23 months old!

Better late than never... This month, Thomas turned 23 months old.


I cannot believe he is less than a month from being TWO! Time flies entirely too quickly. And I feel that I say this every month, but it is truly a joy and amazing to watch him grow and learn each day. This month, I don't have the usual puppy pictures and probably will start only doing those every 2-3 months (since it's no easy feat to get him to pose for those). I wish I had some better pics, but I'm just going to include some random shots from the past few weeks.



Thomas is constantly adding words to his vocabulary. Sometimes we can't always understand him right away, but he loves it when he learns something new. He gets so tickled with himself sometimes and it is such a delight to see that joy in his eyes. Reading is still one of his favorite things to do. He loves for us to read to him on the bed, on the couch, in the car, at the dinner table, and just about anywhere at anytime. Most books must be read at least twice in a row, and he has started saying the words before we get to them (particularly at the ends of sentences). He also does this when we say The Lord's Prayer before he goes to bed.



He recognizes almost every letter in the alphabet and is starting to learn to say his ABC's. He is constantly finding "letters" in any and everything. Sometimes he'll see a stick on the ground or something else that has taken the shape of a certain letter and he will emphatically say it until I acknowledge what he sees. It's too cute. One time he saw a "C" in a dead worm on the driveway. Funny (and gross).

He is most observant about cars on the road. Nearly every time a car passes by us that is the brand driven by his grandparents, he will say their name and point to the car (i.e. all Hondas equal "Nannie!"). If he sees a car like his Aunt Beth's or his Daddy's, he will shout out lovingly, "Beth!" or "Daddy!" It is crazy too me sometimes how great his vision is when it comes to spotting these cars when we are out and about. He has even started recognizing all cars like the one driven by his friend Lily's mom, and exclaims "Yeeyee!" when he sees them.



Thomas loves to love. He seems to have replaced the word "hug" with "love" and will frequently come up to us and throw his arms up and say "love!" --which means he wants a hug. He is a very loving child, always willing to hug his friends and family. He seems to share pretty well and is pretty easy going when around other children. I hope this stays this way...especially with the baby soon to be in the picture.

Aside from his books, he loves cars, trucks and tractors. He has one little John Deere tractor (actually it's a little vehicle called a Gator) that often MUST take a bath with him and even go to bed with him. Thomas is certainly ALL BOY in his love for all things with wheels. He still loves to "drive" any chance he gets (which means just sitting in the car in the driveway). He also loves just being outside.


Not to be all sunshine, Thomas also frequently shows his strongwilled side. He can be very insistent upon his own way and this is often frustrating to me (and his Dad), but we do our best to handle him with patience and stern love. The further along I get in this pregnancy, the more he seems to not want to "come" when asked, so of course I'm having to pick him up and lug him around far more frequently than I would like. He's getting a little better about going up and down the stairs when asked (and with a hand to hold), but sometimes it is a challenge! On that note, I've learned that sciatica in pregnancy is not a myth .. and wow... having a toddler does not help it go away!

As for eating, Thomas is still pretty picky and not overly willing to try new things. He's decided green vegetables are not to be on the menu for a while, but he seems to have a newfound liking of corn. His allergies/intolerances seem to be getting much better. I think we might actually try him on real cow's milk in the next few weeks! After a year of the sweet soy milk, I know it will be a tough adjustment for him, but it sure would make life easier if we don't have to watch his dairy intake all the time. Strawberries, however, seem to still cause a rash... and we've also learned he is allergic to down feathers (they cause hives). He does love his pizza though:


He is very tall. I'm not sure of his exact length, other than it is over 35 inches, but he now needs to wear 2T shirts (but still 18 or 24 month pants...and many of these are too big in the waist). He is wearing size 8 shoes (though his foot measures about a 7.5). His diaper size hasn't changed since he was about 6 months old I think. He's still in size 4s (though 5s at night).



Naptimes are a highlight of my day. Thomas has started needing to go down earlier and usually is down by 1:30 and will sleep until I wake him (usually) around 4:15. He goes to bed around 8 and usually sleeps until 7-7:30. Some nights (like last night) he won't fall alseep for a while (last night it was about 9:30), but he is in his crib and not crying, so that's good.

Even when I'm struggling to keep up with him on days like today when pregnancy pains seem to get the best of me, I still love him dearly and am ever thankful that God chose me to be his Mom. Now I need to take the next few weeks to accept that my little baby will soon be a two year old!