Twenty Three Months

Dear JP
Today you are twenty three months old.

The last two weeks of December were very tough for you sleep-wise.

You had a few nights of nightmares where it took us over an hour to calm you down. You also had a night full of vommitting and and crying.

If only your sleep troubles were relegated to a few strange incidences such as those. For much of the month, you were waking up every single morning between 3 and 5am. You were wide awake and it took between an hour to two hours for you to fall back to sleep. By that time, your brother was usually up for the day. Your father and I wanted sleep for Christmas but it didn’t happen.

You and RJ were both very sick over Christmas with what I assumed to be fifths disease: feverish for a few days, followed by an all-over body rash. It persisted into the new year with a slight cough and a runny nose.
You were a little whiny for a few days, but mostly you were happy.

You had no idea what was happening on Christmas morning. You refused to even look at your stocking and big brother opened it up for you. You mostly refused to sit still and open presents and the ripping of wrapping paper brought a look of distaste to your face. I ended up unwrapping a few presents for you and couldn’t even get you to look at them. So I put them in a box and decided to save them for your birthday!

On January 1st, you visited at Gramma and Grandpa’s house. When we were leaving, you said, “bye Gumpa, bye Gamma!” Gramma, daddy, and I all said, Awwwwwwwww!!! It was the first time you said their names in any recognizable way.

You’re copying us all the time and trying desperately to talk. Your favourite word for much of the month was, “nnnnnnnickaboom!”nobody knows what it means but you said it a lot and you said it loudly.

A few other new words:
Dappah – diaper
Buttah – button
Teebee – tv
Picky – piggy

You are (still) obsessed with:
Blues Clues
Dora the Explorer
Climbing onto the kitchen table
Wearing boots in the house
Your soother

On January 9th, I told you to lay down on the floor for a diaper change. And you did! The next day, you approached me while grabbing your bum and saying poo. Then you laid down and waited for me to finish the job. Sure enough, your diaper was full of poo. I don’t expect this means potty training is around the corner, but it’s nice to see some comprehension.

Again on January 16th, you said, “Mommy mommy, I poo!” while repeatedly punching yourself in the diaper area.

Also of note on that date, I gave you your first real haircut. I had trimmed your hair a bit on two previous occasions, but on this date I did a complete head shave. You might like to know that aside from an initial look of apprehension at the electric razor, you were unconcerned with the entire procedure. And the end result was ridiculously adorable!

At the beginning of January, you were beginning to really love bedtime and nap-time routine. When it was time to go to bed, you went to the stairs, climbed up, went into your room, and turned on your fan. But it didn’t last.

We’re finishing up the month with some wonderful nights of sleep. For the past week, you’ve gifted us with 10 and 12 hours of sleep in a row. It’s all great except now you are furious at bed time. The novelty of the routine is gone apparently.

Sure, you’re sleeping well but it’s taking forever for you to actually fall asleep! Before the actual sleep comes, there’s lots of yelling, wailing, and begging. You cry for Dora (as if she could save you), you scream WHY over and over (because it’s bedtime that’s why!), and you scream GO (as if that’s going to happen). It’s the same at nap-time. In fact, there have been several days where you didn’t nap at all. That did not please me!

The last half of your month has been quite healthy for you! We’ve lucked out and have had no huge sickness since RJ’s school started up again. I did have strep throat and I’m astonished that it wasn’t passed to you and your brother.

As you’ve been healthy, so has your appetite. You have a picky palate but you do love to eat. I wish I could get you to try new foods, but I’m going to try not to worry. After all, your picky big brother has improved so much in the last year!

I am, however, a little worried about your new whiny phase. Okay, worried isn’t the right word: more like annoyed!

The whining and crying and pleading and yelling in frustration is not limited to sleeping time. You are so often a happy boy, full of laughs and smiles. But the whining is becoming more and more frequent; almost to the point of fully formed tantrums. It’s too soon to tell if this is the beginning of a difficult toddler personality (terrible twos?) or if it’s just a phase. RJ experienced a similar time of whine and frustration when he was around 18-19 months old. Perhaps this is the same thing with you, just occurring at a slightly older age.

Anyway, it’s been a tiring month. I can’t believe we’re closing in on the second anniversary of your birth. I’m thankful that you still have lots of cuddly times because during those quiet loving moments, I pretend you’re still my teeny baby.

About these ads