26 Months Old

Another month older and wiser too!  Our little guy is 26 months old now and man does he keep us on our toes!

Tyke is a little ball of energy and runs everywhere he goes.  He literally can not walk, he runs (I may have mentioned this before...).  For his birthday he got the cutest little backpack that has a convenient leash and we have just barely started using it and it has been nice, for us.  He hates it!  He'd rather be held than "walked" haha.  Tyke loves his backpack though and is so good to pack it every morning before heading to Grandma Cheryl's house.  He always makes sure he has his collection of "ar-pains", his cow and horse and his stuffed Nemo.  He gets so frustrated with Nemo though.  He's always the last toy to go in and he just doesn't fit very good, making it hard for Tyke to close his bag and zip it.  He always comes crying to me with his full, opened bag in hand and asks for help.  It's adorable.

Tyke is getting really good at trying to do things on his own.  He still has a ways to go before he's mastered them but at least he tries.  He likes to try and brush his teeth on his own.  We usually give him a good scrubbing and then hand the toothbrush over to him for him to try.  He mostly just sucks the water out and plays with it but he gets it.  Tyke likes to take his own jacket off, he gets mad if we try to help.  He unzips it almost all of the way and then pulls it back to tear it off, like superman, and climbs out.  And our little guy tries so hard to put his own shoes on.  He gets the process he just isn't very close to getting them on right, at all.  He will take his shoes and sit down and struggle to put them on his feet.  He finally gets them to hang off of his toes and then he'll excitedly exclaim, "Mom, tada!" and throw his hands in the air with the cutest, biggest grin on his face.  He's proud of him and so are we!  He seriously works so hard to learn new things and doesn't give up easily.

Tyke is really starting to talk good.  He tells us all sorts of stories and usually we can translate what he's saying.  There are quite a few things that can be understood without translation.  He communicates well!  He's also become a bit of a tattle tale.  He loves to tattle on Luke.  Tyke will crawl up to Luke, grab Luke's little fist, and hit himself in the forehead.   He immediately lets go, grabs his head like he's been hit, and falls backwards while yelling, "Oh!"  He'll roll back and forth for a few seconds like he's really in pain and then come and tell on Luke to one of us.  It's pretty comical and we really need to capture it on video!  A few of the phrases Tyke uses a lot lately:

• Mom! I dot Ru! ("Mom, I got Muru!" which he told me as he ripped the toy out of the packaging in the toy isle of Target!  Little stinker knows how to get what he wants doesn't  he?!)
• Dad! I dee bir! Right dare! ("Dad, I see birds, right there!" He loves to point out all of the animals that he sees and tries to mimic their sounds too)
• Mom! Lu it me! Oh! ("Mom, Luke hit me! Doh!"  Tyke is quite the tattle tale and he thinks Luke is beating him up whenever he gets too close to Luke's wiggling arms and legs, it's so cute!)
• Ma! Lu ma! (Ma, Luke's mad!)
• Beee-Bopper!!!!! (Dusty Crophopper, his favorite Planes plane)
• Hep meeee! ("Help me!" he says this one a lot too, especially when wrestling with his Daddy!)

Tyke is an iPad genius and shows us daily new tricks and tips.  He sometimes makes us feel dumb when we play a game wrong and then he shows us how it's done.  The other day he let me have a turn at one of his games.  I wasn't sure what the concept was so I just started moving animals around (you're supposed to line all them up together: birds on one line, monkeys on one line, porcupines on one line).  He looked at me and  yelled, "No Maaaah!", took the iPad away from me and showed me how it was done.  He teaches us something new everyday!  As much as we love the iPad we have had to cut back Tyke's time on it.  He would sit and play on that thing all day long if we'd let him.  He's a bit obsessed and I'm not liking it too much.  He throws a fit when we take it away from him.  He has snuck out of bed both in the early morning hours and at bedtime to go and play the iPad.  We're ready to find a new hiding spot for it.  We love that he enjoys it so much and he has seriously learned a ton from it but we also want him to interact with others and play with his toys and outside.  It's a tricky balance for sure.

At twenty-six months old Tyke's favorite things are: the iPad, his Planes airplanes and Muru (the little blue guy that fixes the planes on Fire and Rescue), trucks and trains, his backpack, bubble baths with his brother, Planes Fire and Rescue movie, Finding Nemo movie, chocolate milk, pop tarts, yogurt, watching the neighbor ride his motorcycle, and playing with his cousins.

New tricks for Tyke include: winking his eyes (really he just moves them around while wiggling his mouth but he thinks he's winking and it's cute!), thumbs up, roll overs, splits, and folding in half.  The kid is more flexible than anyone I've ever known.

Tyke hasn't grown too much in the last month.  He's still in the same size clothes and shoes, although his shoes are starting to run out of room.  So he's still in 2t jeans, 2t-3t shirts, size 5 diapers and size 8 shoes.  He does have a new tooth to talk about and another one on the way!  I noticed on 3-7-15 while brushing his teeth that his left second molar has popped through.  He still has a ways to go before it's completely through but it's there and it's sharp!  His right side second molar looks swollen and a little white as well so I won't be surprised if it's coming soon too!  Tyke has been chewing on his fingers a lot and his Daddy suggested that maybe teething was the problem and sure enough it was.  Tyke has really gotten picky lately with what foods he will and won't eat.  He's mainly got a sweet tooth for yogurt, pop tarts and ice cream.  He has no problem eating them.  He still has his toddler diet and refuses to try anything we cook but he's even getting picky about his toddler diet.  He doesn't eat his mac and cheese or cheese quesadillas like he did before.  He turns his nose up at almost everything and if we push the subject he throws a fit and cries.  Our cure for the tantrum is yogurt, it always calms him down.  It's frustrating but at least he's eating something right?  

We love our smart, fast, funny little guy so much!  Here's to another month!