To quote Monty Python: 'I'm not dead yet'.
. . . though I can understand your confusion based on the complete lack of posts in the past few months.
We are still here, mostly healthy even, just enjoying the day to day life with a terror, er, toddler, er, two-year old running around the home. Justin is officially past the two-and-a-half year mark, so I thought it was time for an update.
"They're called the 'terrible twos' because 'fucking awful' doesn't start with a 'T'" said someone
. . . Pardon my language Mom.
Let's move on to a quick recap, shall we? I'll do the first part and Baby Daddy can add what he thinks of later (once he realizes I have posted this - so check back in a couple weeks).
Tada! Baby Daddy here, and it only took me two days to find this ;) I'll add my thoughts in red throughout the post, and hopefully not completely destroy the flow along the way.
_________________
Justin is a backseat driver: 'Mommy, green means go'. 'Let's go THAT way'. 'No, Mommy, red means stop'.
He still has a love-hate relationship with Izzy. He loves that she eats whatever food he can throw at her from the dinner table before being caught, and hates that she sneaks some of his goldfish, most of the time. Earlier this week, I had brought some Girl Scout Cookies home for Date Night (I know, they say romance is dead). I offered Justin 2 Peanut Butter Patties (average life expectancy in Hunt Household, 1.3 days). He wanted to offer one to Iz, and I told him no. His response: asking for Goldfish. I obliged, and he proceeded to feed Izzy, while saying 'Izzy LOVES Goldfish!'
He gets frustrated easily and doesn't know how to appropriately express his frustrations, resulting in some inappropriate behavior at home and daycare, but he is very quick to reconcile. We are working on getting him to calm down, and not letting his behavior escalate. He already has the old adage 'It is better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission' down. . .
His nighttime routine is hilarious. Each night he gets to pick out two books(ish), sit in either mom or dad's lap, read books, be rocked, then go to his crib. The parent not reading gets some combination of hugs/kisses from Justin. Some nights it's a simple hug. Occasionally, he'll do the man hug (quick hug, two taps on the back). Other nights it's a hug-on-the-right-side, hug-on-the-left-side, grab-face-with-both-hands-and-kiss. I like to call this hug The Godfather. Always makes me a little concerned that I'll wake up with stuffed animal head in my bed as an offer that I shouldn't refuse.
Speaking of crib, we switched his crib to the toddler bed configuration a few months ago, and he does great. For a couple months he wouldn't come out of his room without knocking from the inside first.
Nope, he is not potty trained. I don't think he is ready and I am not going to fight him before I think he is. Don't ask anymore.
The Dude is still a big fan of going to Hockey games. We seem to be averaging two a month. I still know nothing about the sport, but go Blackhawks!
He can identify some major superheroes, and requests to go to "Wobs" (the comic book shop) often. Robs is also where we get haircuts, and Girl Scout Cookies.
Quick List of superheroes: Green Lantern, Spider Man, Batman, Luke Skywalker (and his 'rocket' (T-47 Airspeeder or Snowspeeder for the Star Wars nerds reading) and Joker (okay, not a hero), and Darth Vader (again, not a hero, unless you're a fan of the Empire).
(Side note for Baby Daddy: work on Marvel and Star Trek characters. . .)
He loves trains - in fact, every person who enters the home is asked to 'come pay my trains wit me?' We work daily on identifying all of Thomas and his Friends. He'll also tell his cousin Annabelle that he's playing with his trains when on the phone with her. Every. Time. Even when the trains have not been touched yet that day.
Justin has also become a fan of watching Cars cartoons, and recently has wanted to watch nothing but Dora the Explorer (Justin repeating Spanish is great. At this rate he'll know more before he's 3 than I learned in four years of classes). He'll still make time for Thomas and Friends, Toy Story, Curious George, Wild Kratts, and the occasional Fireman Sam.
While on the topic of entertainment, Baby Mommy and I are waiting for Justin to start asking us for a 'Pad' (iPad) for his birthday or Christmas. He insists on playing with Aunt Issa/ Uncle Eric's every time he sees them. He can run it better than I can. And no, he does not need one.
He still naps each day, for up to 2-2.5 hours when home, which is awesome. Mommy is not ready to lose that naptime yet. He really has not fought at all about it. I really think it is because he loves his blankie that much. Realizing I'm going to jinx this, thankfully he'll sleep with blankets other than his blankie, like when he had a stomach bug a couple of weeks ago. Let's just say 'his blankie' wasn't serviceable for part of a night. He sleeps great, except for this week when he decided that it is a good idea to wake at 5am. (Baby Daddy is adding his comments at 7:15 A.M. on a Saturday, and we're just about through our second episode of Dora the Explorer).
Mentioning Justin's sleeping habits made me think of Justin 'cuddliness.' By that I mean he is the most restless cuddler. Ever. I don't even try anymore. Saves me from the accidental headbutts.
When Justin gets excited about something, he gets quiet. I know - weird, right? If he comes running, then says something that one can only understand through the use of lip reading, he really wants it. Lately this involves Dora, and the use of what I call the Justin-excitement-parent-trap. It looks something like this:
Scene: Justin runs into the kitchen, smack into my legs, looks up, and moves his mouth, presumably to form some words that cannot be heard.
Mama: What was that?
Dude (barely audible): Wanna watch Dora wit you.
Mama (clarifying): You want to watch Dora with me?
Dude (triumphant): Uh huh, YEAH! (and runs away to the tv victorious as he had just got me to offer him what he wants).
Other parental things to remember: We try to always enforce the idea that he is a good boy, just not choosing good behaviors or actions. It's a subtle difference, but there are enough problems in the world already; I don't want him thinking he is a bad boy to begin with. I believe that him learning to play and be creative is more important than school learning now. I want him to have a good imagination.
This kid is hilarious. and opinionated (like his father). and stubborn (some (like me) would say like me). oh my God can he be stubborn. Somewhere along the way this probably serves us right. . .
But he is also loving and open to people he knows well. He is also smart, and even sarcastic at times. I have no idea where he picked that up . . . He is perfectly Justin, and we love him more and more each day.
Some favorite Justin-isms:
Dude: "Hockey House down the road? . . . Mommy's car goes down the road? . . . Justin goes in Mommy's car?"
Dude (to Daddy): 'No Daddy, you not good boy. You bad, like girl'.
Mommy: 'You have the cutest little tushie in the whole world, Little Dude'.
Dude: 'No Mommy - NO TUSHIE FOR YOU'.
Dude: 'I need a sippie.' (Pretty much anything can be used instead of 'sippie'). This is how Justin asks for something. We we're working on distinguishing 'need' vs. 'want,' and how to ask instead of state. It's going as well as one can expect with a child that has Baby Daddy and Baby Mommy's personalities.
Dude (upon seeing the Target red bullseye): 'Mommy . . . Mommy want coffee?' . . . 'Justin have cookie?' (our weekly ritual)
This is what quite a few of the pictures looked like.
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