Twenty One Months

These monthly posts are getting to be quite the chore! I am really only doing them for the yearly album at this point and I know I won't regret having some text to go into the giant photo book I'm currently making for Truman's second year. But dang---where have the months gone?


Let's start by painting a picture of things Truman just ADORES, okay?
-The child loves dry cereal in a bowl, a sippy of milk, and a sippy of water. These three things could be his only sustenance if I allowed it. Combine these items with a little Elmo on his portable DVD player and you have the perfect recipe for a happy Truman each morning.



- Also, he is obsessed with his blankies, now. He never really cared about the little monkey, lamb and green blanket that I have been putting in his crib for months...until now. And now it's gone a little overboard because he takes those darn blankies all around the house and even to Lori's house (but I limit him to two there, I'm so hard, aren't I?) I think it's sort of cute that he finds comfort in these blankets but it also seems like just one more thing to get rid of in the future.



- The child cannot get enough of flirting with strangers, especially those of the female variety. Taking him out to eat is highly entertaining because he will lock eyes with any cute teenage girl and immediately set his spell on her. When we were in Missouri last month for Thanksgiving, Truman warmed right up to our extended family and definitely chose his favorites (like my 21 year old cousin, Kelsey, who seriously needs to move to WI to be our permanent babysitter). I love that my child is highly social and loves to interact with others. It makes me especially happy since our dog is the most anti-social creature you'll find:)

- He loves to pretend he is a baby. This is starting to worry me a bit, because I will say, 'Truman, you are SUCH a big boy!' and then he will immediately say, 'Oh! No, baby' and points to himself. He corrects me about this nearly every day and then just to drive home his point he will get down and starts army crawling across our floors. I'm sure this has something to do with the baby in my belly as he sort of 'gets' that too, pointing to my belly and saying 'BABY' every day and then giving the baby a big hug (melt me, now).

- Loves hunting for the little mouse in the Goodnight Moon book. Loves pointing to various colors in the wide world around him, specifically nailing purple, yellow and sometimes green. But let's get real, he still likes to mix them all up most of the time and we don't mind since the words sound so cute coming out of his mouth.



- Loves making forts with mommy and forces Paw Paw to set up a small-ish tent in their living room downstairs.





-Loves picking on Henry and has a new game of 'get the dog to leave my room, then slam the door so he can't get back in!'. Truman really does love Henry though, and he will hug him (although a little too rough) all day long. Henry obliges most of the time because I think he secretly loves the attention.

- Throwing balls, being athletic, trying to jump (can do it sometimes, but others he only clears one foot off the ground), and being a big old boy. This kid really does have a great throwing arm, though, and insane hand-eye coordination when it comes to hitting golf balls or other items with his clubs. Nate and I are trying really hard not to be all psycho about him becoming a star athlete just yet. We'll tackle preschool first:)



-He got back into killing imaginary bugs again this month. Usually he will do this little routine after he practices his jumping. I have no idea why he pretends to smack bugs but it's seriously hilarious, if not a little creepy.

-He loves to babble to himself. Most of his words make sense to us but then he'll just go off on a toddler tangent for awhile and we have to pretend that we understand. His new favorite words are: dump (for a dump truck, complete with a hand gesture), yellow, bye-bye, hi!!!! (said really enthusiastically and usually when getting very close to your face), and no-no (mostly directed at the dog).

-And his love for temporary tattoos has not diminished in time. In fact, we are basically putting two new ones on about every other day now. Good thing we bought a pack of 140 this summer! Almost out now!


Things Truman DESPISES:
-T will crinkle up his nose and say, 'ick!' whenever he sees tiny crumbs in our sink while he's playing in the water. He really does not appreciate any food particles in his territory that don't belong there and will demand that I empty out the drain before he begins playing. Did I ever tell you that I was an odd child who had to play in sandboxes with rubber gloves because I didn't like the feel of it? I hope Truman isn't following my weirdo lead.

- He also hates if there is a tiny thread coming off the seam of his sleeve. Makes me cut it off right away so he doesn't have to see the horror.

- And he is getting to hate all zip-up hooded sweatshirts, which stinks because he wears so many of them. Not sure where this came from but we've noticed that when we put on a tee shirt he's totally fine, but anything with a hood or a zipper (besides his coats, which he loves) will make the boy tweak. I basically have to torture him and force it over his arms and zip it up while he screams, then I try my best to distract the heck out of him. Very odd, no?

-Although we had lots of luck with the potty a few months ago, Truman is definitely on an anti-potty kick right now. All I've ever done is just ask if he has to go, and he used to say 'yes' and mean it. Now he always says, 'NO!' and so I'm not pushing it. I believe he'll potty train when he is ready so there is no point in forcing the issue when he isn't even two years old yet, you know? But now he mostly likes to take the inner bowl of his froggy potty and put it in random places of the house instead of actually using it. It was nice while it lasted!

Truman is wearing all 2T and some 3T clothes at this point and we still get comments on his height. Still hasn't needed a haircut yet but there are a few really long and awesome strands that are pushing the limits of appropriateness. His sleep is pretty much all over the board this month, and although we did get a few awesome late-rising days (6:30 or later) the past few days have been a 5 am wake up call again. But he still loves his 3 hour nap so I can't complain too much, I suppose. He's seemingly rounded the corner at daycare with his separation anxiety, which I believe has a lot to do with his better sleeping habits. I just love hearing good reports from Lori and there are many mornings when T is talking all about Lori and his buddies at daycare on our drive to her house.

(Truman with his buddy Kaydin and also Henry at daycare. Note the matching firetruck hooded sweatshirts---that was a nightmare to get on in the morning, but worth it when Kaydin showed up in the same thing!)


He's eating EXTREMELY well for Lori and fairly well for me but he's still pretty picky in the evenings at dinner. I'm sort of convinced that when he wakes early in the morning and also when he doesn't want to sit still for dinner, his little brain is just going through SO many new and exciting things that he just doesn't have time to sleep or eat, respectively.

What a year you've had, mister Tru! We love you so much and can't wait to see what 2012 brings to your little life.