The two biggest changes that Tyler has been dealing with (and they're pretty big!) is sleeping in his own bed and potty training. I think he's doing really well with sleeping in his bed and he still loves his new room. He has his nights where he'll get out of bed before he falls asleep and we have to put him back and that frustrates Travis, but I think it's to be expected. Once he falls asleep, he's snug all night. Travis still falls asleep on the air mattress next to Tyler's bed and then when I get ready for bed later, I take over the air mattress while Travis sleeps in our bed. I have found the air mattress to be a little more comfortable for my large belly right now (and I'll admit, I missed sleeping next to my baby as well!). I'm curious to see how we'll handle this once the baby gets here, but I imagine Tyler will have to start sleeping by himself soon (which means I have to get on the ball with setting up our home alarm system!).
Potty training is also going well. He has been wearing his 'big boy underwear' (or 'good boy underwear,' as he likes to call them) during the day for about a month and a half now and he'll sometimes wear a Pull-up when we're out and about, depending on what we're doing. He has good days and bad days and we still have to ask him/take him to go to the potty for the most part, but he's been getting better about letting us know when he needs to go. We started the sticker/reward chart this past week and he did GREAT, so I'm hoping this gives him a little incentive to tell us when he needs to go instead of us always asking and making him go.
So, what kind of reward does one get for a week full of stickers??? A trip to the yummy donut shop!! Tyler's fav: pink icing with sprinkles. :-)
A couple of things that he's REALLY looking forward to is going to the beach this summer- he talks about it ALL.THE.TIME and is constantly asking if it's "sunny days" so that we can go and he can play in the sand and catch crabs; and his birthday- he's very aware of birthday parties now and is super excited to be THREE and have a party of his own (half of the time he tells me that he's already 3). I want to do something fun for him this year since it's the first birthday party that he really understands and because we want him to have a really special day in the middle of all the fuss over baby sister. Can't believe he's almost 3!
He learned his first Spanish word, assuming from Diego or Dora. Chocolate (cho-co-LA-tay). Of course, that would be MY kid's first Spanish word, haha! And speaking of my kid, this boy LOVES massages and foot rubs. He gets in his little comfortable position and asks me to 'rub' him all the time. Once I'm done, he'll say, "Again!" Travis is completely opposite of us in this regard! That's okay though, I spend my time cuddling with Tyler and Travis spends his time wrestling with Tyler. They get pretty rough now, putting each other in head locks, etc. Tyler has even given his Daddy a fat lip with his right jab!! (I'm not a fan of this very rough play, but they're boys and it's their thing).
As I've mentioned before, Tyler is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his baby sister. I feel bad for him because he has no concept of time and I'm sure it feels like we've been talking about her for forever. He's so kind and generous and has given her all of his baby toys, baby books and some stuffed animals. I went through everything and asked him first if she could have it and aside from a few items that he wanted to keep, he was happy to pass it on. He's my sweet boy! :-)
He has such an imagination now and loves role playing. He pretends that he's a doctor and does routine check-ups on me and baby sister. He pretends that he's a cop, putting people in jail or taking their money (HA). He pretends to be a hair dresser and styles my hair complete with a pretend hair wash, hair cut and blow dry. He pretends to be a puppy and plays fetch with us. He has imaginary baby reindeer that he takes care of. He has pretend trucks that he's always fixing up. He has random conversations with cartoon characters on his phone. He puts on imaginary clothes and costumes and pretends to be superheros (Iron Man). He turned his closet into the beach. He pretends to drive his car or fly an airplane to 'airport city.' This list could go on and on. It's really impressive and entertaining to sit and watch him play and I just love that he's so animated.
So, that's just a small summary of what's going on with our Little Dude these days. As always, we're enjoying him like crazy!
My goofball:
From our recent picnic at the neighborhood park:
