Two Years Old

So Sam is now two years old - time for a developmental update. We hit up the pediatrician yesterday and Sam cried from the moment we walked into the building until the moment we left, except for the 5 minutes right before the doctor walked into the exam room and I was able to distract him with a Thomas book that had clearly been placed in Exam Room 4 by the Lord himself. No other distraction, not even candy, worked. At 18 months he started to cry in the waiting room...next time will it be when we get off the freeway? Or maybe it will go better, since he doesn't have another well visit until he's 3, didn't get any shots yesterday and won't get another shot (even flu shot can be the inhaled kind once you're two) until he's 4!

This time I remembered to take his immunization card - hadn't remembered it since his 6 month well visit! And I had to take in his first school form. Good news: he's fit to attend preschool in the fall. Also, he passed the very scientific autism screening.

But I digress. Because he is a big boy now, Sam weighed in on the normal person (read: not infant) scale for the first time - standing up, fully clothes, just like a grown up. And got measured standing up, which means its probably the most accurate height measurement we've had in his whole life. Sam is officially 33 1/2 inches tall (grew over two inches in 6 months), placing him in the 27th percentile. And my skinny little boy gained 4 pounds in the last 6 months to weigh in at 25 pounds, moving him all the way up to the 15th percentile. Woohoo! And get this - my take home sheet lists a BMI for the first time. Are we concerned about obesity in toddlers? Anywho, his is 15.66 for all those who are interested. I did some googling and that puts him in the green "healthy" band according to the CDC. Underweight? Not my kid!

He's talking up a storm, Chris and I are often the only ones who can understand him. Its hard to say how many words he has, because he'll repeat most things when asked. Still working on stringing things together, but he'll get there.

He's still a physical guy. Climbing on everything, jumping off everything, throwing everything, kicking everything. We're really encouraging the use of balls for the last two. I take him to the park almost everyday or else he has too much energy to take a nap. And mama needs naptime as much as the boy does.

Terrible Two's? I think so. Not truly terrible, but a power struggle for sure. He throws himself on the ground when he doesn't get his way, but I find that easy to ignore. Its when he uses his pathetic cry that I tend to give in more. He's learned to ask to go in his crib with paci and lovey when he feels emotionally overwhelmed, which I think actually displays some maturity even if it is reaching for "baby" comforts.

I'm trying to lighten up a bit about his eating. Its without question our biggest battle. He wants to graze, I want him to eat 3 meals and two snacks. But he's always been a grazer - he nursed 5 times a day (2-3 ounces at a time) until he was 12 months old! My pediatrician reassured me that I can teach table manners at any age, and that they don't enforce much with their three year old. Ok. I'm going to try to focus more on WHAT he's eating rather than WHEN he's eating it.

For those in the "children should be potty trained at their second birthday" camp, lets not talk for about 6 months. He's just not there. We can see signs that he's getting closer (telling us right before or after he dirties a diaper), but I know for sure there is no control there yet. Then there's this: few weeks ago he pooped in the tub and it really frightened him. Poor kid is very afraid of pooping anywhere other than a diaper right now.

What else? He can pick out his favorite books from the shelf. I've heard him make his first attempts to sing along with his "Amen Car" cd. He's graduated from pointing to the matching picture on his chunky puzzles to placing the pieces in the right spots. He now likes to color and really likes stickers. This year he loves playing in the water outside. Ok, I'll stop now. But let's do one last list for the boy...

Likes:
Running, Jumping, Climbing
Throwing and Kicking balls
Thomas the Train
Planes, Buses, Trucks
Playing with his Friends

Dislikes:
Not getting his way
Transitions he isn't prepared for
Being left alone
Overwhelming Social Situations
Rob Hays (I wish I were kidding)