mcmel's mcblog: 24 months

ian turned 2 on january 20th. i can't believe it's been 2 years since that sweet baby boy came into our lives. life has become so exciting in our house. it's giggles one minute and seizing on the floor screaming the next minute... ::sigh::

ian talks my ear off most of the day. mostly one word at a time. cars, ga-ba, color, hockey, snacks (which these days is beginning to sound more like "socks" or "sex"), pwease, hiiiii, ma-ma, stories... those are the most popular ones. he also loves singing songs all day long- from whatever is playing on the ygg pandora station, to a little bit of mumford and sons. my favorites are dancing machine by the jackson 5 and rock star by the fresh beat band. so stinkin' cute.

ian loves his cars still- he got lots of hot wheels for christmas. in fact, he got so much for christmas, we decided to pack a few away for later- maybe potty training rewards. he got a lot of stuff that we ended up packing away and saving for later- looks like potty training will be fun! ian also got a hockey goal for his birthday- so he loves playing hockey and shooting the balls into the net. he's basically into anything & everything. the favorite show right now is yo gabba gabba... we had been watching a nice variety, but now it's only gabba. i have almost 25 episodes on the dvr and i feel like i saw all of them yesterday... oi.

i guessed ian's weight perfectly from last month- he's exactly 25 lbs. that means he's finally moved from being off the bottom of the chart to in the 25th% for weight. he's now 34" tall, which is in the 50-75th%. so he's gained 5 lbs and grown 2" in the last 6 months. wow! 18 month clothes are finally getting a little snug (mostly too short). i packed all the 12 month stuff up finally. he could probably fit fine into some 24 month and 2T clothes, so i'll probably be pulling those out soon.

so i have a "terrible 2" year old. it's a little crazy from time to time. there are crazy tantrums and this weird "NOOOOO" thing that came out of nowhere. he's pretty good most of the time, although it can be a little frustrating. i've definitely learned that sometimes just walking away is the best thing to do- and it's normally when he gets up and, surprise, isn't crying anymore...

food is always an adventure- what he'll eat today he won't even look at tomorrow. "sketchup" is a favorite, and yes, i have been known to dip a blueberry in sketchup to get my child to eat it. i'll also put food on a chip- it serves the same purpose. gotta do what i gotta do... word.

being 2 is huge. it's such a big step. most kids potty train, move out of a crib, out of a high chair, have to give up the binky and also possibly gain a sibling during the crucial 2nd year. i can't imagine how hard it is to go through all of that at once. i'm waiting out the crib thing until ian starts to attempt crib escapes- so for now, we're safe. the sibling thing- it's at least another year away. the high chair move- not needed right now. so my focus is on potty training & giving up the binky. i'm really not sure when i want to start the binky thing- he only uses it for naps and bedtime, so it's not a problem- but learning to sleep without is something he's going to have to do- i'm just not sure he even can comprehend what that means though.

we are working on potty training however. i have been collecting random stickers, and i printed a special yo gabba gabba chart. i just need to come up with a little treat for him- i think we decided on raisinettes. i also told him if he fills up his charts he'll get a little prize too (a christmas gift, perhaps..) lately, ian has been into sitting on the potty- he started this just last saturday night- now i'm not sure if it's a "let's delay bedtime" tactic (seriously, manipulation, already?!) or if he really wants to go- either way, sitting on the potty is sitting on the potty, regardless of when it happens. i'm not going to go into a lot of detail about it because no one wants/needs to know all that, but i'll definitely share some of the funnier stories and when everything's been accomplished.

i'll share more this week about ian's parties and all the fun we had, but now, photos from the 24th month, including the last monthly picture. :(