I think it's high time we check in on Charlie for a little update. It's been almost 6 months since I wrote about his happenings. I know I'm biased, but to sum it up, you're just plain adorable. Your red hair (and probably mischievous look) still gets attention all the time. You're especially popular with grandmas who once had little redhead boys themselves. It also doesn't hurt that you are sweet boy who can charm the socks off anyone (once you get to know them, of course).
You weren't such a fan of charming the pediatrician and nurses at your 2.5 yr appointment, however, but we did manage to get you weighed and measured. You weigh 35 lbs (92%) and are 39.5" tall (99%). No wonder most people think you are older than you really are! You wear 4-5T clothes right now.
Luckily, you were fine at the doctor's office once they were done with the poking and prodding. You also didn't shed a tear during the shots. You just don't love other people touching your head. Hats and sunglasses are still a hard no even though you HATE the sun in your eyes. Putting on sunscreen is not your favorite either. Haircuts have also become a disaster. We've literally had to hold you down to get through the last two. No amount of snacks or Elmo could make it better. You hate seeing the hair fall off your head - for some reason it seems to scare you.
You are affectionate and generous with hugs and kisses with people you know, but you are initially shy with unfamiliar people. It doesn't take you long to warm up, but it's not immediate. You can also be a little hesitant at first in new situations and skeptical of new places. While we were in Oklahoma, Abby took your hand to lead into nursery at their church. You are fine if you have a buddy by your side! You can also be scared of things that really aren't too scary - like noisy car toys, haircuts or Papa's tractor, which you talked about non-stop but refused to go near. These things don't send you into a meltdown, but you just kind of back away slowly and won't get too close.
You have made so much progress in the language department. At your yearly evaluation this spring, they determined that you are only behind in your expressive language - what you can actually say. Everything else is right on target! You are rapidly adding words and putting together more and more sentences by the day. The way you pronounce things is pretty darn cute. You have a sweet little cadence that is often pretty quiet or timid. I love the way your voice gets a little high-pitched when you repeat things, and how you always nod your head when you say "yesssss". Dada and I understand most of what you say, but we have to interpret for people who aren't around you as often. Some of my current favorites are "tank you" "baby weee-o" and "waffle."
With more words, comes more demands. Recent new sentences have been "Mama eat it" as you handed me a chicken nugget, or "Charlie push it" when you wanted to push your blue car all by yourself. "Chase, Mama!" has also been a favorite lately. I'm getting my exercise these days. Everything is about "owies" these days. Even inanimate objects cannot be saved. If you drop a piece of food, for example, you usually exclaim "Oh no! Owie." We are trying to harness the power of this into teaching you to be gentle and/or not to throw things that can cause injury.
We have the same conversation all day, every day. It's all about riding in someone's car. "Ride in Mama's car.....Ride in Dada's car....Everything is Papa's tractor and whenever we Facetime with Shi Shi the first thing he says is "Shi Shi's car." After we went to see the fireworks on July 4, you said "Ride in Mama's car *gibberish* Fireworks!" You always start and finish strong, but you don't always string together real words in the middle. So Mama's car was all about fireworks. Meanwhile, it was "Ride in Dada's car *gibberish* ice cream or donuts or air in wheel (because of the time you went to fill Jon's tire with air...the ice cream and donut associations need no explain - just envision me rolling my eyes right now).
The words you choose to say always makes me raise an eyebrow. For example, you knew the name of every construction vehicle before you could say milk. Washing machine, apple pie and vitamins were also added before more useful things like "thank you." For some odd reason, you call bugs "bunnies." You are adding words so quickly these days that it no longer surprises me when he says something new. You will also try to repeat just about anything we ask you to say.
You know how to fold your hands to pray before mealtime, and we're working on learning how to sing Jesus loves me. So far, you're got the "Me!" down and you like to flex your muscles and say strong too. You can name all the letters in the alphabet and count to 10.
You generally don't care what you wear if I don't make a big deal about picking out your clothes while you are distracted. If you take notice, however, you always insist on wearing your teal shirt with the banana on it and your yellow shorts. At bedtime, if given a choice, you always want to wear your Dory pajamas. You can help put on shirts and pull up your shorts/pants. You can do zippers, but not buttons yet. You like to pick out your shoes too, which you name by color. You can also put shoes on, but we generally do it for you for the sake of time.
