26 Months Old

1. There are now two fresh fruits that Oliver enjoys - apples and red grapes. He continues to a great job eating almost everything else. The list of foods he doesn't like is very short. One example would be waffles.

2. He's come a long way with drinking from an open cup. He rarely spills any although we still only give him a small amount at a time, especially if it's milk. He mostly drinks water. It would be good if he drank more (of something!) each day.

3. He's talking more and more. His favorite word is "again" and he usually says the word twice in a row. I read him a book and hear "again again," or I sing him a song and hear "again again." I always give the kids a warning a few minutes before we leave the playground to make the departure go more smoothly. This is not effective with Oliver yet because when I try to leave he says "more slide" and if I do let him do one more slide it doesn't help because then after that he still says "more slide." I love it when he says "more kiss" when he wants me to give him

more kisses. I never turn that request down! His siblings interests have influenced his vocabulary because some of the words he uses very regularly include: princess, monster, Woody, Buzz, etc. For some odd reason he never attempts to say "pirate" though. Whenever he sees a picture of a pirate he says "boat." Yes, they do have boats but.... If he wants us to pray again, he says "amen again."

4. He's made huge strides with potty training! He now tells me sometimes when he needs to go #1 (although he refers to that as poop). He had only one #1 accident within the past 9 days, although I am not counting the times when a little spot of his underwear gets damp. He has been inconsistent when he's sleeping so I put a diaper over his underwear for his nap, and he doesn't wear underwear during the night. He still has one #2 accident almost every day. So the two things I am really hoping he gets the hang of next with potty training is #1 going on a regular toilet (I don't want to have to keep taking the froggy potty with us all the time, especially to church) and #2 telling me when he has to go #2. He runs and hides before he does it so I know he's capable of going to a potty instead. Cleaning up a #2 accident in underwear is NOT fun. It's much worse than changing a poopy diaper. Ick. But overall I am very pleased. On Sunday I brought the froggy potty and he stayed dry for more than 90 minutes until I came up and had him go potty at 10:30, and then he stayed dry during the second service and peed again on the froggy potty at 12:20 before we left the church. Way to go, Oliver! Thankfully he hasn't had any accidents while in the care of other people.

5. He is starting to count. He says one, two, three, and then some other random numbers (ex. six or ten).

6. He sometimes wakes up as early as 5:45, but the earliest I will get him is 6:15. If I don't get him at 5:45, he usually goes back to sleep for 45 minutes. 6:30 is his most common time to wake up. About once a month he'll sleep until 7:00 (even 7:25 once!). His nap is at least one hour long. A typical nap is 75-

90 minutes long, and every once in a while he'll sleep two hours (or three hours if I let him finish his nap in my arms).

7. He's still a messy eater, but he is starting to use utensils more (although he still reverts to his fingers some times). He feeds himself things like yogurt and a bowl of cereal (with milk in it) or a cup of ice cream for dessert. Considering how much this boy eats, I continue to be amazed that he hasn't gained weight in quite a few months. He's plateaued at 27 lbs, but it's not for lack of eating as this boy packs away the groceries! He's by far the fastest eater of the three kids. He polishes off a slice of pizza long before his siblings do, and then he wants to get down and play.

The boys were doing this while I was doing school work with Nadia. 

8. He's learned how to do what my dad called "skin the cat" when we were growing up. He holds an adult's hands and then proceeds to use his feet to climb part way up your body and then flips himself around and ends up on the ground facing the opposite direction. Neither of his siblings could accomplish this feat independently when they were anywhere near this age. He seems to be the most athletic of the three kids. He's also an excellent climber, which sometimes puts fear into other parents at the playground.

9. He's not generous with toys (frequently is heard screaming MINE!), but he is very generous with sharing food. When I give him a handful of Goldfish crackers after he goes on the potty, he always gives some of his crackers to his siblings.