Two and a half-ish

For the entire nine months of pregnancy, the doctors and consequently you, define your child by weeks (as in, tomorrow I'll be 41 weeks!)  Then once the baby is born, you quickly move up from talking about how many weeks old they are to how many months old.  But at some point, you lose track; maybe it's because you stop visiting the pediatrician for well child visits as often.  I'm here to tell you that pregnancy brain or not, I am at that point.  My son is now old enough that I've lost track of how many months old he is, which is a bit strange.  Whenever people ask now I simply say that he's two, although at this point he's closer to two and a half.  And since I don't have my new little bundle of joy to gush about yet, I thought it might be time to share what's been on my mind lately about my two and a half-ish first born.

The biggest change that we have seen in Little B lately has been his energy, which has sky rocketed since he was diagnosed with celiac's disease and we took gluten out of his diet about six weeks ago.  The pitter patter of his little feet has turned into more of a thump thump thump as he runs his way around the house; he seems to have forgotten the meaning of walk.  His energy has increased so dramatically that his need for naps has almost disappeared.  Yikes!  A couple months ago he would sleep two and a half to three hours every single afternoon; now we have pushed nap time back by 30 minutes and it usually takes him at least an hour to fall asleep, if he sleeps at all.  We've taught him that it's ok if he doesn't sleep but he does have to have some quiet time in his room until we come back to get him.  I am astounded at how well he understands and goes along with what we ask of him.  I will confess that there have been a couple afternoons where I have fallen asleep longer than intended and when I wake up almost 2 hours later, he's still playing contentedly in his room.  Awesome kid!

He loves playing in the car right now and asks to do so pretty much every time we get home.  Most expensive "toy" ever!

Verbally Little B is still incredibly advanced.  He speaks in long full sentences which, most of the time, are pretty gramatically correct.  He's even started making up his own words, making games for himself out of the different sounds he makes and different tones of voices he can speak in.  He can say his alphabet and count in order from one to ten, but he can't tell you what an individual letter or number is yet.  That's my educational goal for him in the next few months.  But what has surprised and delighted me most about his little brain lately is that he's entered the world of imagination!  A great example is this conversation we had a couple days ago:

Little B: *chatter chatter chatter* intonation!
Mama P: Intonation?  Where did you learn that word?!
Little B: At school!
Mama P: But Little B, you've never been to school.
Little B: But I pretend!

What most amused me about this exchange is that, according to him, he learned a real word at a pretend school, not quite sure how that adds up!  Later on I figured out that what he was really saying was tarnation, as in "what in tarnation?" which is a phrase Mr. Rogers uses in the Amelia Bedelia books we've been reading.  Smart cookie I've got here:)

As I already alluded to, I have also been amazed lately at his ability to play completely independently for astonishingly long amounts of time.  I think this started around the time that Hubby T started leaving some of his Legos out in Little B's room for him to play with.  Between the Lego vehicles and all his miscellaneous trains and trucks and cars, Little B occupies himself for hours everyday lining them up, driving them somewhere else, lining them up again....I have no idea what scenarios are running through his little imaginative brain but those gears are definitely turning at high speed.  On the one hand, I'm so grateful that he can play by himself happily for so long, because I know it'll be helpful once his little brother is here.  On the other hand, it also makes it really easy for me to get absorbed in reading my book or house cleaning or whatever else I'm doing, and then I feel like I'm neglecting him.  He does come to me when he needs something or wants attention, so I try to be attentive and hope that makes up for it! 

Why is this a picture worthy moment Mom?

All in all, I'm enjoying how much more lively Little B has become and how he's becoming an independent, loving little boy.  It's been a really wonderful gift to have so much one-on-one time with him for the last few weeks since Little D has been home more with his mom and new little brother.  We'll have him back two days a week once the next school year starts in the fall, but anticipate lots of playdates with his family this summer:)

Hubby T's last day of the school year was today and tomorrow morning he's going in for some pre-summer school work before having a true summer break for a couple weeks.  Hubby T's parents are coming into town tomorrow afternoon to keep us company in our waiting for the rest of the week.  And if this stubborn little baby doesn't come on his own, I'll have a c-section this Friday.  All of that to say, tomorrow morning will be my last alone time with my precious first born for probably quite awhile.  It's been a wonderful season of my life to focus completely on him.  And yes, writing that makes me a little emotional.  However, I'm looking forward to seeing how God widens our hearts and lives with the addition of this new little one (if he ever decides to join us.)  Hopefully we'll be able to introduce him to you very soon!

Look Mommy!  I have a baby in my belly too!!