Bud and Little Miss in January
It's been a little while since I've posted a decent update on what my two little people have been up to so I thought I'd share.
Bud is now very nearly 34 months. I can't believe my baby boy will be three years old in April. Where does the time go? It seems like mere weeks since was the size Little Miss is now! We've been in the jungle of potty training recently. That has been a slow process and deserves it's own blog post. I'll be writing that soon. Other than the potty training adventure, and my goodness was I not prepared for it, we have been experiencing Bud's take on the terrible twos.
Bud has never been bad tempered. Yes we've had the occasional rage but he has never been a child who throws themselves on the floor or screams and wails. However, recently he is behaving a bit oddly and it is starting to bother me. He is big for his age, already in size 3-4 clothes, and he is constantly trying to impose himself physically on me and his sister. He throws himself at us and sprawls on us. Lots. Another favourite is using knees, elbows, ankles, toes, shoulders or head to push his weight against me even more Can you imagine someone putting a bent elbow against your arm or leg, then pushing all their body weight into the elbow, or placing their head against you and pushing forward with all their might? It would hurt wouldn't it? It does! I'm covered in bruises from the constant battering I get! It isn't done in a violent or angry way. The best way I can describe it is that he is physically imposing himself on me.I suspect it's hormonal, especially after reading The Boy and Me's excellent post on toddler boy hormones, either that or he is trying to assert his position in the family. It is interesting that he doesn't try this behaviour on his Daddy. I wonder if any of you have experienced this with your boys? Do you have any tips for dealing with it? At the moment I just move away from him. He follows me around the room as I move each time he starts, it is worse when I am holding his Sister, another explanation may be jealousy. I'm hoping that refusing to tolerate it and removing myself from his vicinitywill do the trick.
My boy is growing up a lot. His speech is wonderful and he has an extensive vocabulary. I love that he knows the meaning of words like delicious and fantastic and knows how to use them in a sentence properly. I'm so proud of his manners. He says please and thank you without being prompted now which impresses most people who are on the receiving end. It just goes to show that children are never too small to learn good manners. He chats and sings constantly and I love to just listen to him. His interest in art and craft has improved immeasurably and rarely a day goes by when we don't paint, draw, stick or cut. I'm on a mission to get some real projects on the go and I'm hoping to start some different activities too. I've been pinning lots of toddler craft ideas for inspiration and we've been pulling together a box with lots of different materials in it. He loves his baby Sister and often 'strokes her gently' (his words) and tells other people that they have to be gentle with her too. I know he has found sharing me difficult but I'm very pleased with how he is adjusting (apart from the earlier problem mentioned).
Little Miss is doing so well. I can't tell you how much she weighs as we don't go to the clinic very often. She is thriving though, and growing every day! She has such a happy, sunny disposition and is quick to smile and laugh. Her favourite person is her big Brother. She watches him move around the room and smiles faster for him than anyone else. She loves to be held and doesn't like going to bed on her own. She would rather sleep next to me, or on her Daddy in the evening. We're going to be putting a stop to that soon hopefully. We will be getting her cot set up at the weekend as she is filling her Moses Basket and I intend to use this transition to impose bedtime upon her. We will see how that goes! Last night I tried twice to put her down to go to sleep, both times she was quiet for about five minutes and then started crying. When I went in to see her I was met with a great big grin so she is clearly doing it because she doesn't want to be alone. I want to address this sooner rather than later. It's hard not to indulge her when you have that smile looking back at you!
My Daughter is very similar to her Brother in many ways and I am consistently being told how alike they are. I understand why people say it but, to me and their Daddy, they are quite different. This is a photo of each at around four months. I think there is a similarity, but also a strong difference too. What do you think?
