What to do with a terrible two?
DJ is 22 months old now, he'll be turning two in November, but that
isn't stopping him from having a two year old attitude. Every day is
full of screaming and crying and me trying desperately to figure out
just what it is that he wants. He's talking more and more when he's
happy, but when he's upset about something he won't say a single word to
give me a clue as to what is wrong. He will often reach for something
that is just inches in front of him, but cry as though he just can't
reach it, and if I try to hand it to him or move him closer to it he'll
scream all the more. I finally just yesterday figured out that the
tantrums that he has been throwing all week at naptime were not because
he didn't want to take a nap, but because he didn't like the specific
sippy cup that I gave him. Apparently he wants a specific kind of sippy
cup when he goes to sleep, and as long as he has one of that kind, he's
happy and goes to sleep with no problem. He will often wake up from a
nap and just scream for up to an hour. I still have yet to figure out
what that one is about.
When he's happy though he is so much fun. We've been working on learning colors. I don't think he's quite figured it out, but he can say most of the colors when he's repeating us. Every time we ask him what color something is, he says that it's yellow. We're still working on it. He loves to color, and he's getting pretty good at drawing circles. His favorite thing do when we're coloring is to tell me to draw a circle and then he'll fill it in. Unfortunately he's been drawing on couches, books, and walls. I've been having him help me clean those up, hoping that it'll help him get the idea that he's not supposed to draw on anything other than paper.
The real trouble with having him help me clean up his messes is that he enjoys it too much. He LOVES to help me. That's probably his favorite thing to do. He will help me do dishes, fold laundry, sweep and mop the floor, pick up trash and clothes, clean just about anything, and cook. He's actually getting pretty good at some of these things. He's reaching a point where his helping is actually helpful. Especially when it comes to doing clutter pickups, he knows where the trash goes, and he knows where dirty clothes go, and he takes care of things without me needing to tell him. He'll sometimes throw something away that looks like trash but isn't, but he usually checks with me first. He's getting pretty good with a broom too. He likes to use the little broom and dust pan, and he'll just sweep a little of the floor at a time into the dust pan and then go dump it into the trash can, and then go back for more dirt. When I'm emptying the dishwasher, he'll pull stuff out and hand it to me to put away, except for pot lids or leftover containers, because he knows where those go and he can reach them, so he'll put those away himself.
He also loves to help me with Andrew. He will get me diapers or a burp cloth for me if I ask him to, and every time he finds a pacifier he insists on giving it to Andrew. I love that I can hand him something and tell him to go upstairs and give it to Daddy and he will go with a smile and go do that, and then come back so proud of himself. I really hope that he'll continue to want to help as he gets older. I keep giving him tons of praise hoping that will help, but I guess we'll see.
Andrew is going to be six months old in just a couple of days. He is a master at rolling over to get clear across a room in seconds. He can get to just about anything as long as it isn't right in front of him. If anything is in the six inches or so directly in front of him but out of his reach, he will stretch and reach and then end up getting super frustrated because he just can't reach it. He looks like he ought to be really close to crawling, but he still can't manage to get up on his knees at all, even with help. I think he'll probably figure out an army crawl soon, but not quite yet.
We've started giving him solid food a little bit here and there, and he seems to be enjoying it. He didn't like bananas at all the first couple of times we gave it to him, but this morning I gave him a banana in one of those mesh pacifier-like feeder thingies and he really had fun with that and actually ate quite a bit of it. He has gotten pretty good at sitting up. He still falls over pretty regularly because he likes to look around and see what's behind him and that doesn't work too well when he's sitting, but if he's entertained with something in front of him then he could sit all day.
He isn't sleeping quite as well as he used to. He was to the point where he was mostly sleeping through the night, but the last several days he has been waking up three or four times in the night. I think part of that is because he is impossible to keep swaddled these days. He escapes from just about everything. He sleeps better when he's swaddled, but he gets out way too easily. I've been trying to put him down for naps without swaddling him just to maybe wean him off of needing to be swaddled, but I don't know if it's working at all, it just makes it a lot harder for him to go to sleep. When he's not tired or hungry though he is always super happy. His big grins are famous at church. People will see him and say "oh, this must be that smiley baby that someone was telling me about!" He is so much fun to be around.
When he's happy though he is so much fun. We've been working on learning colors. I don't think he's quite figured it out, but he can say most of the colors when he's repeating us. Every time we ask him what color something is, he says that it's yellow. We're still working on it. He loves to color, and he's getting pretty good at drawing circles. His favorite thing do when we're coloring is to tell me to draw a circle and then he'll fill it in. Unfortunately he's been drawing on couches, books, and walls. I've been having him help me clean those up, hoping that it'll help him get the idea that he's not supposed to draw on anything other than paper.
The real trouble with having him help me clean up his messes is that he enjoys it too much. He LOVES to help me. That's probably his favorite thing to do. He will help me do dishes, fold laundry, sweep and mop the floor, pick up trash and clothes, clean just about anything, and cook. He's actually getting pretty good at some of these things. He's reaching a point where his helping is actually helpful. Especially when it comes to doing clutter pickups, he knows where the trash goes, and he knows where dirty clothes go, and he takes care of things without me needing to tell him. He'll sometimes throw something away that looks like trash but isn't, but he usually checks with me first. He's getting pretty good with a broom too. He likes to use the little broom and dust pan, and he'll just sweep a little of the floor at a time into the dust pan and then go dump it into the trash can, and then go back for more dirt. When I'm emptying the dishwasher, he'll pull stuff out and hand it to me to put away, except for pot lids or leftover containers, because he knows where those go and he can reach them, so he'll put those away himself.
He also loves to help me with Andrew. He will get me diapers or a burp cloth for me if I ask him to, and every time he finds a pacifier he insists on giving it to Andrew. I love that I can hand him something and tell him to go upstairs and give it to Daddy and he will go with a smile and go do that, and then come back so proud of himself. I really hope that he'll continue to want to help as he gets older. I keep giving him tons of praise hoping that will help, but I guess we'll see.
Andrew is going to be six months old in just a couple of days. He is a master at rolling over to get clear across a room in seconds. He can get to just about anything as long as it isn't right in front of him. If anything is in the six inches or so directly in front of him but out of his reach, he will stretch and reach and then end up getting super frustrated because he just can't reach it. He looks like he ought to be really close to crawling, but he still can't manage to get up on his knees at all, even with help. I think he'll probably figure out an army crawl soon, but not quite yet.
We've started giving him solid food a little bit here and there, and he seems to be enjoying it. He didn't like bananas at all the first couple of times we gave it to him, but this morning I gave him a banana in one of those mesh pacifier-like feeder thingies and he really had fun with that and actually ate quite a bit of it. He has gotten pretty good at sitting up. He still falls over pretty regularly because he likes to look around and see what's behind him and that doesn't work too well when he's sitting, but if he's entertained with something in front of him then he could sit all day.
He isn't sleeping quite as well as he used to. He was to the point where he was mostly sleeping through the night, but the last several days he has been waking up three or four times in the night. I think part of that is because he is impossible to keep swaddled these days. He escapes from just about everything. He sleeps better when he's swaddled, but he gets out way too easily. I've been trying to put him down for naps without swaddling him just to maybe wean him off of needing to be swaddled, but I don't know if it's working at all, it just makes it a lot harder for him to go to sleep. When he's not tired or hungry though he is always super happy. His big grins are famous at church. People will see him and say "oh, this must be that smiley baby that someone was telling me about!" He is so much fun to be around.
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