Porter at Twenty Months

It seems like I just wrote a monthly update on Porter-P and I'm not sure much has changed in the past month. Except he does seem quite a bit larger in size and closer to the age of two in his emotions. Oh, the tantrums have begun and the frustrations of being a baby-but-NOT are evident with this guy.

(this is seriously how he watches TV. The belly. The face. The posture. I cannot.)


Classic tantrum, and Henry is obviously above this nonsense.


Forcing him to come inside when he is having the time of his life playing in the great outdoors is an automatic freak out. Encouraging him to share a toy with his siblings also means we are asking him to donate a bodily organ and it's highly offensive to Porter. He does not want to sit in a booster seat, like ever, and prefers to sit on a big chair or my lap. He despises wearing gloves and hats although we are certainly nowhere near a real stretch of nicer weather, much to his dismay. Porter cannot be bothered to have his diaper changed and generally dislikes getting dressed each day, and brushing his teeth is as close to torture as he can imagine. He will usually protest the stroller and prefers to walk to and from school, but holding his hand when we cross the street is really upsetting for P. He's started to poke out his bottom lip for effect and can fake cry at the drop of a hat, even producing real tears within a second's notice. He's been known to hit and bite, usually for play but he's stronger than he realizes. I hope he isn't a big bully but no matter what, he will be our child that can absolutely hold his own with the bigger kids of the house.

Wearing Truman's old 3T coat, holding a train, keeping up with CC---typical.


First meal at Costco, MAJOR fan.


BUT. Aside from those lovely, opinionated parts of his 'going on two' personality? Porter is freaking hilarious and so sweet. I'll try to focus on the excellent parts of this child now that the less than wonderful pieces are out of the way. Because yeah, he's almost two and has turned out to be rather emotional and strong-willed, so I guess the tantrums are somewhat expected.

Nailed the Valentines Day shot.


Really into sneaking up the stairs alone, still not the best at descending.


Poor third child, has to wear his sister's pink boots. Also, generally hates winter.


This month, Porter officially cut his final two baby teeth, and those pointy little canines complete his sparkly set of chompers. It's crazy to me to think that our teething days are over until he's Truman's age, and gets his six year molars! {Hmmm, Google is actually telling me there might be one more set of 2 year molars ahead, I guess I will have to inspect his mouth when he wakes from his nap. But yeah, more teeth this month!}

Pretty smile.


SO BIG.


Also, Porter is showing a major infatuation with trains, specifically his big brother's previous bestie: Thomas and Friends! I am not sure why Porter's emerging love for trains makes me so happy, but probably because it brings back memories of playing trains with my first born for hours and hours when our lives were much quieter and simpler. I mean, I can still make a decent train track and Porter is a lucky dude to inherit a gigantic stash of Thomas trains. This is the first time I've really seen Porter sit down and entertain himself with any type of toy for up to 10 minutes a stretch, without any interaction from me. Of course, he does tend to get a little destructive with the tracks and needs help when he drains the batteries on numerous trains simultaneously. But it's still really fun to watch him pull a big string of trains across our house just like Truman would do around the age of two until maybe age four? I don't know, but I'm thinking this is just the beginning of Porter and trains. Plus, I did technically choose Porter's name after seeing his train for sale at Target, so it's obviously meant to be.

(most of the semi-elaborate tracks are designated for the unfinished part of the basement, which makes for a beautiful, uncluttered, posed picture.)


Ports is a pretty good eater but he definitely doesn't like to sit still for longer than five minutes to allow for a substantial meal. He's a great sleeper, going down most nights around 7-7:30 and waking around 6:30-7am. He will clock long nap in the afternoon usually two or three hours and will wake up happy about 50% of the time. Almost always he will immediately ask for 'Dee Dee, Tru Tru' when I go to get him out of his crib. One time recently, Nate went upstairs to get Porter and I heard the babe say 'huh-uhhhhh!' as he shook his head 'no way, man'. He likes routine already and having his daddy get him out of the crib was not acceptable. Porter tries to call the shots around here, in case I haven't made that clear yet.

Licking frosting batter is not too horrible, I guess.


He calls these jammies 'happy monkeys'. And his ears look gigantic here.


Aside from playing with trains, Porter also fancies watching Daniel Tiger or possibly Thomas on TV or the Kindle. He will play with his 'guys', which are Fischer Price Little People, but mostly he just likes to empty out our toy bins to create a massive pile of junk that gets strewn across every room of the house (my fave). He loves balls and with a few pretending-to-be-Spring-days last week, he greatly enjoyed kicking and throwing balls and had his sister push him on the baby scooter.



These two <3


Inquisitive Porter.


I can tell that Porter seriously worships both Cecelia and Truman, and he is determined to do everything they are doing at all times. Nate took both of the big kids to the driving range yesterday during nap time, and when Porter saw them getting hats and shoes on to leave he ran over and followed along. Although he hates to wear hats, he found one and put it on, requested I help with his shoes, and said 'go' over and over again. It was obviously a big bummer to stay home with mom and take a nap, but it was also adorable to see him say 'bye bye' over and over while they drove away. Someday you'll be able to do fun things during nap time, buddy!

My two grocery shopping helpers.


Doesn't dislike frozen  yogurt.


BOOKS!


Porter and Cecelia have been doing great with Tony on my work days. CC likes to boss both Tony and Porter around most of the morning, then while Porter naps sister and grandpa get some quality time. Porter loves his Papa so much and eagerly runs to him whenever Tony comes over. Ports loves books and demands that all of us read to him, but especially Tony---he seems to do it best! Also, Memaw was a big hit this month when she visited.



Four generations!


He has a lot of readers in his life.


Recently Porter has been climbing up the stairs on the school playground, walking over to the slides, and will go down all by himself without totally wiping out. He also gets a little irritated with me on playgrounds because he thinks he can hang with the fifth graders and is embarrassed when I force him to leave. Porter seems fairly fearless when it comes to physical tasks, climbing, running, bowling people over, etc. He is still the BEST dancer ever, in the history of all babies, and now he is trying to jump which is highly entertaining.

Will hold hands with sister, not with mommy.


Again, thinks he is a big kid (both of these guys, actually).


CLASSIC PORTER.


I never know how to accurately describe Porter's vocabulary, but he is highly verbal and never stops talking. Some of his words make no sense and others are spot-on. He will repeat basically anything we say, pairs two words together, and has a set of lungs that just won't quit.

We love our Porter so much! He completes our family with a bold exclamation point. Sometimes I look at him and wonder how we could have ever been unsure about having a third baby, because Porter was obviously meant to be in our family. Then I try not to connect that thought to a potential fourth baby, but it's the topic that won't die (in my head, it's not even on the radar in Nate's head!). So Porter, you are an excellent caboose to this nutso family unit. Love you to pieces.