34 Months Old

FIRST FISHUNCLE RUSSELLS BULLDOZER SNOWCONES! Almost 3.... What Joseph Loves- DADDY!! Playing in the garage with Daddy's tools. Looking at Daddy's motorcycle. Anything that has to do with garage, wheels, tools, even if it is 100 degrees in the garage he wants to play with Daddy's tools. Mommy has nothing to do with this...only daddy. We bought a bike trailer that Joey hooks up to his bike and we've been biking after dinner. I've yet to take a picture. We got a great deal at Target! Joseph absolutely loves this! We put Gina in the back and buckle Joseph in the front. It is hilarious as we bike out of the driveway because all the way down our culdesak Joseph is yelling "Faster Dad Faster!" Also, I will pretend I'm going to ride Joey's bike and pull Joseph in the trailer, and Joseph will have non of that! "Mommy, you ride yellow bike (my bike)" I tell him I want to ride Daddy's bike and pull him, he says, NO Daddy wants red bike. So I guess I am not allowed to pull him, which is fine by me :) Joseph also loves playing "Get ya" with daddy, playing catch with a ball, and kicking the soccer ball. He loves running in the cul de sak, playing with the water hose, going swimming in a big pool, and he still enjoys his music and reading. He can sing along to most all his Cd's as he's memorized the words. What Joseph doesn't love- taking a BATH, NAPTIME, and BEDTIME. These are HARD times for us right now. He used to be SO good at going down for us to sleep and taking a bath. I don't know what happened. Bath is a struggle, he doesn't want to take it by himself, or with me, or even with Daddy. We've tried shower, bath, and once we bathed him outside in the wagon which worked out ok. I've gotten rid of all the normal "bathtub toys" and put in some of my kitch utensils and other things- funnel, measuring cup, bouncy ball,medicine syringe... This has worked 2 nights good for us :) I've even offered to put GIna in the bath with him, really I'm desperate! I hope this stage ends soon and he goes back to loving his bathtime. I'm starting to try a new naptime routine as of today :) So we do not watch tv at home, he watches it at Mrs. Claudia's (the sitter) which is fine with me. On a daily basis, I fight with him for an hour and then he still doesn't sleep and we both end up frustrated and mad at each other. So he has a "cave" in the living room between the ottoman and the wall, and he fell asleep to cartoons today. If this works for me, I'm using it. He needs a nap or the afternoon is horrible!! I need time alone, and he needs a rester. Bedtime I think to him means "party time". After bath we get all ready for bed and me or Joey cuddle up and read him books for at least 30 min. He has his milk and we kiss him goodnight, sometimes sing to him, and we think he is just about to go to sleep. As we leave and close the door he gets up and has all the energy in the world!! ugh! We can put him down at 8:30 and he will still be awake at 10pm! Yes, and it gets even worse when he won't stay in his room! I'm tempted to put the doorknob lock back inside the door so he can't get out. After numerous times of me or Joey going back in there, and then holding the door so he can't get out, he does fall asleep.... It takes away from "us" time. When we used to put Joseph to bed at a desent hour and he would read books himself or stay in his room, Joey and I would watch tv together or get some things done. That is not happeneing these days... I've also thought maybe he doesn't need a nap since he's not sleepy, but he does the same thing if he has a nap or not. Food time- Frosted mini wheats and milk. This is what Joseph lives on these days. He doesn't eat that much of a variety and I know he doesn't eat enough veggies... He does eat plenty of fruit, yogurt, peanut butter, tahini, and eggs. He won't eat what I fix for dinner, he seems very picky. If he is busy playing I can put anything in his mouth and he'll usually eat it. He did eat some chicken for me today at lunch. One day he might spit it out and the next he will eat it. He also like pecans, almonds, and shredded cheese,he's lost interest in beans but he'll eat them sometimes. We are putting the high chair in the attic this week. sniff sniff. He sits in his booster now at the table. My Memaw bought me the highchair, I don't think I could ever get rid of it. Funny's- -We put Joseph in time-out now. He has starting hitting me when he is upset. Today I was getting him out of time out and telling him not to hit Mommy, he changed the subject and asked where my elbow was. -I wouldn;t dance with him last week in his room. I always dance with him but I was laying on his bed headachy he was pulling my arm to get up and i was telling him no, so he told me to go sit in the corner, I was in time out...I did not sit in the corner, but he gave me a hug (which is what we do after time-out) and told me to dance. Yes, I ended up dancing... -He was in the garage and wanted to spray some of Daddy's ant killer. It's posin and he was told that was Daddy's work and he can't touch it. He thought about it and then said, "Daddy and Mommy, go inside and eat lunch" as he went and stood right by the ant killer, He said he was going to just stay in the garage.... A 2 yr old is SOOOO much fun! We really love this age. I hope 3's are just as great.