Twenty-Two Months Old

In eight weeks I will have a two year old! That causes me to mildly hyperventilate to think at how fast the time really has flown by, but every moment is a joy.

Ace continues to explore and do new and exciting things - as he grows older he's able to explore and do more things that the 'big' kids get to do... like go to the movies! Yep since I first heard word that Toy Story 3 was coming out this June I had been plotting and keeping track so that I could take Ace to go see it.

We chose a 9am showing on a Saturday. Sadly dad was away on his drill weekend, so he wasn't able to join us. I brought Ace in strapped in his stroller for added assistance and we sat in the handicap section (fully willing to move if someone in need required those seats.) Ace was in awe of the giant tv in front of him and he sat through commercials, previews, and the Picsar short with zero issue and then Toy Story started and he was THRILLED. He was so excited, he squealed! He of course had brought Buzz and Woody with him to accompany him to watch the movie, and they sat with him in his stroller. I had juice and snacks of various flavors and he did great! He sat for over 100 minutes (including all the pre-show 'excitement') before he sought to get out of the stroller and have a mild itching to get down and be free. It only lasted a moment and then he was back and engaged in the movie. He sat for a time on his own in his own chair, he enjoyed that. Then back into the stroller he went for the remainder of the movie. He loved it. He absolutely was enthralled with everything happening in the story and had a blast. I don't think he'd sit through with such ease through just any movie though - I think having some of his favorite characters on the screen was a big help in keeping his attention. Looking forward to adding another Toy Story into our movie rotation in the near future!

Ace is also talking up a storm in sentences. He likes to tell you exactly what he wants and that he wants to go get it. The other day we had the following conversation.

A: 'Breakfast, breakfast, breaaaaakkkkfaaast!;
Me: 'You already ate breakfast, it's almost time for lunch.'
A: 'LUNCH! Thai food? Thai food. Thaaaai foooood! Broccoli? Thai food. I drive!'
Me: (laughing hysterically)

Apparently our son LOVES thai food. We don't eat it THAT often - maybe once or twice a month MAYBE - but he apparently remembers it with fondness. He is doing wonderful at communicating what he wants and he says 'bless you' after he sneezes still and says 'thanks, welcome' after he's been given something. He's a very polite boy. He also finally in recent days has started to actually say 'please' rather than simply and exclusively signing it. He also the other day said 'I sorry' outloud rather than simply signing it. It was really sweet and heartfelt. I couldn't ask for a kinder soul than we have in Ace. We truly are blessed. I hope his heart stays this sweet.

Ace also has deemed that mommy's baby is: 'Seester.' The other day he came up to me while I was laying down and came and lifted my shirt up and hugged his 'seester' and then gave her?? a raspberry and then 'closed' my shirt and said 'bye bye seester' It was really sweet. And again entirely adorable. We'll have some serious explaining to do if Baby TIME turns out to be a boy. :)
Teeth wise Ace's got all but his final set of molars in! I'd say that his 'sharp teeth' are still not all the way in but they're mostly in and certainly doing their chewing job. He still has issues every now and then with his mouth hurting and I can't tell if it's the final molars coming in or its still his sharp teeth giving him issues. He's a trooper though, not too much complaining on his part.

He continues to enjoy swimming although the lead up to it, he often says he doesn't want to go. Although once we're there is loves it and the other day after swimming he was telling the checker at BRU all about it! The sun this week also has made repeat appearances and in light of that Ace has been able to enjoy time in his pool! He loves to use the hose to fill it up and then afterwards he enjoys splashing and transferring the water elsewhere. Gone are the days that I add boiling water to his pool so that it's warm. He's growing up and enjoy the cold hose water all by himself. Ace also in his 22nd month got to paint for the first time. He LOVED it. He asks to paint any day it's sunny now. It was adorable to watch him play with all the different paint brushes and colors. He was very deliberate about each stroke he took - and honestly did not get that messy! It was excellent. :)

Sleep for Ace continues to be a standard experience for us. He seems to wake up around 1 or 2 (sometimes as early as midnight) and come into our room to sleep. Most of the time after he does that he sleeps fine until morning. However, there are still a handful of days that he is a squirmy worm that causes both mom and dad to clench our teeth and contemplate that arrangement. It's been a long while since we've seen lengthy sleeping patterns on the first stint of sleep. I've given up keeping track. I'm too exhausted being pregnant to try and 'sleep train' him. If he'll sleep with us, sleep is the key, so location is secondary.

Ace LOVES to dance. We put the music on and he goes to town! He's got some good moves :) He turns the radio on in his room often and rocks out while up there. In recent weeks I've migrated more of his toys to his room so that he can play in his room more and less so all over the midlevel of the house. The playroom is still mainly focused on the lowest level of the house - but we honestly don't go down there on a regular basis - the arrangement of all that fun stuff continues to be a project in the back of my mind. I believe as the changing table and rocking chair move out of his room, more of 'his' toys will move into his room for optimal playing there.

Ace is growing, flourishing and having a grand ol' time. It's going to be a fun summer with him.