Timmy at 2 1/2

This little man has a huge personality.  He has a lot to say and he is less content all the time with being the little brother along for the ride.  Case in point: yesterday while Delaney and Annie were at school and it was a cold gloomy day, I decided to take Timmy to open play at the gymnastics place his sisters go to.  On the way there, I could tell he didn't understand what he was going to do there, as he just associates gymnastics with being the place where he has to pass time with me in a waiting area while the girls take their classes.  Finally it dawned on him and he said, "Timmy go in the door?"  I said, "Yes, you get to go in the door and climb on the stuff and play!"  He sighed, "Yaayyy!" like it was the best news he'd heard in awhile.  He had such a blast and I was glad to have something like that to take him to on such a crappy day.  And I also realized that the next time I have him in the waiting room with me while the girls are in class, it's going to be a little harder to keep him happy.  But oh well..  He has also mentioned on more than one occasion that he wants to go to school.  I considered putting him in the 2-year-old class at Annie's school, but in the end Tim and I decided against it.  Two-year-old preschool is kind of a waste of money for one thing, although it might be warranted in some cases; and besides, I can do things with him that he'd get to do at school.  (and it won't cost $160 a month.)  I've started taking him to 'Time out for Toddlers' at the library on Friday mornings, where he gets to listen to stories, sing songs and watch puppets with other kids his age.  There are plenty of things like that to do around here, but mostly I think he just wants to be around other kids and play in an unstructured environment.  He gets to do that at the Y.  I think that's what he thinks school is, anyway.  Or maybe he just wants to be included in something his sisters are doing -- that's the real reason he wants to go to school, I think.  He wants to do every little thing they do.  I have already looked into preschools in SC for him next year, but I'm not even sure I want to send him yet.  I like to gather the information and then sit on it until I decide what I really want to do.

He communicates so well with us now, and I just love hearing all the words that come out of him.  He's been talking full sentences for months now, but occasionally the words get a little scrambled.  I asked him what a fish says once, and he said, "No fish say nuffing."  Another time Tim told him he was a big baby, and Timmy replied indignantly, "No me big baby."  I realized not long ago that I hadn't been taking any videos of the adorable way he talks right now.  This morning I had him all to myself while Tim was at a parade with the girls.  I took video after video of him talking as he did different things.  I know I will always be glad I did.  I will share one here for any grandparents or aunts who want to watch.:)

Tim gives him a hard time sometimes for being a baby because he thinks it's his job as a dad to "toughen him up."  He pouts, whines and cries over a lot of things -- fights with his sisters, hearing the word "no," and careening into walls or furniture a little too hard.  Tim is annoyed at Timmy's tears and says, "He's such a big baby."  I say, "He is, quite literally, a big baby.  He's 2!"

Lest you think Tim is immune to his charms, a few days ago I watched the most precious scene unfold between the two of them.  They were watching snowboarding on TV, and Tim told Timmy to ask me if he could go snowboarding.  Timmy said to me, "Timmy go no-bird?"  Having not heard the preceding conversation, I was like, "What?"  I made him repeat it a couple more times, and Tim finally told me, "Snowboard."  I snickered, like "Sure, you want to go snowboarding."  Then for some reason Timmy beckoned his dad to come down to his level so he could tell him a "secret."  Tim hunkered down next to Timmy, who then took his dad's ear in one hand and chin in the other to pull him closer so he could whisper in his ear.  I could see on Tim's face that he was completely melting inside, and who wouldn't be, with those tiny hands on your face and that little voice whispering in your ear?

He is still in a crib, and it's looking like he will be until we move this summer.  I am happy with him in the crib, and I think it's funny that, climber that he is, he has not thought to try to climb out yet.  I think he likes being there, in that cozy enclosed space.  Right now the plan is just to move to the next house and when we set up his bed, set it up as a toddler bed.  But then again, maybe we should convert the bed in the next couple months so he doesn't have quite so much change to deal with at once..?  I just hate to mess with anything that's working well, and I don't want him roaming his room during naps and at night.  I like him contained.  I will just procrastinate that decision a while longer.  I'll put toddler bed up on the shelf next to potty-training, because I can't decide when to try that either.  Those two things might have to happen around the same time because he'll need to be able to get out of bed to use the potty.

I've noticed that his attention span is getting longer, and I no longer have to be so quick to say, "Put everything away because Timmy's coming!"  Not long ago he played a board game with us -- "Hi ho Cherry-o".  It was the first time ever.  He played with us until the game's completion, obediently putting apples in his basket or back on the tree.  It was so much fun for me to get to play a game with all three of them.  He plays lengthy games of pretend with his sisters, the current favorite being "Patch the Puppy Prince."  They pretend to be a family of royalty: they are the queen and princess, I am the cook, Tim's the butler, and the star, Prince Patch.  He yaps and barks and crawls obediently after them all over the house.  And he gives everyone puppy kisses.  I tell him, "Patch, you're the best puppy ever!" I think I like that game the best.

Sometimes he does inexplicably mean things like hitting his sisters on the head with toys or crashing into them with his cozy coupe while they're trying to ride their bikes.  I had to put his toy hammer out of reach indefinitely because no matter how many timeouts he got, or how many times he said he was sorry, he just couldn't get it through his heads that hammers are for nails, not people's heads.  What it is, we think, is that he hasn't learned to distinguish the line between having fun and hurting people.  When Tim is roughhousing with the three of them and Timmy is pinned to the floor, he panics and shrieks loudly to be freed.  As soon as he's free he runs right back into the fray.  It's easy to see how the line between having fun and being mean could get blurry.  Eventually he'll figure it out but his sisters shouldn't turn their backs on him until he does.

His sisters love him so much when he's not clobbering them with toys.  When Annie goes in to see him when he's up for his nap, he'll keep asking her for things and she'll keep bringing them.  They love hearing the funny things he says in his cute little voice, and he delights in the nonsensical potty humor that sends them into peals of giggles.  He can be pesky at times when he comes bumbling into the midst of their little games, but then there are the magical times when they include him and they have fun together.  It makes me smile to see how smitten they are by him.

He is a hardheaded boy and he constantly tests his limits.  Sometimes I think he wakes up in the morning and says to himself, "Today is the day I wear Mama down."  And we do everything the hard way, all day long.  But he is my little buddy and I do love him so.  It makes me so happy to just look at him.