I missed the 2 year old update because we had our hands full with the new baby, end of the school year stuff, a double birthday party at our house, and a new baby (he counts twice). But Brice is at such an interesting and (mostly) fun age that I wanted to capture it here.
At 2 1/2, Brice is:
-Talking nonstop. The boy has so, so much to say. He has questions and wants to have conversations. He wants to tell you something silly or describe what he saw. We mostly understand what he says, but sometimes others have trouble. It can be hard to understand him because he talks fast, drops some letters and a few syllables, and replaces some sounds with others. So we're working on him slowing down, and making all the sounds he can.
-Chase's echo: when Chase says he wants something, Brice echoes him. When Chase says he did something at school that day, Brice echos him. Pretty much anything Chase says, Brice echos. Unless, of course, Brice is trying to tell his own story over Chase.
-Trying to give up nap...When he naps, Brice has trouble falling asleep before 8:45 or 9. But when he doesn't nap (which happens about 30% of the time), he's cranky and irritable by the evening. Really, I think his natural schedule is to wake up late, take a late nap, and stay up late, but inevitably Chase wakes him up early in the morning. So he needs a nap to make it to bed time. We'll just call it a work in progress.
-Speaking of sleep, Brice is sleeping in a real (big boy) bed. We originally transitioned his crib into a toddler bed, but he was getting out of it and we couldn't lay with him in the little bed so we just changed him to the big bed. He still gets out more than we want him to, but so does Chase. Another work in progress.
-Going to school 3 half days a week. He loves it. It's a different school than Chase's preschool, a coop with many more parents aound, which is great because now that I'm working part time I want to be more involved. It's also so much easier to get to with far less traffic. Brice is the youngest in the older 2's class, but he's doing great and having fun. After every class he tells me what they did, who he played with, what songs they sang, what book his teacher read, and what he had for snack. His best friend is JP, and he talks about him nonstop.
-Running, jumping, playing, and wrestling like the little boy he is.
-Whiny. Maybe he learned it from Chase or maybe it is the universe getting me back for being a whiny kid, but boy can Brice turn up the whine. He wants something and will whine to get it. And cry if we say no. "But I want it..." is one of his favorite phrases. It's a special time.
-Not using a paci any more. It was becoming far more of a crutch than we wanted. So we told Brice he could ask for any present he wanted if he gave up his paci. He is obsessed with golf. A couple weeks ago, he found a golf/pool set in a catalogue and really wanted it. So we decided that if he sent his paci's to Santa, maybe Santa would bring the golf set. Lo and behold, it worked!
We expected bedtime to be rough, but the most surprising thing about not having a paci was that Brice would get upset and not be able to calm himself. We had underestimated how much he needed it to self-soothe. After a couple of weeks, he was fine and back to normal. He hasn't asked for his paci since the first day and his teeth are straightening out.
-Not potty trained, but sort of interested. He's peed on the potty and holds in his pee...but doesn't always go on the potty (resulting in overflowing diapers, fun!). He hasn't pooped on the potty. Golf bribery has not worked on him yet. And, only one child in his class is potty trained! We were hoping for far more peer pressure.
-Singing the ABCs and counting to 15. I think he has the concept that one item counts one time already too. He knows that his name is B-R-I-C-E. In fact, he points at any words and the letter and says "B-R-I-C-E, Brice!"
-Obsessed with the golf game on the phone/ipad. He secretly steals my phone when I'm not looking and plays golf or tombrunner. It's pretty funny that he's so sneaky, but also frustrating.
-Loves coloring and "writing my name."
Brice is a sweet, hilarious, opinionated, active little guy. We love him so, so much!
