I'm so thankful for baby steps. The Lord knew what he was doing when he gave us little kiddos that only sleep, eat, and poop for the beginning of their lives. I'm convinced that if we were given 2 year-olds out the gate, that there may be fewer kids out there. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this stage. We have so much fun. But Harrison is either running or sleeping. And I am just straight-up exhausted at the end of the day. As I celebrate my 3rd mother's day, I thought I would tell everyone what I have been learning about parenting a two-year old:
1. Don't give choices that have "no" as an answer. Inevitably, if "no" is in the menu of options for Harrison, he is going to choose it. No matter what. "Harrison, what do you want for breakfast?" "Nope," is an answer in his mind. So, now, I have to rephrase, "Harrison, do you want yogurt, eggs, or cereal?" For now that does the trick.
2. Don't give him choices about things that could create a problem later. For about two days, I was letting him pick the cup he would like milk in out of the drawer. Innocently, I thought there was no harm in that. When the day approached that the cups he wanted were unavailable, he got a little bent out of shape. Before I knew it, he was on the floor in tears because he wanted his Lightening McQueen cup. So, I noted, no more choices. He gets what I give him in this arena.
3. The answer to "Did you stinky?" is always no; even if the real answer is yes.
4. Two year-olds copy everything you say and do. Enough said.
5. Plan for a big boy bed transition. We made the transition when we moved into our new house and it has been relatively smooth. I have bed rails on the bed. Some how he managed to get wedged between the bed rails and the bed the first couple of nights. He has totally fallen out of bed. I had sleepless nights for the first two weeks while I worried about his demise in the bed. He turned out to be fine. And I know this doesn't work for every child, but I read somewhere that if you tell your child (as you are putting them to bed) to stay in bed until mom or dad comes to get you in the morning, it should work. I was skeptical. I thought that was silly. I am here to say that it has worked thus far. There have been times when I have tried to leave him that he has wanted to get out of bed, but I just remind him that he has to stay there until I come back. Please say some prayers that he continues to be obedient in this. I have a hunch this won't last too much longer.
Above are some pictures that Adam took of us today playing outside. In the second picture, I was trying to get H to squat next to me, but he had a difficult time following instructions. We got a good laugh about it.
