Ford, Almost Three

May 2013

Growth and change in our little ones mostly sneaks up on us bit by bit. But sometimes they have huge developmental leaps seemingly overnight. About this time last year, Ford went from only saying a half-dozen words to chatting up a storm in the space of a week or two. It was like a dam of fussiness breaking--once he made up his mind to talk, he was so relieved. We were too!

Easter 2014

The same thing happened again last weekend. After very sporadic pottying and lukewarm interest, Ford woke up on Saturday morning and announced that he wanted to wear big boy underpants and use the potty. There has been no looking back and he's hardly had an accident. In hindsight, a few weeks of squirrely, frustrating behavior preceded his leap into "big boy-hood." Was he acting out because of some subconscious anxiety about it? I'm no developmental psychologist, (just his mommy) but that's my theory.

He also utterly adores his baby sister. He brings her toys and blankets and wants nothing more than to lean in close and kiss her cheeks. He tells us when she's fussing and says "It's ok, Eleanor," and "Mama, I love her so much." I hope it lasts!

We have been talking about clothes that match (stripes! Blue pants!), words that rhyme, what day of the week it is and favorite colors. It's so fun to see him constructing his understanding of relationships, space and time. Despairing over how to get him to wear sandals without socks, I offered to paint his toenails his favorite color. He was beyond excited. So sweet that he is not yet locked into set notions of gender.

Summer is upon us, we're slowly coming out of the sleep deprivation fog and our little guy is very excited for all the world to know that his is a big boy. It's an exciting time!