2 & a half

Yesterday we helped Tante celebrate the big 2-5!!

Last Wednesday our Nugget turned 2 & a half years old.  As I think I've thought and said with every 6 month increment of his life, this seemed to go the fastest and have the most changes, (maybe since the first 6.)

Ben is still amazingly loving and incredibly empathetic.  Crying babies or kiddos stop him in his tracks and bring a look of total worry over his face.  He hands out hug-a-buggas and kissies readily and has to kiss and hug any soft lovey toy before and while playing with it. 

It seems that if Ben had his way in the sleep department, he would nap each day from 230-5 and sleep from 930 or 10pm until 8am.   This doesn't quite work in our family or with his school schedule but I spend many a night waiting for him to fall asleep and worrying that I might have a night owl on my hands.

Ben is adept at recognizing all his letters, shapes and colors.  He can say most of them but struggles with a few letters and even his speech therapist doesn't always understand him.  Last week she was playing Mr Potato Head with him and encouraging him to say, "nose." He was saying "red oval" over and over and Cathy's frustration soon turned to cheers when I translated for her. :)  We have done less work with numbers and counting and need to start focusing more on that.

Ben's jumping is improving everyday and he LOVES to gallop a lot.  He is still very busy and frequently runs the length of the house back and forth when his Mama doesn't give him other outlets for his energy.

He is still a bit of a self-imposed vegetarian so I look to dairy and beans to supplement his protein.  He still loves cheese and carbs like his Mama and tomatoes and avocados are still his favorite veggies, (I know they are fruit.)  His teachers say he is one of the best eaters in the class and I am pretty happy with his diet overall.  We still try to do green monsters or other smoothies a couple times a week to sneak some fresh spinach in.

Speaking of school, he still LOVES it and is talking more to his friends and teachers.  He seems to be well-liked by his peers and is getting better at sitting longer for circle times and at lunch.  We are still unsure about what next year holds school-wise, but should know lots more by the end of this week.

Ben's speech therapist, Cathy, is very happy with his progress.  As with many things in life, when we make great strides in some areas, others digress a bit, but overall Ben's vocabulary and ability to attempt to say almost any word is greatly improving. His two and three word phrases are on the increase and he is constantly pointing out colors and helping us read his books.  Cathy's boss came to observe Ben a couple weeks ago and she does think his speech difficulties are related to sensory feedback issues.  Basically Ben's brain doesn't get the same response from his muscle movement (including speech) that most people's do.  Adults with nervous and repetitive movements have the same issue, as do adrenaline junkies who crave more and more input.  Neither Cathy nor her boss are worried about Ben for the long-term but intervening now will hopefully give him the boost to get on top of things a bit.  His current level and type of therapy ends when he is 3 so we will decide then how to move forward.

We are in our second session of swimming lessons at the local rec center and in two weeks Ben will start private lessons at Denver University.  He is so close to swimming on his own that we wanted something to challenge him more than the local group lessons.  

Other favorites activities for Ben right now are anything involving balls and reading, reading and more reading, (preferably in Mama and Dada's bed.) He also loves the iPad and movies and asks for them incessantly.  We try to limit the movies to 2-3 per week and I try to limit the iPad to one 20 minute session before nap and one after.  This has changed a bit with potty training but I also still try to read or sing songs to him while he is in training.  I'm very excited for the sequentially nice days of spring and summer so the park can again become a part of our regular routine.

Potty training is still going well with only two accidents this week.  One was at school on Tuesday and he was VERY upset by it.  We still have him try more than he asks, but he has asked with motions or "potty! Go!" a couple of times.  I think he has woken up at night dry about 70% of the time but I will say the night-time diaper removal is a ways off.  We are discussing and debating how to do the toddler-bed transition and about it's importance before moving to underwear at night.  Ben does seem to be pretty afraid of and uncomfortable with big public toilets.  For that reason, I have taken the insert he uses at home with us to several public places.  It's a bit of a pain but better than accidents so that will be our next hurdle on this potty training journey.

Between school, swimming, and speech therapy we have planned, out-of-the-house activities 5 or 6 days a week.  This makes for one tired Mama and one very happy toddler. 

*We have a second ear re-check this week so I will attempt to get height and weight stats at that visit.