Toddler Boy: Two and a Half Years Old

Today is William's half birthday! Can you believe my little guy is 2 1/2 already? I can't, although sometimes I have to remind myself that he is only 2 1/2! He's such a tall guy and talks all of the time, sometimes I think he seems older.

I don't have any real measurements to report as he won't go in for a check up until his birthday. But according to my motherly instincts he is almost 36" tall and just over 30 lbs. He's still tall and thin, but has filled out some too, only when he takes off his shirt and shows you his nipples (which is a daily occurrence) do I notice his slim build. We recently brought out the 3T shirts as his 2T long sleeves don't look so long anymore. The 3T pants will have to wait just a bit.

His vocabulary is really something! He can say just about anything and picks up everything we say. He has a slight stutter when he starts telling me something, but I'm not concerned at the moment. I think he's usually so excited he just can't find the words fast enough. He also doesn't say the "S" sound in words like "spoon" or "sparkle" or "snake" so those take me a moment to catch sometimes. We're working on phrases like "Can I please have ___" and asking for things politely instead of demanding or whining for them. He's starting to understand the question "why?" even though he doesn't always know how to answer it.

Over the last three months he has made a few big-boy advances. We started potty training in January and he is now only wearing (disposable) diapers for nap and bedtime. He usually makes it through his nap with a dry diaper. Having him in underwear has really freed up my time with laundry. I had been washing cloth diapers three times a week! And I love that I'll get a full six months of not doing diaper laundry before the new baby comes.

We also introduced the big-boy bed in early February. He was really excited about it and loved shopping for one. We just have a mattress on the floor for now, which allows him to crawl in and out without too much effort or risk of falling. He has figured out that he can get out of his bed on his own and even figured out how to open the bedroom door in the last month so staying in bed through the night has been our newest challenge. He usually does fairly well, getting up just a few times a week.

William still loves reading. We read all of the time and go to the library's story time each week and come home with new books to read and re-read. His favorite subjects are construction and animals. I've learned a lot about the construction field in the past six months.

He loves music. The music time at children's church tends to be his favorite Sunday activity. He sings the songs all week long and we've even created his own playlist on our phones. I've got the Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart, Deep and Wide, and Jesus Loves Me are some of his top hits. He received a guitar for Christmas this year and loves to play for anyone who comes to visit.

His friend has a piano that must be played at each visit.

William's favorite activity for the past year as been watching construction. We've sat in front of many diggers and dump trucks over the past few months. I've learned to bring a book along and relax a bit. We've added quite a few construction toys to his box as well, but we still just play with the same two diggers and dump truck every morning. We pretend to pick up dirt or rocks; and mom's digger never gets to take a break.

Chris has started showing William his tools, as he fixes his truck or other things around the house. Now William will request to look at daddy's tools, just for fun. He can tell the difference between a philips and flathead screwdriver and can distinguish between small, medium, and large (or big). He played "changing the battery" on his toy for nearly 30 minutes one day! Just wait until he gets his own set . . . btw at what age is that a good idea?

Dinosaurs also have a place in his heart and even more so now as that is what dad brought home from the Netherlands for him! He loves "cooking" in the play kitchens other people have and loves his play food too. I've had him help me a lot more in the kitchen lately. He often requests to do the dishes, which I'd love if he really cleaned them! Its more or less water play, which I should be fine with . . . but we are still in a drought.

Drought yes, but we still had enough rain to wear boots this year!

William still has moments of frustration or sudden sadness where he yells or cries or both. We've started working on words to use to describe the feelings which has been really helpful for me to figure out what he needs from me. Sometimes "I just need to hug mommy" is enough to relieve his pain. Lately, we've had issues of him being more physical with other children-- taking toys and hitting. Sometimes just to get the attention of an adult, other times for no apparent reason. This really caught me off guard as up until then, he was usually very sweet and mild tempered. We're working through each situation with a time-out/separation from the person or toy involved. That seems to be enough to calm him down (for now).

So many changes have happened since he turned 2, and many more changes are on the way. Just 8 weeks left until he knows what being a big brother really means! I'm so thankful for the growth that has happened in the past six months and the glimpses I get of who this boy really is!

