May 29, 2016

Jenson update: 2.5 years

Jenson is (well) over 2.5 years now, and let me tell you…this kid is amazing. He continues to be a great big brother to Marlowe (minus stealing her toys sometimes). He is ridiculously smart and funny. He’s also a sweet and sensitive boy – he’s very shy when he’s in a new situation or around new people, but he warms up after a bit and has a blast, and then talks about them for days. He definitely prefers to do what other kids are doing, so he tends to gravitate towards slightly older kids (ages 3-4) and copy them or let them lead him around. He gets his feelings hurt easily if kids take something from him or aren’t nice to him. He doesn’t take things back or “fight” back with kids in those situations, he kind of just stands there and looks sad. And it breaks my heart and makes me proud all at once that he’s a nice kid. I just hope he’ll be confident enough to be who he wants to be instead of worrying about what others think so much and being embarrassed or shy. I think he’ll be so protective and loving with Marlowe – he already is.

That’s not to say he’s always perfect. He’s still 2, after all, so we have a fair share of tantrums and not listening. I try to be careful about how I correct him because he IS sensitive. Even if I give him a “look” when he’s not doing what he’s supposed to, he knows I’m upset with him and (eventually) usually feels bad about it. He’ll apologize 3-4 times for something he did, even though I tell him it’s okay and give him a big hug and kiss. If I bump into him or something, he’ll apologize to me – I’m sorry mommy, I bumped you. I just try to be firm, but gentle. And sometimes I just remember that he’s 2, and that he’s such a good kid that some things just need to be overlooked if they aren’t hurting anyone.

This phase of his life was full of change. He’s done really well at sharing my attention with Marlowe. If Marlowe starts crying in the swing and I’m snuggling or playing with him, he’ll tell me I can get Marlowe. There are other times he’ll tell me to put Marlowe in the swing or on her playmat because he wants my attention, but he handles it really well if I can’t. If it’s possible, I try to give him my attention at those times, because if I don’t, that tends to be when he makes a mess or gets into something he shouldn’t.

We had visitors off and on after Marlowe was born until late January, and after things settled down, we tried to get into a routine of going to the library or another outing at least once a week. We had some nice warm weeks in March, so we got outside whenever possible. It was a big adjustment for all, but he’s handled it like a champ.

Jenson update: January 7, 2015 – April 6, 2016

Age: 2.5 years old
Weight: 29 lbs.
Length:
Size: 24/2T clothing
Sleeping: He is in his crib from about 7:30 pm -7:35 am. Time actually sleeping varies because sometimes he plays in his crib for an hour before falling asleep and when waking up in the morning. We have this Ok to Wake alarm clock and it, along with daylight savings time, saved our lives. He knows if the light is red, he has to stay in bed. When it turns green, we’ll come to get him. When we come in to get him, he says “I see the green light!”. He’s in his crib for approximately 2 hours for nap too, again, actual sleeping time varies, but he stays there without fussing until the light comes on.

Eating: Not much change here – his list of food hasn’t grown any. All fruit, plain yogurt, cereal, oatmeal, cheese, crackers, peanut butter, bread, cottage cheese, pouches, smoothies, muffins, pancakes, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, and cheese pizza. He’ll randomly ask for eggs sometimes. He usually has some dry cereal in a cup while he watches a show or two. After that he has yogurt and a banana and/or cereal with milk. Lunch is usually a sandwich (PBJ, grilled cheese), maybe a piece of cheese and/or a few pretzels, and fruit. Dinner is usually similar to lunch, unless we are eating one of the few things he’ll eat. We try to throw cottage cheese in each night for some good protein, but it’s hit or miss. He honestly doesn’t snack much…but if so, usually crackers, pretzels, or fresh or dried fruit. I used to fret so much about his diet, or lack of variety in it, but I kind of give up. We did everything “right” and he used to eat a ton of veggies and meat, and then he just quit. It’s common I guess. We always offer the other stuff to him…eventually he’ll probably eat veggies or meat. I feel like he’s kind of too young to force him – or at least i don’t know how to appropriately do that. Its not like I can make him sit in his chair until he eats something, or threaten to take away his electronics (he doesn’t have any). The Dr. wasn’t concerned when we talked about it at his two year appt. It’s still not unusual for him to fall asleep eating lunch…

Word Up: He talks so much and is hilarious. He’s shy around other people for a bit, so I don’t know that most people realize how much he actually talks unless they’ve been around him for 4+ hours. He’s quite a chatterbox – especially at home or to himself in his crib when he’s trying to go to sleep. He loves singing songs and actually can match my pitch REALLY well. He doesn’t say all letters great – L is a tough one – but most kids have trouble with some. He can count to 30, though after 29, he usually says 2010 instead of 30. He knows all of his letters and likes to spell out words that he sees.

Milestones:

Circus. He rode a camel, elephant, and pony, and he STILL talks about it regularly (note that I’m not a fan of the circus, but it’s something that he’ll do with Nana and Papaw for the Shriner’s Circus). He still talks about it all the time and wants to go back.

First Easter egg hunt and meeting the Easter bunny

Starting potty training

Favorite Toys/Activities:

Books, books, and more books

Puzzles – he loves them and he’s ridiculously good at them

Going to the library or places that we will see “kids, people, and babies”

Bathtime
Playing outside or at the playground and going down to “the water”

His stuffed animals. He talks to them in the crib and arranges them “just so”

Matchbox cars, trains, trucks and sensory rice bin

His tools – he got big into his tools after hanging with his cousin and he loves to “fix” things.

Dr. kit – again, a cousin influence.
Play food

Watching his shows (Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street mostly at that time) or videos and pictures on our phones
Crafts at home or toddler art at the library

Coloring with crayons or color wonder markers. He asks us to draw people or different shapes, like bikes, trains, circles, trees. Or he just wants to make one crayon mark on each coloring book page.
Wearing hand me downs. When we get him dressed, he always asks “who give it to me”, and he loves when things are from Jaxon or Riley.
Sled riding (obviously that season is past), but he loved being pulled on his sled. He was sad when there wasn’t snow anymore.

Favorite friends:

Cousins: Max and Sadie

Jaxon and Emmy
A couple of the regulars at the library
Playdates with Braxton, Derrick, and Drew.
His Daniel Tiger figures

Dislikes:

Meat and veggies
Leaving places where he’s having fun
Being sick. He had about 2 weeks of recurrent ear infection in January. He was a trooper, but it was rough.

Looking forward to: Summer time fun, including family visits, zoo trips, and a trip to Idlewild Park and Daniel Tiger’s neighborhood!

Scenes from January:

This face is going to break my heart. He wanted to watch videos on the phone too, but he didn’t want to take it and he couldn’t really see with how Max was holding it (note that Max wasn’t doing it on purpose, he was having a rough time and was watching something to cheer him up.