You are still a champion sleeper. Going to bed around 7 (it's been a little later over the summer months) and getting up between 7:30-8. You nap from about 1-4. The first thing you like to do when you get up is stand on your fire truck and look out the window. It's kind of your own personal neighborhood watch program. You also like to give us the weather report and announce if it's raining, cloudy or sunny. You are still in your crib and sleep sack and I have no plans to rock that boat anytime soon. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Potty training is also a long way off. Some things just don't seem like they are worth the effort right now. I'll fight those battles later when we're both ready.
Things haven't changed much on the food front. You eat a lot of a limited number of things. Lots of fruit, yogurt, and carbs. Breakfast for dinner is a favorite. You love bacon, and often request waffles. You also really like sauces these days. I've seen you dip some ridiculous things in Chick-fil-a sauce, which you would eat by the handful if left to your own devices. As you've learned more food words, you have a little more of an opinion about what you want. "Snack, animal cracker, ice cream, waffle, donut, and fruit snacks" are all favorites to say, and eat, but only on occasion. At least you also finally learned to say many fruit words. Sometimes you go foraging for your own snacks. Within the last week, I've been upstairs with Leo and you've brought me a popsicle and animal crackers to open before 9:00 a.m. Mama said no.
You still love all things boy, and spend most of the day covered in dirt, mud, water, chalk, food, paint...you name it. We keep laundry stain remover companies in business. You love anything that involves transportation and/or construction. You like to point to things in books and ask me what they are (your "what's that" sounds more like "uhhhh-nat?"). You love all your trucks, trains and cars. You love lining them up and getting them organized just right. Nothing is more delightful than seeing these things out in the wild. You recently watched through the fence as a forklift delivered some shingles next door for a solid 30 minutes. You still like puzzles and can do multi-piece interlocking puzzles with ease.
You like anything that involves a ball, and you take to athletic things easily. You have pretty impressive hand-eye coordination for a toddler. You can swing and hit the ball, and you have learned how to catch. You also love being in the water and can "swim" around without any help with your floaties on.
Elmo still has a place in your heart, but your current obsessions are Finding Dory and Finding Nemo. You ask to "watch fish" almost every morning and you get to watch for about 30 minutes while Mama gets ready and/or feeds baby Leo and gets him ready.
You're a funny kid. You have the best laugh and can really get going while being tickled or playing a game of chase or even just making funny faces at the dinner table. Yet, you are also very serious. You can't be bothered when you are concentrating on something. It takes some work to get you to smile on demand. Yet, you'll be sitting quietly at the table and then all of a sudden you'll yell "Pickle!!!" with your arms up in the air (it started after Aunt Mae Mae used that technique to try to get you and Abby to look up and smile for a picture...somehow it stuck and you do it at random all the time). So it's really the tale of two Charlies. Quiet, methodical, and somewhat shy vs. silly, energetic and curious.
You definitely like routine and knowing what to expect, yet you can also be adaptable when necessary. Once you've made a connection, you think that has to happen every time. For example, when Miss Molly our speech therapist comes every other week, you head straight for the basement door because you know we always play downstairs when she is here. And the other day, we were going to the ATM when you spotted the frozen yogurt shop and declared it ice cream time. We have to be careful now what we say out loud to avoid you thinking it's about to happen. Cheers to practicing our spelling! :)
You are becoming more helpful all the time. You like to do chores. You help Dada gather the trash every week and pull the cans to the curb. You also like to help Mama put clothes in the dryer or bring in the groceries. And once you start something, you have to finish the job. We can never leave a room until all the cars are stacked on the carrier or you've flipped through every page in the book, etc. Every task must be completed before you can move on. Mama is learning to be patient about this.
