’re more often referred to as a girl than a boy which truthfully has incited a whole internal monologue about gender and how silly it all is that we all conform to these weird standards society has set; pink for girls, blue for boys. Kind of ridiculous. We love your long hair, albeit the fact the front hangs into your food and is most always caked in yogurt or tiny chunks of avocado. That said, you’ve gotten somewhat used to having your hair brushed and will sit for a good comb through with minimal whines (on a good day, anyway).
You are approximately 36 inches tall and weigh 30 lbs. You’re in size 5 diapers and size 2-3 clothes. Your nose has been running so I assume you’re getting your two year molars but I haven’t actually checked because, well, who cares.
Sleeping: The days of two naps a day are slowly proving to be a thing of the past. On most days you wake with your brothers, a bit before you would on your own due to the shared room / school schedule, around 7am. We’ve started pushing back your morning nap to 11am, instead of 10, and you’re sleeping 2-3 hours. Depending the time you get up, we’ll sometimes still try for the afternoon nap, around 4 or 5 for an hour or so. Some days it’s a nice break, even if it’s only a half hour or so. Then bedtime, around 7:30pm or so.
You can climb out of your crib with ease… we used to have your crib at the base of the bunkbeds but we found you on the top bunk one day which you accomplished by climbing up on your crib and then pulling yourself up and over the base of the top bunk. So we’ve moved your crib away from the base of the bunkbeds and surrounded it by pillows and don’t wait long before you wake up to come get you.
You sleep with your blanket, which you call your ‘daddy’ (just as your brothers do as well) and most always have your ‘toy of the day’ (typically a conglomerate of toy cars).
Eating: We still sit you in your highchair at home but tend to let you sit in a chair if we go out. Gone are the days we can keep you strapped it; it’s more enjoyable for all to allow you the freedom to roam.
You through your entire plate when you’re done or over eating what’s been served, sending food flying across the floor. It’s one of your more annoying traits at the moment and the primary reason Jimmie has put on the pounds.
You like what you like and you don’t like what you don’t like. Your favorites seem to stay the same, with avocado being a long time hit and one you rarely turn down. Same with greek yogurt. You’re back on a banana kick but not with the same gusto as before. You like noodles and certain kinds of chicken you devour. We’re still giving you whole milk but I’m pretty sure now is the time we’re supposed to switch you over to 2%.
Though messy, you prefer to feed yourself and aren’t half bad. We just need to be better about pulling your hair out of your face cuz, gross.
You ask for snacks constantly. Oftentimes in place of a meal. A trait I’m sure you’ve adopted from your brothers that causes me a big giant eye roll.
Development:
You’re independent and confident; eager to do things on your own.
You can go up and down the stairs on your own, depending who’s watching you; I tend to let you do it while your Papa seems to think that every other time you would die had he not been there supervising your decent.
We bought you a little scooter for your second birthday and you’re able to peddle; not well but you get around and you thoroughly enjoy riding with your brothers. In fact, one of your favorite things to do is to sit in-between my legs while on your brothers bike and be carted around the yard. That ends in tears every time because, well, it ends.
You know all your primary colors; green took you longer to learn than the others. You can count to three. You communicate well and know several words. My favorites are the way you say ‘Hooper’ (‘Pooper’) and ‘Van’ (‘Ban’). You also often use ‘no fair’, ‘stop it’ (‘shop it’), and ‘what are you doing?’ (pronounced as one seemingly long run on word: wha-yr-do-ing).You also use a hefty dose of unnecessary emphasis on certain syllables with various words and is much of the reason why 2 year olds are my favorite.
You attempt to play catch with your glove on the wrong hand and by putting the ball in your glove and then letting it roll / fall out. Over and over, on repeat. You could play for an hour. I, however, cannot.
While you still let out a good scream every now and again, the frequency of such seems to have dissipated. Or we’ve gotten used to you. I’m quite honestly not sure but I do favor the former because it’s easy to argue the fact that there is no getting used to a scream of that pitch.
Relationships: Your daddy’s boy and on any given day can be found curled in under one of the arms of your Papa. To be fair, he’s much more generous with screen time and cuddles are most always associated with a favorable amount of screen time. You also love your g’pa; a guys-guy through and through.
You watch your brothers with much admiration and mimic whatever activity it is that they’re engaged in. You’re more trusting of Hooper, who is more likely to tend to your needs and give in to your demands. Hooper takes on the appropriate big brother role whereas Van is more sensitive to his toys being passed down and his prized possessions being touched and potentially ruined. Hooper has these moments as well, but they’re fewer and further between.
You love Jimmie but get overwhelmed when he’s in your face. And given your height, he tends to be in your face often. But you have a lovely relationship; he’s very tolerant of you trying to ride him and of you playing with his food and water bowls.
Favorites: You’re in the phase where matchbox cars, or anything with wheels, is your jam. You love your garbage truck toy, your dump truck, you small wooden trucks and so on and so forth. At any given time you have 3-4 favorites that you tote around with you everywhere.
Time can feel so scarce in single mama land. Though I’m pretty sure time can feel scarce no matter the motherhood label. I used to do so much on autopilot — bedtime routines, morning routines, after school routines, appointments, activities, check ups… Following my divorce, so much of life was just about getting through the day, working through the debris. It felt like doing anything mindfully, with intention, was unattainable. I’d pile on the guilt trip, filing it all under the tab of one more thing I should be doing better at. I willfully submerged myself into autopilot and fulfilled my own prophecy.
