the big 3-0

Eddie is 30 months today, that's officially 2 and a half. I cannot believe that in 6 months he will be three. I say this wholeheartedly because there are so many moments when he still seems like my little baby. He is my special special (this is a Thomas reference, which I also cannot believe I am stating). It is hard to measure your toddler's growth when you see him every day and his actions and words become predictable and commonplace; don't get me wrong, there are always a handful of things he does on a daily basis that amaze me, but in general it is hard to note development when it is unfolding before your very eyes.

Verbally he is making some progress, although I still feel like he has a long way to go to be comparable to his peers. He latest phrases are " Ba Da, See Me" which translates to "Bye Dad, See you later!," "Mama two babies" and he is really into the verb "do" and will say "Me/I do" or "Mama do." He says "I sit," "I eat," and "I stink" when he goes poop. He still talks about "Ho ho" a lot and will say "ho ho down chimney." I feel like we can have full conversations with him and he totally understands, and yet his expressive language lacks the ability to completely talk back to us. And yet he is so expressive in so many other ways, through his nonverbal gestures, nosies and facial experssions that there rarely seems to be an instance when we do not understand each other. His latest words are "boards," as in the hockey boards, "coal" as in what the tender of the train carries and "water." He is interested in how the snow melts into water. The speech therapist is very impressed with his play skills and thinks he is making good progress and so I guess I should not be as concerned as I am.

School is going well for him. He has struggled a tad more with the separation and there have been some days when just getting out the door has been a challenge, but yesterday I think we overcame a huge hurdle because I did not sneak out when I left him. I clearly made eye contact with him and told him "ok Eddie, I'm going to go. See you later." and he did not shed a tear or seem distraught at all. This is huge. They say that he is relatively shy and respects other kids' space; which means he does not like getting too close to others nor does he like it when another kid gets close or touches him. He likes gym class the best, but also seems to enjoy music and computer time. He made his first BM while at school yesterday, which is a good sign because it means he is comfortable there; Eddie typically never goes poop away from home. Can you believe that in 2.5 years I have yet to change a poopy diaper in a public setting?! I have never used one of those changing tables in a restroom. Ok, wait, clarification. We did have to change a poopy diaper at Old Orchard Beach in Maine...a poopy swim diaper...not fun.

Right now he is "in" to putting on his hockey equipment (thanks Uncle Will!) and parading around the house, putting on his "Bob" hard hat and pretending to fix things with his tool set, playing with his choo choos, puzzles (yes, he finally is getting into them and doing a very good job and juxtaposing the pieces into the right space), matching objects and finding hidden pictures ( he has always had a very astute eye for finding really small pictures of objects amidst others), counting (the only number he can say is "two" but he will point at items and make a counting noise). He enjoys reading and asking me "what's that" to every little detail on the page, even things like sky and doorknobs and bows in girls' hair.

He still loves to play outside. We took advantage of the 50 degree weather and sun today and he spent over an hour literally rolling around in the mud, shoveling the thawed out earth. We walked down our block and he picked up every stick he could find and threw them in the street. We are both excited for spring.