You got a new play set this spring that is a big hit. The swings are your favorite part. You like riding in both of them (bucket swing and regular), and you've learned how to properly use the big boy swing. You just recently learned how to climb the rock wall and had no trouble climbing up it as soon as you decided you were willing to try. You like the stairs and slide too, but utilize them more when other kids are around to play with you. You went down the slide without abandon at first, but now you insist on holding someone's hand or having someone at the bottom to catch you. But, if we are at the park or someone else's house, you'll follow the other kids and climb, jump, slide without hesitation. You might be more timid on your own sometimes, but when you see other kids, you join right in without fear.
Speaking of other kids, you like to interact more and more with your friends. You know the names of some of your friends. You love chase, and will often jump right in with whatever other kids are doing or playing. You generally share pretty well and are willing to take turns or move on to something else until the toy is freed up. You even have a furry friend. You love when my friend Lindsay comes over with her dog Gilbert. You are always a little fearful at first, but it only takes a few minutes before you are playing ball with him or gently petting him. Just the other day, you learned how to ask to shake his paw. We gave you a treat to give to Gilbert, but you tried to eat it first. Lol!
Your adjustment to Leo has been mostly painless. We're so proud of how you've handled such a big change with ease. I'd say you had a little period where you decreased independent play a little bit, and you've had a few rare moments where you showed some signs of annoyance at his presence. But otherwise, you seem to really like him...when you decide you want to pay attention to him that is. You like to make him laugh and sometimes want to hold him or give him hugs/kisses, but most of the time, you go about your day without paying him much mind. It's nothing personal, you're just too busy playing. I think you're ready for him to grow bigger so he can play with you.
You do like to push the stroller, but that's always an adventure because you don't like us to help so we have to work to subtlety make sure you don't crash. Lately, you have asked me to put baby down when you want to read or sit in my lap, but you have been fairly patient with me and him. You are still always ready to let me know when the baby is crying (as if I don't hear him), and whenever he laughs, you say "Baby silly!" I'm so excited to see your relationship develop and grow.
I'd say you've had a much harder time lately with the amount of travel Dada has been doing. It's no secret that you are a mini Jon, and it's hard on you when your partner in crime isn't home. Probably because of him being gone a lot this summer, you've developed a little separation anxiety. I tried to drop you off at church nursery last Sunday, but you completely melted down upon arrival. They had to pry you off of me. I assumed you would calm down once I left (you've been perfectly happy to be there for months and months), but you did not. They had to call us back to get you. And then at playgroup this week, you were not thrilled with Dada leaving. He had to sneak out while you were distracted. The supervisors reported that you were sad for a minute when you realized he was gone, but otherwise did just fine. We are hoping this is just a short phase that you'll overcome when this busy travel season is over. And really hoping this isn't still a problem when you start preschool in September!
For a 2.5 year old, I'd still say you are incredibly easy-going with a pretty mild temperament. Full blown tantrums are still pretty rare and short-lived. But, of course, none of us are perfect, and you have been testing boundaries more often. When you aren't getting the attention you want or if you are upset, you will throw things. We've worked really hard to learn appropriate ways to ask for attention (if I had a penny for the number of times I now hear "Mama!" or "I need help" every day....), and to learn the difference between things that are hard vs. things that are soft vs. balls that can be thrown.
Your other fun behavior is when we have to force you to cooperate. For example, leaving a place, going upstairs for bedtime routine, or picking you up because you won't willingly walk to the car, etc. you like to express your displeasure by taking swipes at us. Of course this usually happens while you are being picked up against your will so the swipes generally hit us in the face. Lovely. We haven't come up with a great discipline routine for this yet, but we try to offer choices as much as possible so you have the opportunity to obey before we have to force you.
You also have a tendency to run away. In which case, we force you to sit down and be still until you agree to hold our hands and stay with us. Safety first. I'm sorry we are such mean parents that don't let you run wild in the street.
I do see our consistency starting to pay off in some ways, and you've just recently started to show remorse. When we have to be stern with you, a minute or two later, you usually give me an unprompted hug. Empathy is setting in too. You teared up the other day when Dada bumped his head and said "ow" and your little lip quivered and tears welled up in your eyes when you were playing with Leo and he started to cry (it was no fault of yours).
This could really go on and on. I keep thinking of things I want to remember! Every day you do, say or understand something new. It's such a wild ride to watch you grow and learn and discover. You bring us so much joy. We love you!
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