Having a 2-year-old is awesome. Somedays I don’t know which one of us has more fun.
Jude has been repeating everything we say and also asking, ‘what’s that?’ if he doesn’t know the name of something. I am continually amazed by what he remembers. And everyday he comes up with new sentences.
He mastered counting to 10 a few months back and since then he has been working on the ABCs. We hear him in his crib at night practicing.
He has such a fun group of friends that we see pretty much everyday at our local park. Jude and Toby are the only boys but neither seem to mind.
I’ve been taking bigger trips away from home with the boys. One morning we went to the airport the via the MRT.
The boys were both really good and loved watching the airplanes.
We’ve also been going to some of our old favorites, like the sandpit. Playing in sand never seems to get old for kids.
I got a new bike earlier in the month and so we did a few rides. I had another seat mounted between my legs for Toby. So one day soon I will attempt to take both boys for a ride. But for now, I just take Jude and he loves it. Whenever we say ‘car or bike ride’ he run to the door right away waiting to go.
The fierce summer heat is back and so we are always on the hunt for some air-con. I sometimes take the boys to the malls to walk around. This one has a whole Alice in Wonderland themed floor. They have a hallway with holograms of Alice in Wonderland playing. Jude is really into tunnels at the moment (because of his train set) so he had a blast running through the ‘tunnel’ hallway.
Some days, when it is too hot, we invite friends to come over and play.
Jude had a modeling job this month and he really rocked it.
Jude loves to tinker with things. He especially loves when Dad pulls out his tool box. Jude will stand alongside Luke with his own allen key pretending to disassemble something. He always wants to know how something works and will try it over and over until he masters it.
This month hasn’t all been fun. Jude’s two year molars are coming through – all four at once. Thankfully this hasn’t disrupted his sleep but it has led to some frustrating times. I can tell he must be in pain as he will sometimes chew on his hand or bite something.
He’s also started to be less keen on sharing his toys than before. It takes him a little time but he usually will share with his friends but it certainly takes a lot of nudging from me.
He snatches things away from Toby all the time. I’ve been trying to get him to replace whatever he has taken from Toby with another toy. But more recently Toby has started to notice that the toy isn’t the same and he gets upset. A friend of ours will place the toy in question in ‘time-out’ so neither kid gets it. I might give this a try.
This month he finally started sometimes calling Toby by his name. However, most of the time Toby is still known as ‘baby’. I have seen Jude continue to show just how much he cares for Toby. When Toby falls over, Jude runs right over to kiss his ‘boo boos’. He is always wanting to involve Toby in our games, too, by saying ‘baby do’. They are both very lucky to have each other.
It’s so funny when Jude talks as I realize he is simply reflecting back what he hears from us. One of my favorite phrases Jude likes to say is ‘WOW…cool, neat, fun’ when he is really excited by something. It’s obviously a combination of things I say when I’m excited by something.
Jude’s favorite things to play with these days are still cars, trains, fire engines and construction vehicles. He loves to dance, sing, and help me cook. And favorite foods are chicken nuggets, edamame, egg fried rice, pancakes, steamed buns, dumplings, and just about any fruit. He also loves his milk and asks for it throughout the day.
Other moms and I often talk about our two year olds and the two big transitions we will attempt to make this year – potty training and a toddler bed. Jude has stopped wanting to use his potty and is in love with his diapers again. I have heard their interest comes and goes and when it comes you have to be proactive and get rid of all diapers. . When he first showed an interest it was right before Toby was born and so it just wasn’t the right time for us. Now that Toby is older and Jude is so verbal, I can imagine doing it. We are just going to wait until he gets excited about it again. Until then we will keep asking and not push it. As for a toddler bed, I will follow advice from my friends: to keep him in the crib as long as possible. You enter a whole new awful phase of middle of the night wake-ups and early mornings once you move your toddler to a bed they can get out of. Luke and I have just gotten our sleep back (thanks to Toby sleeping through the night) so neither one of us is ready for our toddler to start waking us up now. So far Jude is still very happy and sleeps great in his crib. He hasn’t ever tried to climb out- thank goodness!
Another wonderful month with our kind, loving little boy.
He’s in the 100th percentile for weight and 97th for height in his age group!
He’s had a great month crawling all around. And he’s gotten really fast!
He has also perfected his standing position and has started furniture walking.
He gets steadier by the day but I still like to keep close as he has had some big spills.
This month he’s been all about high fives, clapping, and dancing.
He loves food and is pretty much eating whatever Jude is. This makes mealtime a lot simpler for me!
He has eaten just about anything I have given him except for papaya. Both the boys hate papaya. I can’t say I like it much either, but its super healthy and so cheap here!
Most nights he is sleeping from 7pm-6am but maybe once a week he will wake up in the middle of the night and the only way to settle him is with a feed.
His morning and later afternoon naps are still on me in the ergo. His lunchtime one is in his crib.
He’s really heavy to carry around but there is nothing sweeter than this view.
Luke and I had a night away for his birthday and while we were gone Toby finally gave in and took the bottle!
Toby is a happy monkey for 50% of the day,
And for the other 50% whining and crying.
He needs me a lot. He will crawl over to me crying and stand up on my legs until I pick him up. And as I have said before, when it rains, it pours with Toby.
He’s at his happiest when he’s with Jude horsing around.
Jude is really patient and caring with Toby and I think Toby picks up on that.
When Jude isn’t at home Toby will cry and whine but as soon as he is back, he is happy again.
It’s so cute when Toby crawls over and kinda throws himself forward onto Jude – just like he has seen Jude do to Luke.
One of the best parts of the day (besides when they both nap at the same time) is when Dad comes home. They both hustle to the door and shriek in excitement.
It’s really so hard to believe our cuddly little Toby is 8 months already!
Five years in Taiwan 