You are 31 months now and working on some pretty big milestones. You started on potty training, and you're going to be a big brother. We've also started looking into preschool for you, and building a twin bed for you. Your life is going to change a lot next year. I hope you're ready for it.
This month has been fairly routine, after all of the here-and-there of the summer. We spent Labor Day weekend doing projects around the house and yard. Dad and I finished painting the red wall in the living room, and Grandma and I moved some peony plants around in the yard. Dad waged war on some of the trees that are growing in places we don't want them. The weather was pretty warm, but it was good be getting things done. We also went shopping on that Monday and bought you real underpants. You wanted the ones with Yo Gabba Gabba on them, and the ones with Buzz Lightyear.
You're always happy to help us with chores that we're doing, especially if they involve some kind of tool. Sometimes you'll get tired of it and go off to play with something else, which is fine, too. I like the idea that you can both help us and also be independent. I know that Dad and I are both looking forward to when we're really able to do start teaching you skills instead of simply giving you experiences. I hope that you develop your own interests and hobbies, but I'll be really happy if they happen to intersect things that we like, too.
The week after Labor Day you started your adventures in potty training. You wear diapers or pull-ups in the mornings, so that Grandma and Grandpa can still take you out to breakfast and such. Then you switch to underpants in the afternoon so you can practice using the big potty all the time. So far, you're doing pretty well. You had lots of accidents at first, of course, and we did a lot of laundry that week. I actually picked up some more underpants (Thomas the Train, this time) so that we wouldn't run out so fast. Usually you tell us when you needed to potty, which was good, but sometimes it was in the middle of a walk, which meant you still ended up in wet pants. Sometimes I bug you about it, and you tell me no, no, no, and then end up with wet pants because you don't want to stop playing. I think the most frustrated I have seen you over anything to do with the potty was the time you wanted to flush it twice in a row, and I ended up having to explain to you that the water tank needs time to fill up again. I thought I might actually have to take the cover off and actually show you, but I'm glad I didn't, because Lord knows what kind of game that would have become. There have also been a couple of times that you wanted to stand up and pee, which is fine, except for your lack of aim, of course.
You seem to be okay with that part of your life changing, which is a relief. I hope that you won't fine the other changes that are coming very hard either. My plan is to put a twin bed in your room in the next month, and then by the time Baby needs to sleep in the crib, you'll have happily traded it for the big bed. I'm prepared to bribe you with Thomas the Train sheets, but I'm hoping that won't be necessary. Your bed time has started to be challenging as you start asserting that you don't want to go upstairs for your bath. You say things like, "I have to play trains!" and "Let's do it later," or simply, "I can't!" Some nights I have to resort to carrying you upstairs while you yell, "Put you down!" and "Let go of me!" Usually you manage to have some fun in the bath, once we're finally there. I suppose I should confess that there was one night that I ended your tantrum by telling you to squirt Dad with water. That may have been the night that he started taking his shirt off when he gives you a bath. I have no regrets.
Next Monday we're going to visit a preschool that you might go to starting early next year. Our friends Doug and Cindy send their son Adrian there--they've said good things about it. It's a Montessori school, which we like. I think that Montessori is great for pre-school, and I think that you would like it. I don't know what kind of elementary school we would choose yet. It's overwhelming sometimes to realize that we are already starting to be serious about your schooling. We want you to have good experiences in school, for many different reasons. Your father found it hard to be happy in school, whereas I found it somewhat easier, but both of us had our challenges. I hope that you will always tell us what you're thinking and feeling about school. I know our expectations for you will be high, but you should never interpret that to mean that we don't love you. You may, however, interpret it to mean that, "I have to play trains," will not get you out of homework any more than it gets you out of bathtime.
Mostly, I hope that you enjoy preschool so that when Baby gets here, you won't feel as though your whole life has been taken over by your sibling. That will, of course, be true (especially if you listen to your Uncle Alex's version of our childhood), but I don't want you to feel like it's true. Many parents talk about feeling that they couldn't love a second child as much as they love their first child. I tend to be more concerned that you won't feel as loved as you really are. You have so many people who love you, sweet boy, and we always will.
Love,
Mom
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