Toddler B2: Three and a Half Years Old

"How old are you?" is one of the most common questions people ask kids. My grandpa asked me every time we were together! My boys love it when the answer gets to change. And I love remembering the changes they have gone through in the past half-year. Stephen can now answer the question with "Three and a half!" And I get to write about him!

Stephen is no longer a toddler really, more like a preschooler without actually going to preschool. We're looking into having him start next fall. We've been keeping busy this fall with a lot of mom-and-me activities: Parenting/Child observation class at City College, swimming lessons, MOPS, and playdates with friends. He typically doesn't like leaving the house for any of these things and will tell me repeatedly that he just wants to stay home and play, but once we get there he is usually just fine and has a good time.

This swimming session has been a little different in that band-aids are reason enough not to get into the water. And lately, he's had a lot of bandages. No real injuries to report, just the occasional scratch or skinned knee. But the bandages stay on for a long time and he doesn't like to get them wet. So we sit on the edge and he plays with the water toys. Near the end of class I can usually talk him into doing one or two things the teacher is doing and he does seem to enjoy it.

He has really gotten into building and playing with legos recently. William received a lot of lego sets for his birthday last month and Stephen loves them all. We build together a lot. My favorite thing is when he asks for the "constructions" instead of "instructions!" He also really likes going to visit our friends who have bigger toy trucks than we have -- fire trucks, garbage trucks, cranes, etc. If it's big, it's his favorite. Paw Patrol has also become a new favorite. We've let him watch a few episodes on TV and he loves the trucks they drive. Remote control cars are also very exciting to him. He calls them "Comote controls."

He loves drawing. Mostly trucks. I love it when I can actually see what he was trying to draw! More than just lines and circles now. He loves it when I draw tractors, fire trucks, construction vehicles and garbage trucks for him so he can color them and add his own details. He had his dad draw for him once and from that point on the request was "Mom, can you draw the garbage truck like dad draws it?" I did my best.

I can make a pretty decent cardboard car though . . . he took it to school pick up.

We are working on our letter sounds and recognizing them. He loves finding "S" everywhere we go and is pretty close to being able to write it. The "W" the second most commonly noticed letter (for William).

Sports are and always have been important to Stephen. We've gotten the boys into a soccer program this fall and they both really love it. The coaches do such a great job with little kids and Stephen stays engaged and participates the whole time! Stephen still loves basketball but we haven't been around it much lately.

Stephen and William get a long for the most part. They play, look at books, color, draw, pretend and wrestle. Stephen likes to pick fights and has a pretty powerful punch (the back slap really hurts). This is probably my biggest struggle . . . helping them find the line between playing rough and actually meaning to hurt each other.

I do enjoy my days at home with this growing boy. I'm trying to appreciate it more knowing that eventually he too will be off to school. 

"How old are you?" is one of the most common questions people ask kids. My grandpa asked me every time we were together! My boys love it when the answer gets to change. And I love remembering the changes they have gone through in the past half-year. Stephen can now answer the question with "Three and a half!" And I get to write about him!

Stephen is no longer a toddler really, more like a preschooler without actually going to preschool. We're looking into having him start next fall. We've been keeping busy this fall with a lot of mom-and-me activities: Parenting/Child observation class at City College, swimming lessons, MOPS, and playdates with friends. He typically doesn't like leaving the house for any of these things and will tell me repeatedly that he just wants to stay home and play, but once we get there he is usually just fine and has a good time.

This swimming session has been a little different in that band-aids are reason enough not to get into the water. And lately, he's had a lot of bandages. No real injuries to report, just the occasional scratch or skinned knee. But the bandages stay on for a long time and he doesn't like to get them wet. So we sit on the edge and he plays with the water toys. Near the end of class I can usually talk him into doing one or two things the teacher is doing and he does seem to enjoy it.

He has really gotten into building and playing with legos recently. William received a lot of lego sets for his birthday last month and Stephen loves them all. We build together a lot. My favorite thing is when he asks for the "constructions" instead of "instructions!" He also really likes going to visit our friends who have bigger toy trucks than we have -- fire trucks, garbage trucks, cranes, etc. If it's big, it's his favorite. Paw Patrol has also become a new favorite. We've let him watch a few episodes on TV and he loves the trucks they drive. Remote control cars are also very exciting to him. He calls them "Comote controls."

