ashford at 2.5

i did a post like this about azalea when she was 2.5, so i really wanted to do one for ashford too. i know they say you shouldn't compare your kids, but i love to in a (hopefully) harmless way. i think it's natural when you have a second to notice the ways they are alike and different than your first. both of my kids excel and struggle in different areas and that makes them who they are. aside from the tantrums, age 2 really is a lot of fun! 3 is when things really get interesting (at least in our house). one thing that is vastly different this time is i'm not preparing for a new baby and worrying about how that transition will affect my 2 year old. ashford is and always will be my baby! 

physical

we won't have another well check-up until you turn 3, but i can tell you are growing. i'm guessing you weigh around 27-28 lbs. most 24 month clothes are too small and in most cases, 2t is just right. you don't have strong opinions about what you wear, besides not wanting to get dressed in general. you are actually really good at getting yourself dressed, if i make sure everything starts out straight. both of my kids have the tiniest, slowest growing feet ever. you still wear a 6 (most of your buddies your age are 2 sizes ahead). your feet may be little, but they are stinkier than ever, thanks to you refusing to wear socks with your shoes. pew! you are in size 5 diapers and i'm starting to think about potty training, but you give mixed signals whether you are ready for it and our apartment isn't ideal for potty training (carpeted except the kitchen and bathroom), so i'm not in any rush. your hair is still as white as ever and it's always a conversation piece when we are out and about. you got your 3rd hair cut when we were in minneapolis and it made you look so big and handsome! 

eating 

to sum things up...you eat like a toddler ;) you are still the king of snacks (and fruit). we try to keep snack sizes and frequency under control, but you ask for them 50x per day. it's consistently hard to get you to eat your regular meals, especially any sort of vegetable. even dangling dessert in front of you often still won't get you to eat them (and we stay firm on that rule). you love any sort of cracker and as i mentioned, fruit. for meals you prefer things like mac and cheese, quesadillas, or peanut butter waffles and i let you have more control at lunch time, but at dinner you get whatever we are having. i am so used to your sister having no interest in juice, popcicles, suckers or any other sort of fruit-flavored sweet, but you love all of them! of course you do. haha. you mostly drink water or an occasional treat of chocolate milk. you are pretty good at using open top cups (despite not getting much practice), but we use straw cups mostly to cut down on spills. 

sleeping 

my favorite topic of your short life (and every one else's it seems!). i would say you sleep through the night 1-2 times per month. you go down in your crib in your shared room with azalea and sleep until somewhere between 11pm and 4am when you wake up crying for me and i bring you into our bed. it's our routine and at this point i don't know what i'd do without it. i love having your little body snuggled in between your dad and me, except for when you are all over the place. you wake up anywhere between 5:45 - 6:30 and we try to keep you in bed for as long as possible, but you are always ready to start the day! you still take a nap every day as long as you don't fall asleep in the car. even under 5 minutes can ruin a real nap, so i put a lot of effort into avoiding that. you love to sleep in azalea's bed or mama and dada's bed for naps, so that's what you do. you will sleep for around 2 hours, so i'm thankful for that break in the afternoon. i'm in no rush to transition your crib to a toddler bed since you don't really try to climb out. 

quirks

toddlers are famous for their quirks, so they probably aren't quirks. you are in a huge "i do it self!" stage. like, i don't think i've ever met a kid who is more adamant about it. you want to do every step of every process 100% of the time with zero help and if i intervene in any way, not only do you throw a huge fit, but you want to start all the way over at the beginning. whew! i love that you are such a confident little guy and i'm so proud of all the big boy things you can do, but wanting to shut the car door when strapped into your car seat just isn't gonna happen. sorry dude :) you are still obsessed with my hair and sticking it in your ear. you tell me you have an itchy butt when your diapers get too wet. you copy everything your sister does. you are literally her little shadow most of the time. you have a bad habit of hitting me on purpose and then sweetly stroking me and saying "you okay, mama?" i know you are just testing cause and effect. 

language

your language has blown me away in the last few months. azalea was a little slower to pick up complex sentences and subjects, but you have mastered both. all day long i think to myself "how does he know that word, concept, etc?!" second child for sure. you talk in very complete sentences, ask good questions, and recall all sorts of details about things. it's amazing! you love to talk about (or parrot back) whatever azalea is talking about. i absolutely adore our conversations. you recently asked me "mama, i go to kindergarten?" and i had to explain about how you will go to preschool first and you need to learn how to use the potty and you said "i get cars undies?" so sweet. you loooove to talk about poopy and find a way to work it into any and every conversation. we're working on toning that down. haha. you can count pretty high and can say the a,b,c's but your letter and number recognition is nearly non-existent so far. you always tell me "when i get bigger, i...." about things i don't let you do yet. 

playing

you love to play with trains and cars, especially when dada sets up an elaborate track. you love playing with pretend food (both preparing and eating it). you love hide and seek and coloring and painting and stickers, reading books, blowing bubbles outside (you could do that all day), or any sort of sand or water play. you love taking care of baby dolls and playing with azalea, but it always ends with you two fighting. always. 

other 

you adore your sister, but you two fight like cats and dogs. i get to the end of my patience rope about 50x per day. you get upset if some one else grabs something you played with 15 minutes ago. your tantrums are getting stronger, but they are still pretty innocent. you love to help mama do the laundry, help dada bake. you took your fist shower with dada the other day (your request) and you thought it was the best thing ever. you went on your first ride (the carousel at the zoo) and loved it. you are much more adventurous than azalea was at this age, which is good and bad. your best buddies are bruce and ewan and you see them at least once a week and talk about them all the time. you are more interested in your body parts (and mama's and azalea's) and figuring that whole thing out. if mama or dada are away from you, even for just an hour, you excitedly yell "i missed you!" when we get back. you are still rear facing in your car seat for a little while longer. you recover from your owies very quickly, which is nice. you are always chewing your finger nails. 

you are a little ray of sunshine and bring us so much joy!