Thursday, May 19, 2016

Peter (almost 2 and a half)


Peter is 2 and 4 months right now.  He passed his sister in weight, but she still has a little height on him.  To me, he feels muscular and so much heavier to pick up, but part of that might be the way he completely stiffens his legs and body when you go to lift him. He's not trying to make it difficult.  He does it even when he wants to be picked up, but it doesn't make things easy, especially when I'm trying to lift him out of the crib with one hand.  He just stiffens up and doesn't help at all.  He's still in his crib.  Although he's very proficient and getting in and out on his own, he doesn't try to get out until he's given permission.  I'm not sure we'd see that level of compliance in a toddler bed so he's staying in there as long as we can make him.

Peter is highly verbal and expresses himself pretty well.  He loves to sing and his favorite songs these days are the Spiderman and Ninja Turtles themes (even though he hasn't seen the shows), I am a Child of God, I Love to See the Temple, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Rock-a-Bye Baby.
He repeats the last word or two of nearly everything you tell him in the form of a question.
"Ok Peter, you need to brush your teeth."
"Brush your teeth?"
"Yes, we do this every night."
"Every night?"
"Ok, stop repeating me."
"Peating me?"
So cute and just a little aggravating.

He's a smart kid.  He knows his colors and shapes and loves to point out semi-circles and trapezoids.  When we were walking around down town a few weeks ago, he stopped and said, "Mom, look at all the hexagons."  Sure enough, we were standing on path of hexagon paving stones.  He can identify several numbers and count to somewhere in the teens.  When he watches some of the kid's shows he answers the questions out loud.  He's probably only right half the time, but whether it's a number or a pattern, he always knows what kind of answer they are looking for.

Bedtime routine is a little exhausting because he is SO particular about things happening a certain way.  If you didn't get his blanket on him just right before you started singing the song.  You HAVE to fix it and start the song over from the beginning.  You can't just fix it while you're singing the song.  That stuff is truly aggravating, but of course we play along because I just want bedtime to happen as fast as possible and trying to convince him that it's ok to change up the routine and roll with things takes 20 minutes longer and ends with Peter crying himself to sleep.  So yeah, we do things his way, and to be fair.  As long as you do it right, he's way easier to get to bed than Jane who does everything in her power to avoid all aspects of the bedtime routine.

Peter doesn't know how to make a kissing noise.  He clicks his tongue and then presses his lips into cheek.  I love it so much.

Peter actually gets pretty fun when he's a little over-tired.  He gets extra chatty and CAN NOT STOP MOVING.  As long as you don't have to try and corral him, he's pretty silly and entertaining.  I bet he'd be a happy drunk.

Peter doesn't eat much these days, but some how he seems to be growing.  In fact, I can tell you his entire menu in 5 items: waffles, cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, crackers and yogurt.  We recently lost reliable favorites such as apples and peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, smoothies, and toast (although if it's got cinnamon and sugar on it, we're still good).   In the last week, he's started sneaking drinks of my smoothies again, which is great because it is his only source of fruits and vegetables.  He loves eating the pepperonis off everyone's pizza and we recently discovered he loves bacon.  It was one of his tired, chatty evenings and to everyone's surprise, he just picked up some bacon and started eating it; then another piece and another.  It was probably my favorite moment of the day watching him with a strip of bacon in each hand, yelling "bacon" between each bite.
Another one of my favorite Peter at dinner moments happened when we tried to get him to take a bite of a chicken pillow.  A few bribes and threats later he managed to take the bite, chewing with a concerned look on his face.  "Do you like it, Peter?" we asked.  "It's yummy," he replied and then gagged.  He tried to chew it some more, but then threw it all up.  I was laughing so hard I thought my drink was going to spray out my nose.  Poor kid.  I'm still proud of him for taking a bite.  That's a win.

He's the sweetest kid, though.  He's quick to say "I'm sorry", shares his toys or food easily, and loves to give hugs and kisses.
He spends most of his time lining up cars or following Jane around on whatever make-believe adventures she comes up with.
We all love having Peter in our family.








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