He loves drawing. Mostly trucks. I love it when I can actually see what he was trying to draw! More than just lines and circles now. He loves it when I draw tractors, fire trucks, construction vehicles and garbage trucks for him so he can color them and add his own details. He had his dad draw for him once and from that point on the request was "Mom, can you draw the garbage truck like dad draws it?" I did my best.

I can make a pretty decent cardboard car though . . . he took it to school pick up.

We are working on our letter sounds and recognizing them. He loves finding "S" everywhere we go and is pretty close to being able to write it. The "W" the second most commonly noticed letter (for William).

Sports are and always have been important to Stephen. We've gotten the boys into a soccer program this fall and they both really love it. The coaches do such a great job with little kids and Stephen stays engaged and participates the whole time! Stephen still loves basketball but we haven't been around it much lately.

Stephen and William get a long for the most part. They play, look at books, color, draw, pretend and wrestle. Stephen likes to pick fights and has a pretty powerful punch (the back slap really hurts). This is probably my biggest struggle . . . helping them find the line between playing rough and actually meaning to hurt each other.

I do enjoy my days at home with this growing boy. I'm trying to appreciate it more knowing that eventually he too will be off to school. 

Back on the Bike

I mentioned on Facebook back in May that my bike was stolen from our garage. It not only took away the reality of biking but also my excitement to start biking again.

But in October a friend of mine posted that she was looking for a specific child seat to go on the back of her new family bike so both of her kids could ride with her. The same seat that we had sitting in our closet waiting for a bike. I told her our predicament and offered her the seat since we weren't getting any use out of it. She then told me she had an extra bike with a child seat on it that she wouldn't need anymore if she took our seat. So, we swapped!

Our first bike ride was a big one. We started the morning with a mile ride to soccer practice. It was the first time I'd ridden a bike in over four years! After soccer practice we rode downtown for lunch (And yes, I was thankful to have another break even after a short ride.) After lunch we continued up the Embarcadero and made our way to Aquatic Park to watch the Blue Angels during fleet week. It was the perfect day!

The ride home was much more vigorous with a steep hill between us and home. I stopped a lot. And felt like my heart might beat right out of my chest and I would die, but we made it home. Other than some soreness the following day, I felt great. And proud that we did it. We biked as a family!

Since that first weekend in October, Stephen and I have gone on a handful of bike rides together. Usually we take it to swim class, which is just 5 blocks away. We also ride along with Chris and William to soccer practice on Saturdays and last week we took the bikes to church. I love it! The exercise is great and doing something as a family -- even as simple as a bike ride -- has been really good for us. I'm hoping we can go on many bike rides together before Stephen hits the weight limit for his seat! And we'll avoid the hills whenever we can.

I mentioned on Facebook back in May that my bike was stolen from our garage. It not only took away the reality of biking but also my excitement to start biking again.

But in October a friend of mine posted that she was looking for a specific child seat to go on the back of her new family bike so both of her kids could ride with her. The same seat that we had sitting in our closet waiting for a bike. I told her our predicament and offered her the seat since we weren't getting any use out of it. She then told me she had an extra bike with a child seat on it that she wouldn't need anymore if she took our seat. So, we swapped!

Our first bike ride was a big one. We started the morning with a mile ride to soccer practice. It was the first time I'd ridden a bike in over four years! After soccer practice we rode downtown for lunch (And yes, I was thankful to have another break even after a short ride.) After lunch we continued up the Embarcadero and made our way to Aquatic Park to watch the Blue Angels during fleet week. It was the perfect day!

The ride home was much more vigorous with a steep hill between us and home. I stopped a lot. And felt like my heart might beat right out of my chest and I would die, but we made it home. Other than some soreness the following day, I felt great. And proud that we did it. We biked as a family!

Since that first weekend in October, Stephen and I have gone on a handful of bike rides together. Usually we take it to swim class, which is just 5 blocks away. We also ride along with Chris and William to soccer practice on Saturdays and last week we took the bikes to church. I love it! The exercise is great and doing something as a family -- even as simple as a bike ride -- has been really good for us. I'm hoping we can go on many bike rides together before Stephen hits the weight limit for his seat! And we'll avoid the hills whenever we can.