Thirtysomething

The Last Month Before 2

A month from today, Rolo will turn two years old. Which is strange, because I feel like he should be turning three. I swear parenthood totally messes with your sense of time.

What's Rolo up to these days? Lots. He's starting to master the short sentence. "I do it", "Here you go!", and "No want this" are the big ones these days. I think I've said before that he's fairly good at getting his point across and I rarely am at a loss for what he's trying to say.

He's also getting pretty good at--get this--sharing. Oh, he still takes toys right out of other kids' hands, causing them to cry in protest. But if I ask him to share something, he usually does. And then he looks directly at me for positive reinforcement, as if to say "Did you see that, woman? I just gave that kid one of my cookies upon request so you better give me some props."

Speaking of other kids, Rolo has a lot of friends at his school. Kids he actually mentions when we're home. I didn't ever think that before my kid was even two, I'd be sitting at the dinner table with him, asking him about his day and he would be able to articulate, with some accuracy, who was and who was not at school to play with that day. It's among the favorite parts of my day.

The other day I got one of those customized parenting emails that explain what milestone your kid should be at for this particular week in his life (i.e. 23 months, week 2). I had signed up back when I was pregnant with Rolo and they'd email you how big the baby was that week, etc. Little did I know the emails would continue after the child was born! They did! I've never unregistered partly because I'm curious to see how long they continue. Will I be getting "67 months, Week 3" one day?

I digress. Anyway, so I get this email and it says something to the effect that at this particular time one very advanced milestone would be if your child could jump, taking both feet off the ground at the same time. And boy, did I laugh. Rolo has been jumping for MONTHS. I assumed that was the norm. I'm assuming this is because his school has a gym and he's on a trampoline just about every day, but the child jumps on our bed, throws both legs out in front of him as if in a mid-air, seated position and then lands. He is beginning to learn the hard way that not all surfaces are as forgiving as a trampoline.

Utensil use is still hit-or-miss. Rolo is terrified of our vacuum, as well as his own poop. I've gotten some books, geared towards kids his age, with stories about using the potty. I'm not ready--and Rolo sure as hell isn't ready--to start potty training, but I think being scared of one's own poop does not bode well for successful potty training. So I'm hoping these books will, at least, get him accustomed to think poop is perfectly normal.

And speaking of books, he still loves his "reading" and now insists on bringing one or two books to his crib each night to "read".

I went through a brief period where I wasn't paying attention to how much TV Rolo was watching and was that ever a mistake. Now he asks to watch specific programs as soon as I get him from his crib in the mornings and as soon as I pick him up from school. Seriously, the begging to watch "Little Einsteins" or some other nonsense continues from the time I get him from school straight through to bedtime. So, now I'm trying to undo bad habits. It's amazing how quickly they become addicted.

Anyway, one of the other favorite parts of my day is going into his room after he's fallen asleep to check on him. He looks so big in his crib these days and in those moments I tell myself there's no way he could be almost two already.

Labels: Rolo

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 10:53 AM