The twos! in 2014

My little dude has crossed over into the land of the 2s. We’ve arrived alive, but it’s been an interesting adjustment. So of course, turning 2 doesn’t automatically create a new paradigm, but the things we did when he turned 2 kind of did. His birthday is August 29th, which means he’s just on the cusp of the new school year. Some schools start in August, but it feels like most start in September. In our case, his ‘school year’ at his current child development center started on September 2nd, which is when he started in his new class for the year. He has a new teacher, lots of new friends (some he knew from the 18-24 month class & 10-17 month classes, but a lot he has never ‘met’). He’s the youngest kid in the 2s, because you can’t get into the 2s until you are 2, and they usually do the big transitions in September, February and June. In other classes, it felt like he was always older than the other kids. I don’t think the transitioned him out of the 10-17 month class until he was 22 months, so he was the oldest kid in that class by far, and then he was only in the 18-24 month class for a couple months, but he was also older than a lot of kids in that class as well.

Another big development is that he’s going EVERY DAY now instead of every other day. Before he was M, W, F 12:30p-5:30p, now he goes every afternoon. PLUS they are now supporting any potty training efforts, so he’s learning by example by watching the other kids. He actually voluntarily asked to go potty on the chair quite a few times this week. We’re not sure he’s ready to fully start training efforts, but it’s super exciting that he’s showing so much interest.

The night before he started the 2s was the last night we had a nursing session. I told him he was a big boy now and big boys don’t need “mama ba” which is what he’s been calling it ever since he could call it something. He seemed a bit confused, but the real sadness didn’t set in until the next night when it was completely removed from the routine. Normally, when I’m traveling, he gets a bottle with milk to help him fall asleep, but now we don’t do anything milk-related anymore. Also, instead of me nursing him to sleep and then gently putting him in his crib once he’s done, now it’s Aaron’s responsibility to rock him to sleep and then transition him to the crib. The next step is going to be to just put him in the crib sleepy, but not asleep so he can start putting himself to sleep. But one thing at a time here. This first transition has been a bit rocky, and his nap/sleep schedule has been all over the place. Ahhh. Change.

He’s been more clingy with these new adjustments, but it’s starting to feel a bit more routine now, and we have had a few great nights of sleep, so fingers crossed that we are moving towards acceptance of the new routines. All of the routines.

Another big milestone was his 1st haircut! He got it on Thursday night at this adorable little kid salon in our neighborhood. He wasn’t GREAT about the whole thing, but his stylist was AWESOME and used every trick in the book to get us (and him!) through it. We went out to celebrate at our local pizza joint and had such a lovely time. Our neighborhood is amazing. We just hit our 1-year anniversary here and we keep falling more in love with the people that populate this area. It’s so great.

Speaking of our neighborhood people, a good friend of mine recently moved in about half a mile away, and it’s been so cool! She has a little boy just a few months older than Joaquin, and she has a fresh new baby that is just about 4 months old. We’ve hung out with them a few times since they moved in and I love having them so close.

Which brings me to the big birthday bash! We had Joaquin’s ‘Dinosaur Party’ the day after his actual birthday. I think 16 kids and 24 adults ended up coming throughout the course of the day. We set up a bouncy house and a dinosaur-themed splash pool outside and decorated all over the place with dinosuar items. The main course was pizza from Big Mama’s and Papas (gluten-free and regular crust options) and then we had an assortment of mini-cupcakes from Sprinkles (with vegan and sugar-free options). The party guests were a mix of our friends (with and without kids) and his friends from the gym daycare + their parents. He’s super friendly with some kids from the gym, since he sees them practically every day, so it was nice to have his ‘people’ there as Aaron’s mom described it.

Overall, it was a very successful day. He had SO MUCH fun. I felt like I was running around like a crazy chicken all day making sure everyone was eating and drinking, but I guess that’s just what happens at these shindigs! I wish I could have spent more quality time with people, but really, it was a party for him and on that metric, we judged it a complete success.

I’m planning to post pictures, but I just haven’t figured out a good way to do it yet. Most of you are FB or IG or something friends anyway, so you’ve probably seen most of them, but damnit, I want to post them here too. So anyway. Stay tuned on that item.

Here’s one for the moment.