Today is William's half birthday! Can you believe my little guy is 2 1/2 already? I can't, although sometimes I have to remind myself that he is only 2 1/2! He's such a tall guy and talks all of the time, sometimes I think he seems older.

I don't have any real measurements to report as he won't go in for a check up until his birthday. But according to my motherly instincts he is almost 36" tall and just over 30 lbs. He's still tall and thin, but has filled out some too, only when he takes off his shirt and shows you his nipples (which is a daily occurrence) do I notice his slim build. We recently brought out the 3T shirts as his 2T long sleeves don't look so long anymore. The 3T pants will have to wait just a bit.

His vocabulary is really something! He can say just about anything and picks up everything we say. He has a slight stutter when he starts telling me something, but I'm not concerned at the moment. I think he's usually so excited he just can't find the words fast enough. He also doesn't say the "S" sound in words like "spoon" or "sparkle" or "snake" so those take me a moment to catch sometimes. We're working on phrases like "Can I please have ___" and asking for things politely instead of demanding or whining for them. He's starting to understand the question "why?" even though he doesn't always know how to answer it.

Over the last three months he has made a few big-boy advances. We started potty training in January and he is now only wearing (disposable) diapers for nap and bedtime. He usually makes it through his nap with a dry diaper. Having him in underwear has really freed up my time with laundry. I had been washing cloth diapers three times a week! And I love that I'll get a full six months of not doing diaper laundry before the new baby comes.

We also introduced the big-boy bed in early February. He was really excited about it and loved shopping for one. We just have a mattress on the floor for now, which allows him to crawl in and out without too much effort or risk of falling. He has figured out that he can get out of his bed on his own and even figured out how to open the bedroom door in the last month so staying in bed through the night has been our newest challenge. He usually does fairly well, getting up just a few times a week.

William still loves reading. We read all of the time and go to the library's story time each week and come home with new books to read and re-read. His favorite subjects are construction and animals. I've learned a lot about the construction field in the past six months.

He loves music. The music time at children's church tends to be his favorite Sunday activity. He sings the songs all week long and we've even created his own playlist on our phones. I've got the Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart, Deep and Wide, and Jesus Loves Me are some of his top hits. He received a guitar for Christmas this year and loves to play for anyone who comes to visit.

His friend has a piano that must be played at each visit.

William's favorite activity for the past year as been watching construction. We've sat in front of many diggers and dump trucks over the past few months. I've learned to bring a book along and relax a bit. We've added quite a few construction toys to his box as well, but we still just play with the same two diggers and dump truck every morning. We pretend to pick up dirt or rocks; and mom's digger never gets to take a break.

Chris has started showing William his tools, as he fixes his truck or other things around the house. Now William will request to look at daddy's tools, just for fun. He can tell the difference between a philips and flathead screwdriver and can distinguish between small, medium, and large (or big). He played "changing the battery" on his toy for nearly 30 minutes one day! Just wait until he gets his own set . . . btw at what age is that a good idea?

Dinosaurs also have a place in his heart and even more so now as that is what dad brought home from the Netherlands for him! He loves "cooking" in the play kitchens other people have and loves his play food too. I've had him help me a lot more in the kitchen lately. He often requests to do the dishes, which I'd love if he really cleaned them! Its more or less water play, which I should be fine with . . . but we are still in a drought.

Drought yes, but we still had enough rain to wear boots this year!

William still has moments of frustration or sudden sadness where he yells or cries or both. We've started working on words to use to describe the feelings which has been really helpful for me to figure out what he needs from me. Sometimes "I just need to hug mommy" is enough to relieve his pain. Lately, we've had issues of him being more physical with other children-- taking toys and hitting. Sometimes just to get the attention of an adult, other times for no apparent reason. This really caught me off guard as up until then, he was usually very sweet and mild tempered. We're working through each situation with a time-out/separation from the person or toy involved. That seems to be enough to calm him down (for now).

So many changes have happened since he turned 2, and many more changes are on the way. Just 8 weeks left until he knows what being a big brother really means! I'm so thankful for the growth that has happened in the past six months and the glimpses I get of who this boy really is!