The joys of a 2 1/2 year old

Life with Ian has been a roller coaster ride these last couple of weeks. Potty Training has gone surprisingly well. Other than the one accident he had last Thurs, he has had no accidents. That includes nighttime, and he is wearing underwear at night now. Of course, he wakes up at 4 o'clock in the morning asking to nurse when really he just needs to use the potty and does not fully recognize it. Now after a week of constantly using the potty he no longer wants to use his potty but the BIG potty. We have a toddler seat to sit on top of it that he feels so big using. The problem with this is that requires me to help him up on the toilet. And I'm not always in position to help. Meaning he and I have a verbal argument as to which potty he should use. The other struggle is getting him to pull up his pants afterwards. He can pull up his pants. He is perfectly capable. However he would prefer that I do it. I think maybe it's his way of saying he still wants my help. Sometimes I just give in and pull them up for him. Other times I talk him through pulling them up on his own. My internal struggle is that I want him to know that I'm still available to help him when he needs it. On the other hand, I want him to do the things I know he can do by himself. It's a struggle to find the right balance.

I've noticed the last couple of weeks that Ian really is more of a kid and less of a baby. His pretend play is becoming more and more imaginative. Just earlier this week we were eating phones. He would put his hand up to his ear and talk like he was talking on a phone then he would pretend to eat it. :) Strange and cute all in one. Last night at the church's Wednesday night meal, I watch Ian try to play with some of the other kids in the nursery. There were two 4 years olds and another 2 year old who is probably 6 mo younger than Ian. Ian so wanted to join in the game the 4 year olds were playing. They were playing house. But he didn't know how really. He would try to follow their actions but often they had moved on to the next part and he was left standing there. Poor guy. It was good to watch though. He does a great job of playing with kids his age. But I had never seen him try to join in a game that older kids were playing. Sure he'll play with older kids. But usually it's a one on one type situation. Sometimes it feels weird to think that this Fall Ian will be old enough for preschool. But lately it feel just about right.

The one thing this week that told me Ian really is growing happened yesterday. We had just gotten home from grocery shopping and I ran into the bathroom. As is typical (none of the doors in our house latch very well) Ian followed. As usual he asked if I was peeing. Then what seemed like out of the blue, he asked where my penis went. I'm pleased to say that it only threw me for a split second. I knew this question was bound to come one of these days. But somehow it still caught me off guard. After the split second of gathering my thoughts, I calmly explained that I'm a girl and don't have a penis. What was cute was Ian's response. When I said it didn't have one he asked, "Mommy only have a bottom?" "No" I responded. I then only briefly mentioned that girls have vaginas and boys have penises and that Mommy is a girl and Daddy is a boy. He seemed to be ok with my answer and hasn't asked about it since. Now my big fear is him telling his new knowledge to everyone else. :) I have a sneaking suspension that this will come to haunt me some Sunday morning at church. :)

Well other than the adventures of Ian's constant mood swings between being dependent and independent, life is ok. Cai is teething with makes for some fussy days and fussy nights. He also loves to sit up but can't without assistance. Thus when I try to prop him up he falls over he gets mad that he is laying down. He'll get it one of these days. :) Luckily he is still pretty content playing on the floor on this tummy or back. Which is good. I'm in no hurry for him to move. Unfortunately he wants to be around Ian and Ian can move. So watching him you just know he is trying to figure out how to move. In addition to rolling from stomach to back and back to stomach he is starting to try to turn his body in circles to get where he wants. He's growing so fast. They both are.