I like to write about all of the things Nathan is doing so I won't ever forget them. His personality, likes, dislikes, words, and actions are constantly changing...sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.
Going to school: Nathan started attending Mother's Day Out at our church in September. He goes every Tuesday from 9:00 -2:00. In the beginning, he cried and cried. He'd start crying as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, which completely broke my heart. After a couple of weeks, Nathan still cried, but it was a "lighter" cry, not sobbing. He'd hold my hand and say,
"Om on Mommy" because I could tell he WANTED to go inside his class, but also wanted me to go with him. Now, when Nathan sees me packing up his lunch and backpack, he says, "I go to church!" and is practically running out the door! It makes me so happy! When I drop him off, he walks right in and doesn't even say bye to me. And when I pick him up, he always talks about Blake and Collin. I think it's so funny that he has real friends in his class!
Catalogs: Nathan LOVES looking at toy catalogs. It started when I was looking through the coupon section of the paper and Nathan saw a Target ad that had toys on it. He got so excited about it and looked at that page all day long. When Wayne got home, Nathan ran to him and said, "Look Daddy!" Then we got a Toys R Us catalog, and Nathan went CRAZY looking at all the pages. He'll tear out pages and save them all over the house. Then he shows the pages to us and says, "I pick that!" or "OOOOHHHH, castle!" He wants to name everything he sees, and acts like it's the first time he's ever seen any of these toys and that each of these toys is the best thing ever.
Going to Target and the "Toy Store" - We go to Toys R Us to get Nathan's hair cut and afterwards, I always let Nathan look at the toys and play at the train table. It's the same thing with Target. I go there for groceries or to get clothes for Nathan, and then we look at the toys. So now, Nathan will come up to me and Wayne out of the blue, and say, "Go to Toy Store?" or "Go to Target?" He has even gotten a little manipulative about it. If he asks me to go to Target and I tell him we can't today, he'll turn around and look down like he's disappointed and then say, "Daddy takes you." Or he'll ask really sweetly so that it's really hard to say no: "Go to toy store please Mommy?" Now he's even started asking my mom, Wayne's mom, and my sister to take him and man are they suckers! They'll take him in a heartbeat :-)
Pretend Play - The first time Nathan started pretending was when my mom was playing with him. She said, "Look Nathan, there's a rabbit!" and the two of them pretended to carry and pet a rabbit. It was really funny! Now Nathan pretends all the time. Here are some examples. "Look Mommy, dinosaur, watch out!" "Oh no, tiger gets you, run!" Most of his pretending is about an animal coming to get you :) Yesterday, though, Nathan and I were playing outside on the sidewalk and he says to me, "Bye Mommy, I see Lauren." Then he turns, walks down the sidewalk a bit, kneels down, and says, "Hi Lauren, what you doing?"
TV - I love TV so why am I surprised that Nathan does too? I try to limit it as much as I can, but he has shows that he really loves. It used to be that Dora and Diego were his favorites. Although he still likes those, he really loves Wow! Wow! Wubzy, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. When I do turn the tv on, I turn it to Nick Jr. (which used to be Noggin). I don't feel so guilty about it because all of the shows are appropriate for Nathan, and he does learn from them. There are some shows that I didn't think he liked or paid attention to, but then he'll tell me the characters' names! It just shows how much he really soaks in EVERYTHING! Speaking of Wow! Wow! Wubzy, he now tells me he has a "tail." When I change his diaper, he'll sometimes say "Mommy, my tail" and we'll pretend like we put his tail back in his diaper :-) Or if he falls down, he'll sometimes say he hurt his tail. When I ask him how he got his tail, he'll say, "From Wubzy's house." It's so funny!
Sharing toys - This is one thing we need to really work on, but I take comfort in knowing this is something EVERY 2 year old struggles with. Why is it that kids aren't interested in a toy until someone else is playing with it? This is Nathan's problem. Wayne and I try to role play with him at home by sharing toys with him and with each other. But a lot of that goes out the window when he's with all of his friends. I feel like I'm always telling him "No, so and so was playing with that." "No, Nathan, find another toy." It must be so frustrating for a child :)
Throwing tantrums and time out - For a while, this was a big problem. Nathan used to completely throw himself down on the ground when he didn't get his way and scream and cry. He does still throw fits, but they're not as bad as they were. We handle them by putting him in time out. He goes to time out automatically for hitting, pushing, or doing anything physically harmful. And he goes to time out for refusing to do something we ask him to do. This has really worked for him. It gives him time to calm down and then he's in a much better mood. He always apologizes and gives a hug and a kiss afterwards :)
Being sneaky - When Nathan decides to do something he knows he shouldn't, he covers his eyes to do it...I guess he thinks if he can't see me or Wayne, then we can't see him. A couple of days ago, we were in the kitchen eating lunch. Wayne and I saw Nathan go over to the pantry, open it and take out a juice box. He knows juice boxes are only for school days or when we have friends over. But he took it out and covered his eyes as he tried to walk to the table with it. It was so funny! He also kept one hand over his face as he tried to put the straw in. Wayne and I just watched and laughed :)
Sticking anything (and EVERYTHING) up his nose - This bad habit just started last week. I was changing Nathan's diaper and noticed something pink in his nose. After finally getting it out, I realized it was a piece of a pencil eraser! Then I started noticing other things in his nose and noticing that he was TRYING to put things in his nose! So far here is a list of what I've taken out: piece of crayon, cheerio, sunflower seeds, oreos, and popcorn. And those are just the things he was actually successful in stuffing up his nose. You should see what all he's TRIED to put up there!
Nathan's new saying: "Check this out!"
