Monday, May 12, 2008

2 ½

Harmon is 2 ½ today – halfway through the “terrible twos!” While he’s a good boy most of the time, he sometimes can be a challenge. However, if my biggest complaints are him saying “no” a lot and demanding things without saying “please,” I think I’m doing OK.

We’re still working on the potty training, which can be frustrating. Sometimes it feels like one step forward and two steps back. He’s good in the morning and at night and after his meals but other times throughout the day are total mysteries. Stickers used to work as a bribe but we might have to step it up to, say, M&Ms. I THINK the fact that he’s in pull-ups more than diapers these days will help things along. I hope it all comes together soon.

Now that it’s warm out, he’s all about the park. But, instead of the slide, he is in love with the swings this year. He could swing for hours, if we had the time to let him. On Friday, we went to Gallup Park – a park he usually goes to with Nana and Papa. After sliding a few times and swinging for a while, we walked the inner loop of the park (which measures 1.35 miles). My Mom has told me he’s walked the whole way before but I still was surprised to see him do it. It’s a long way for those little legs!

Besides the park, he still loves his cars, his books, his Legos and his memory cards. His toy obsessions have been pretty steady over the past few months. His language improves each and every day (and blows my mind) but he’s had a funny way of handling plurals lately. Instead of trucks or cars, he’ll say “truckeses” or “caresses.”

School is going well, even though some of his older classmates have moved up to the next class, and he continues to learn so much from being there. I actually don’t feel AS guilty for having him there when he comes home signing and his cubby is filled with great art work.

I think he’ll have a fun summer with many Tigers’ games on the horizon along with a trip to Beloit, Wisc. for a Bergquist family wedding and a trip to visit Kevin’s parents at their cabin in Minnesota – a trip we’ve been trying hard to plan. The challenge has been scheduling time we ALREADY have to take off due to Harmon’s school closure for summer (June 30-July 4) as well as time for the wedding (July 12) and then trying to make it work to go to MN. It also doesn’t help that these basically are back-to-back weekends AND right around the holiday – can you say EXPENSIVE? Travel is SO frustrating.

After a few weeks of shopping, Harmon will be ready for all these summer activities. While we bought him all his summer shoes and a few other things, my Mom and Dad went bananas with the clothes. I’ve never seen so many shorts and shirts for a two-year-old! The kid has so much clothing for a boy! I’ve always gotten a ton of compliments on how I dress him and I promise not to disappoint THIS summer.