This is a hard post to write. It feels like such a milestone. He is fully a toddler now and doing all the toddler things: potty training, knows his letters, numbers, colors, etc., running/jumping/playing (of course), imaginary play, tantrums, super picky eating, and language explosion. He is a loving kid who thrives on attention and high energy play (rough housing, tickling and dance parties are the favorites). He is very adventurous and likes trying new things but has a real sensitive side especially when it comes to loud sounds and strangers. If he decides he doesn’t like something, it is usually because it has scared him and he won’t be changing his mind anytime soon. On his 2.5 yr birthday logan started wearing underwear and has been wearing now for two weeks with no accidents [edit: wrote this last night and he had his first lake-logan today. Was on tile and only over his crocs, so was a pretty easy cleanup]. He is amazing! He was probably ready to wear underwear a while ago, but we didn’t want to do before our trip to California. He had been keeping diapers dry all day a vast majority of the time. The first few days with the underwear we really emphasized no peeing in diaper and we try to get him to pee more often. He has been a little more resistant to frequent trips to the potty (which he has often been), but since no accidents [ until today], I have decided to trust him. He is also mostly dry at nap but we are still keeping the diaper at nap (and of course bedtime) for quite a while. Because he seems to be part camel, he doesn’t need to go to the potty constantly like a lot of kids so we don’t have a lot of amusing, standing in line at the store and the kid has to pee type moments. We have really had it so easy so I hope wyatt is as easy! We gave him what may be his last potty training prize and he specifically asked for a rocket ship because there is one in a Mickey book he has. We decided to get him the stomp rocket and he got it out today and Mimi and Papa’s house and really fell in love with it.
Logan’s language continues to develop exponentially. He is a sponge and understands everything. It is so amazing that we can talk to him as an adult. More importantly he speaks very well. He is easy to understand (though as he learns to talk faster and faster, sometimes he compromises his diction). Several people have commented that he always speaks in full sentences. I am not sure where he got it from, but it is pretty cute. If you ask him if he wants something, he will say “yes, I do” or “no, I don’t.” He is also really working on manners and getting better each day at it. Please and thank you are commonly used. The next real development language wise is going to come with the social development. He is just starting to understand the concept that people can’t always hear you. If I would say to tell his dad something, he would start telling him while still in the room with me when his dad couldn’t possibly hear. Lately he has been making strides in this because yesterday and today in the car he told me that the person next to us couldn’t hear him because he was in the car and they weren’t. He also needs to work on eye contact in general and especially when asking for things or meeting new people. It is a much more advanced concept for his age, but I think he can learn. We are also trying to get him to start introducing himself to other kids (normally he just says “hi kid”), but he is still pretty young for nailing this kind of social interaction.
Temperament-wise we seem to be doing pretty well in the terrible two department. He doesn’t have many tantrums and most of them have to do with being tired. He is usually quite good at listening and is a safe and smart kid. He has been pushing the boundaries a bit with Wyatt as they interact more and we need to work on his listening a bit. He wants to be able to play more physically with Wyatt but that doesn’t quite work yet with wyatt being so tiny. He also is pretty good about doing what we need to do and not procrastinating too much. We have been working on a new technique of counting to 3 if he is stalling and he is responding well to it. I don’t really have to threaten what would happen at 3. He doesn’t seem to want me to count and usually gets with the program the second I utter “one” or even say “do I need to start counting?”. It is really lucky that we get to enjoy so many highs and don’t have to deal with too many of the toddler lows.
Logan has been working on his separation anxiety and his stranger anxiety and making huge leaps. The trip to California was a great test of this. Lots of new places, people, and experiences. We have learned that everything is better with Logan when we talk about it a lot ahead of time. We started talking months before and Auntie Tina even bought him two trains that she showed him every week on skype. He got more and more excited about staying in his special rooms at Mimi Maria and Auntie Ti’s house. He did great on the trip, even despite getting sick for a day, and really was a trooper. He asked a few times about going back home but seemed to be ok that it was going to be a bit and made the most out of everything. The last two days were a bit rough with a long drive and then the flight home (missing two days of naps in a row) but we got back on track soon when he got home. He generally isn’t much of a home body, but it was interesting after the trip he has enjoyed staying home much more.
Logan’s second big victory in anxiety is with his new preschool prep gymnastics class. It is a drop-off class and is 2 hours long. The purpose is to teach kids the idea of being alone and doing a long class with more classroom type things but also in a familiar setting with plenty of activity. It was rough at first. Although we talked about it a lot, he hasn’t really separated from his main people (mom, dad, Julia, papa). He cried a lot and although Julie still dropped him off and I tried to leave him there about an hour before I peeked through the window. When I got there he was still crying and in the arms of an instructor. Doh! He was glad to see me and demanded we leave right away. However, each week after that it got better. I came there right after Julia brought the car back and we had less tears and less interest in my coming. Then two weeks ago, he was totally happy when I came and I left again to go shopping and he didn’t care. The icing on the cake was last week when he didn’t cry when Julia dropped him off at all and I showed up at the end of the 2 hour class and he had a wonderful time. This week he told us he is looking forward to his special drop off class. It is awesome! I am so proud of him (and so are his instructors). It was even fun for me to go for a few weeks and see how well he listens in class and follows directions. He is a really good kid (of course) and it is fun to see him work on his issues and improve.
What a cool kid and what lucky people we are. It will be fascinating to see what he is like at 3!
