Two and a Half

Today, Ryan is two and a half years old. I cannot believe how quickly my little boy is growing up. I have to say that 2 is my favorite age, so far. I'm sure I have said this every time we hit another milestone. I love how independent Ryan is, how verbal he is, how kind and sweet he is, and how funny he is. I find myself laughing with him so much these days. Some of the things that come out of his little mouth are comical.

After each night of sleep or after every nap, I always ask Ryan, "How did you sleep?" To which he will always respond, "Very well." What two year old talks like that? It never gets old and since I find it so amusing, I constantly ask. Sanjay and I also ask Ryan if he had a good time on the way home from a playdate or a trip to our parents' houses, or after a visit with friends. It never fails he will always say, "Yes, we do again." Then we will tell him,"Yes," and he will say, "Another day." It is almost like having a conversation with an adult. Lately, Ryan has been saying to both Sanjay and me, "This is the best day ever!" I took him to the library to check out books and he said, "Mommy, this is the best day ever!" It is really cute, but I know he is just repeating what he heard on one of his favorite tv shows. Although I would like to think that he really believes that it is the best day, I have my doubts that he really knows what that means.

Sometimes I forget that he is only two and a half because the things he says sound like what a big kid would say. Just the other day we had to wait around for a plumber to come to the house. With no indication of when they would show up, we were house bound for a good portion of the day. Only four hours into our very long day, Ryan and I were not seeing eye to eye. We both needed to go outside and get some fresh air. He was throwing a major temper tantrum so I told him we would go to my favorite coffee shop and get some coffee for mommy. This cheered him up a bit and once the tears stopped he told me, "Mommy, I'm having a rough day." It was the cutest thing. Of course I told him that I, too was having a rough day. When I got him strapped into his carseat he looked up at me with his large, sad puppy dog eyes and asked, " Mommy, you love me?" I felt really awful that he asked me that because I always want him to know that I do and never to question that. I scooped him up out of his seat, hugged him and told him that I loved him very much. Even when I am having a rough day, I will always love him no matter what.

Since we are approximately 13 short weeks from the birth of Ryan's baby brother or sister, we are spending a lot of time talking with Ryan about having a sibling. He keeps saying what a big helper he is going to be. I know he will be very helpful, but I can't help feeling like he is still the baby and needs so much of our time and attention. It will be a huge adjustment for all of us and even though I feel like we are preparing for it, I just think when reality hits we will all spend many months adjusting to the changes.

With only a short time left with Ryan as an only child I have had the grand freak out about him not being potty trained and still sleeping in a crib. We bought a big boy potty for Ryan a few months ago, but he is showing little to no interest in it. He will sit there occasionally and read books, he will talk about going to the bathroom, but nothing ever happens on the "big boy potty." I have since decided that stressing myself out about it is not helping anyone. It will probably cause Ryan more anxiety so I have backed off. I will ask him if he wants to use it, if he does, great, if not, no big deal. I keep reminding myself that he will not be the child in kindergarten wearing diapers. There will come a day when he will want to do it, so until then we will just follow his lead.

My other struggle is the crib. I am not ready to let Ryan out of the crib. He takes 2-3 hour naps every day and sleeps 10-12 hours peacefully each night in there. My thought: Why ruin a good thing? Eventually the baby will need the crib, but not right away. We have ordered a toddler bed and some very cool fire truck sheets. My hope is by putting the bed in the room, he will want to sleep in it at some point. Yet another thing I have chosen to not get worked up about right now.

I can't believe that we have six months before our little guy turns three. He constantly amazes me with what he knows. I always hear him singing songs that I don't recognize, songs that he picks up from his preschool class. He is now really interested in flash cards and learning the letters of the alphabet. He can recognize 20 of the 26 letters in the alphabet. When we are out running errands he will tell me what letters he sees and then will ask me what a sign says. He has a crazy thirst for knowledge and cannot get enough of books, music, and art. The past two and a half years have gone by so quickly, I wish I could slow down the clock just a bit. Since I cannot, we are just trying to enjoy each moment we have, the good and even the not so good.