Well Iain-man, in exactly two months you will be two years old. Happy twenty-two months little boy! In the past few weeks, you have REALLY grown up. It's making your Mama quite alarmed! I'm not sure what it is, I think a combination of many things, but you just don't seem little any more!
First of all, you've started speaking in sentences! We can't believe it! Your grammar leaves a little to be desired, but it's so cool to see you putting thoughts and concepts together. We can actually have a conversation with you, and you answer questions and tell us information-it's weird. You continue to add words to your vocabulary daily. We only have to tell you something once, and it's in the vault forever. And you pick up EVERYTHING that is going on around you. You are still constantly curious; "Wassat? Wassat?" And lately you've added a very clear "THAT" to your question if we don't answer quickly enough. ("Wassat? Wassat?...THAT!?!")
You still love music and continue to learn songs every day. We sing a song to you once, and you ask to hear it again for weeks. And then you memorize it and sing it back to us constantly. Current favorites are ABCs and Happy Birthday. You have gotten very particular with your night-time song requests: You'll tell us "Sing this one...Silly Willy" or whatever your song of choice is for the evening. You still love "Rock-a-baby", and in the last month, you've requested that we rock the following: Mommy, Daddy and all the family, burzah and all the animals, Shane's guitar, Baby-Iain, Baby Iain's bottles and spitters, and of course...a stinky-doodoo! You love to interrupt with your opinion right in the middle of a song, and when Daddy puts you to bed, I can hear him laughing as you call out your requests in a most adamant tone.
In fact, with your newly expanded vocabulary, you've just gotten more demanding in general! You boss us around day and night...you're a firstborn for sure. And you are so funny lately! We can't believe the things you come out with, and you love to make us laugh. When you ask for something if we tell you "No", you seem to think the only reason that you aren't getting what you want is because you didn't ask nicely enough. So you turn on the charm and make the request in your "nice voice", which is a high pitched, sugary version of your regular voice...it's hilarious! You love to tell us that things "fall down", which usually means you dropped them. Another favorite expression: "Haha...That's funny!" (Usually when you're doing something you know is frowned upon!) You've also been telling us lately that you are "scared" of things. We don't know if you know what it means, as you've been "scared" of foxes, Grandpa's garage, the bags of mulch, the dark, the birds...etc. etc. in the last few weeks.
You still love to read, and Dr. Seuss books are still your first choice. You have several of them just about memorized, and will "read" them back to us. You also love your Bible storybook and will sit and listen to story after story. I think this is where you get your big vocabulary from, and we are so happy that you love books.
Thankfully, as you've begun to communicate better, your behavior has improved a ton! Your time outs and discipline for hitting, screaming and bad temper have decreased dramatically! This is a big plus! We've also discovered that more times than not, if you're in a bad mood...you are either hungry (like your dad!) or tired (like your mom!). And some food or a nap will work wonders that the time-out chair could never accomplish.
You continue to love Baby Liam and like to show him how to do all of the things you know how to do. You still can be rough with him, but it's mostly when you don't remember how little he is. You want him to be able to eat the things you eat, do the things you do, play the games you play...you are a great big brother.
Finally, you've conquered your fear of the potty! This makes you seem very grown up as well. You're still not a big fan, and there are plenty of "No thank you, why not, no thank you please"s, but you will go! The thought that you could potentially soon be on your way out of diapers makes you seem very grown up indeed!
Then...you got your first haircut! And you instantly looked like such a big boy! You did really well, and were not freaked out at all-in fact, you wanted the scissors! It's nice not to have such a nappy rats-nest in the back, but I must confess, I kind of miss your silky baby locks. You just look too big!
Also, you've been trying lots of new food this month! How grown up of you! You have been consistently eating (and loving!) cheese and apples. You also like peanut butter! You still won't try macaroni, (we even tried to bribe you to eat just ONE piece, and you would NOT!) and love your pizza, crazy bread, mashed potatoes and pudding...but we are making progress. I think. Maybe by the time you are ten, you will actually eat a vegetable.
The best thing this month? You've been sleeping like a champ!! You go to bed great for Daddy, usually around 8:30 or 9pm, and you sleep in until anywhere from 9:30-11am! You were waking up earlier and earlier as it got lighter, so we put a blanket over your window, and it has done the trick! You wake up so happy, and still take a good nap (2-3 hours) in the afternoon! I had no idea you needed this much sleep...but it's been wonderful to see what a difference a well-rested boy makes!
We've been lucky enough to have LOTS of opportunities to play outside this month! And you love it! I think you'd stay all day if we'd let you! You've been practicing golf on the lawn, making snowmen, digging in the dirt and helping Mommy with chores-it's been a good month! You are pretty coordinated for a little guy! You can hit that golf ball a lot better than your Mama can! And you seem like such a big boy when you do.
A couple of your other quirks have disappeared as well. You've gone in the church nursery happily several times! You stayed with a babysitter other than your family and had fun!! When we took our trip to Canada last month, you actually enjoyed the car-ride!!! Oh Iain, you are getting so big!
But. You don't always like to be a big boy. You often tell us that you are "Baby Iain". (And ask us to "Hold this baby!") You want to be swaddled when you see us do it to Liam. (But then say you're "stuck" when we show you how it's done!) You say you don't want to use the potty, but prefer diapers. (But all of a sudden, don't like getting them changed!) And you still like to be cuddled and snuggled. (Even though you're getting too big to fit on my lap!) You still come running for comfort when you get hurt. (And can tell us exactly what happened!) You still mix up your "you"s and "me"s. (It's pretty hilarious!) So even though you are closing in on two, I guess you've got a ways to go before you're all grown up. We don't mind. We'll keep you little for a while yet.
Observation #2: The hobbits must have been British. And they must have baked a lot. Shortbread and scones and pies...oh my! Most of our food was hearty Brit fare, (shepherd's pie, beef stew, sausage, mushrooms) mingled with a healthy dose of desserts. Here are a few of our goodies.
Observation #4: Mathematical formula for successful Lord of the Rings movie watching is as follows:
