Well, it is the day before Tomato is scheduled to arrive via C-section, and my best intentions to backfill the blog have fallen by the wayside. I am going to compile a bullet list of all the things I want to remember from the time when he turned two until now, when he is two years eight months old, and then focus on being better about updating the blog in the future!

Language Development:

• At this point, Seth speaks in full sentences, pretty much just like an adult. He amazes us with how well he speaks!
• When he was becoming super verbal, he would stutter a little bit over his words trying to get everything out at once.
• He has mastered his pronouns now (when we say to him "do you want to get up" he says "I want to get up.")
• The only pronouns he gets wrong are when he looks at pictures or videos of himself, he says "He is at the beach" instead of "I am at the beach."
• We will have a discussion with Seth, and he will latch onto a sentence or concept and talk about it over and over - he got a fire truck from Grams for Christmas, and will talk and talk about how you can raise the ladder and the firefighter can rescue a dog or a cat from a tree.

Physical Development:

• Seth had all of his teeth by September - by the age of 2 years 4 months. He got the the first two of his last set of molars in July, and the last two molars in September. He started getting his teeth late (8.5 months) but finished up pretty early.
• We take him for regular visits to the dentist, and he is good about letting her examine him and letting us brush his teeth.
• The dermatologist Seth has seen for the mole on his thigh that he was born with told us that we don't need to see him on a regular basis anymore because everything is fine.
• Seth has gotten very good at walking up stairs. He is able to go one foot per stair if he wants to. We always follow behind him or hold his hand, but he is very good at this!
• Seth is very good with his fine motor skills and his gross motor skills - he can kick and throw and catch a ball, as well as write with crayons, chalk, markers, paints.
• He loves to put things together - towers, blocks, building.
• We're still working on toilet training - it'll happen when he's ready!
• Since the summer, he's had hand, foot, and mouth disease and croup, but (knock on wood) seems to have outgrown his ear infections.

Cognitive Development:

• Seth loves pretend play - he likes to pretend objects are something else - a stake is a horse, part of the pack and play is a golf club.
• Seth loves to do puzzles - he moved on from his little kid puzzles to 48 piece puzzles that we help him with. We've taught him about corner pieces and edge pieces.
• Seth definitely has his routines - he likes to have everything in its place, and he wants the games we play to go just so.

• Just over the past few weeks, he hit three milestones:

  1. Entered the "Why" phase - asking why about everything!
  2. Entered the "Are we there yet?" phase when riding in the car, and
  3. He can recognize letters in words and read the letters to us, especially letters in his name.

• Seth picks up on instructions really well. If you show him how to do something...how to click the cap on a marker down, how to latch the lock on his toolbox, he remembers these things and can do them over and over.

Social Development:

• Seth is a very social creature - he loves being with adults and definitely directs our play together!
• He also loves being with his friends at daycare. He likes to talk about all his friends and the things they do together.
• Over the past six months or so, we've really worked on rules with him - using his "listening ears," giving him two choices, counting to 3, using timeouts if necessary. He is receptive to these things - only thing is, he likes to use our parenting rules on us, telling us "Come here...1..2...3" or "You have two choices..."

New Words and Expressions:

• "Just the way you like it!"
• "Right where it belongs!"
• "Yes, yes, yes!"
• "Ouch, it hurts (when he would fall over on purpose)"
• "Clever"
• "Balanced"
• "Decided"
• "Look at all the..."(balls, stars, etc.)
• "You're cute" (to me)..."no, you're cute" (to him)
• "You're my hero" (to me)..."no, you're my hero" (to him)
• "You're the best (to me)..."no, you're the best" (to him)
• "Roger that" (Daddy says this)
• "Ready to rock and roll" (Daddy says this)
• "Sounds like a plan" (Daddy says this)
• "Did you ever know that before?" or "Did you know that already?"
• "Arrived"
• "I used my listening ears"
• When I tell him "you're my special boy" he says "you're my special girl"
• "My sock is all ruined up" (when his sock slips off)
• "Family hug, family hug!"
• Used to call "football" "feetball"
• Calling a "golf ball" a "goof ball"
• He uses to call a "toothbrush" a "brushteeth"
• He still says "yogrit" for yogurt

New Games and Activities:

• He likes to help us with chores - setting the table, sweeping. Geema got him his own broom for Chanukah.
• He loves puzzles, blocks, playing with his tools, playing sports, "cooking" in his kitchen, reading, playing with cars and trucks
• Recently we've been cooking more together - he helps make mac and cheese, pizza, cookies
• He loves the Dr. Seuss matching game he got from Auntie Kara - gets so excited when he makes matches - he says, "I win, I win!"
• Seth is still a bit of a picky eater, but at least he will eat things from all five food groups. He's transitioned from a high chair to a booster sit and likes to sit at the table with us and drink from a real cup with no lid.
• Seth loves music - he loves to put on concerts with his instruments - he can sing all the words to lots of songs - like "Close Your Eyes" by James Taylor (or Taylor James, as he calls him) or "Rockin' Robin," his favorite song, that he likes to listen to in the car on repeat!

Memories I don't want to forget:

• Over the summer, we developed our naptime and bedtime routine - reading books in the rocking chair, then I had to sing "Close Your Eyes" by James Taylor, followed by "The Ants go Marching 1 by 1" followed by reciting part of the book "The Bear Snores On" from memory. When he moved into his big boy room, we usually just read books in bed, but every so often he wants to hear his three song routine.
• The way he nods and says "Yes, yes" when we've hit on just exactly what he wants.
• The way he laughs hysterically and rubs noses with me when we have a funny joke together
• The way he loves to be tickled by Jason and play with him, getting airplane rides
• He's told us when he grows up he will be able to use big scissors, won't need a stool, and will be able to drive a car. He has told us when he grows up he wants to be a fireman, a worker, work at a car store, and that he will be the grown-up and we can be the kids.
• How he doesn't know how to lie - always tells us if he followed the rules at daycare
• Talking about the difference between "on purpose" and "by accident" with him
• The fun of taking him to museums now that he is older.
• What a happy and clever little boy he is - we all have so much fun together and we love him so much. We are so lucky to have all his grandparents nearby, and to have such close relationships with family and friends.