Connor turned 2 1/2 on September 7th and had his well check-up on September 8th. He is 27.6 pounds and not very tall, I can't remember the measurement. He's only in the 18th percentile for weight and 9th for height. Poor little fella isn't fond of growing. But his BMI was 59%, so we aren't too worried about where he is on the charts. We still aren't able to predict how big he is going to be until he turns 4. Looks like he is such a late bloomer, that he is either going to be pretty tall or he's going to be pretty short. Whatever the outcome, I'm glad he's healthy and thriving!
He is still wearing 18 month shorts and is now in 2T shirts. His jeans are size 2T for length purposes. I have the kind of jeans that pull in the waist, and they're still gap pretty bad. At least he has room to grow into them! His shoes are size 6.5-7. Just depends on the shoe and brand. He absolutely LOVES his shoes. He picks out his shoes, and then I pick out his clothes. Sometimes he picks out his shirt, but I have most of his clothes hanging, so he can't exactly pick up a shirt and put it on. He can successfully put on his clothes without assistance, but usually I just do it.
He's beginning to speak a lot clearer and in full sentences. I was worried for a while because a lot of people couldn't understand him, but he's beginning to think about what he's trying to say. Every now and then I have no clue what he's trying to say, but after making him repeat himself a few times, I can pick it up. He still has trouble pronouncing some syllables, but he will catch on at some point.
Sleeping is such a touchy subject right now. He still sleeps 11-12 hours at night and usually takes his 3-4 hour nap in the afternoon. Every now and then his nap is cut short or even non-existent, and those days are rough. But, for the most part he is okay with his nap. Although he still sleeps the 12 hours at night, he does come and get in our bed a few nights a week. Sometimes it's at 3am, and other times it's at 7am. He's starting to fall out of his toddler bed and it startles him awake. When it wakes him up, he comes and gets in our bed. But, luckily he falls back asleep and sleeps until 8:00-8:30. I used to get frustrated when he would get in our bed, but then I remember that he's only 2 and these moments won't last forever. Once I remember that, I just cuddle him a little tighter.
My most favorite thing he does these days is when he wakes up from his nap, usually Maddie is still asleep. We sit in my bed and watch whatever he wants to (usually Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, the Octonauts, or Curious George) and then he hears her wake up on the monitor. He looks at me and says "Maddie awake! I get her!!" He then proceeds to go into her room (oh, he can totally open all sorts of doors now, which is an adventure... to say the least) and he crawls in her crib with her. They begin giggling and throwing all of her things out of the crib. Then it turns a big rough. He starts wrestling her and pulling her down. Then I have to go in there and take her out of the crib while he stays in. I think of it as a little bit of punishment while he's screaming at me "Help me, Connor, out!" Okay, so maybe the wrestling isn't so sweet, but when he says "I get her!" it just melts my heart.
Last week we took the kids to Atlanta to see a Braves game. We were all excited and ready to go! We get to Atlanta, and into the ballpark (it was Julio Teheran bobblehead night!), we walked around and ate dinner. It was close to 7:00, and it begins to rain. So we moved to shelter (which was at the very top of the stands). Then the rain quickly turned into a monsoon. We couldn't see the seats across the field. We weren't exactly prepared for this weather. We were lucky that the man behind us gave us a poncho. So, I put the poncho on and put Maddie under it and carried her down the stairs. Cameron carried Connor, who had a hat on... which seemed great at the time, except hats get wet. And as we were waiting for the elevator, we were just getting dumped on. I probably should have sheltered him under the poncho while we were waiting, but I wasn't exactly thinking straight at that moment. We finally make it onto the main concourse and manage to find a stand that has ponchos. As Cameron and I walk into the gift stand, the power goes out and the backup generators kick in. At that point, I said "forget it, we are leaving!" So, Cameron buys the poncho and puts in on and Connor underneath it. We left and turned out Hank Aaron Blvd became the Mississippi River when it rains that much. So we are treading through this river and finally manage to make it to the car. We make it safely to the hotel and are soaking wet. I then remember that we don't have milk for the kids. Cameron goes out and walks down the block to a gas station to grab a half gallon of milk and some snacks. So then I was putting Maddie to bed. It took about 30 minutes because she is not used to being rocked to sleep. But, I managed to get to her sleep and lay her down in one of the beds (we put the toddler rail on one end and make a blockade of pillows on the other side). Connor, being the wild man he is, is running around the room. We are hushing him and begging him to lay down, but he isn't really listening. So, it's 11:30 and I tell Cameron that I can barely keep my eyes open and to make sure Connor is asleep before he falls asleep. At this point, Connor was laying in his cot with Mickey Mouse Cartoons on youtube. It was the only thing to keep him in his bed. I'm beginning to drift off, when I hear Cameron exclaim "Connor!! Great... now you woke her up!!" Umm... well Maddie is awake now, and girlfriend has now had a power nap. She is nowhere near going back to sleep. As soon as I go in to grab Maddie and lay down with her in her bed, Connor falls asleep on his cot. So, now I turn on lullabies on youtube to try to get Maddie sleepy again. I absolutely cannot get her to even lay down. Cameron begins to drift off to sleep, so of course I have to stay up with Maddie. I am beat tired, and trying to get this little girl back to sleep. She fought and fought and fought and finally at 2:40am, she decided that she would go back to sleep. My head hit the pillow and I was out.
At 8:20, I hear Maddie go "uh-oh!" Afraid she will roll off the bed, I go in there to grab her and then Connor wakes up. So, we eat breakfast at the hotel. Cameron and I are kind of bummed that we didn't stay to watch the Braves game and wanted to do something fun with the kids. We landed on the Georgia Aquarium, and it was the best decision we had made the entire trip! The kids had so much fun. There were walls of tanks and fish were on the ceiling and floor. There were beluga whales and otters. Our favorite was the dolphin training session. We didn't make it to the dolphin show, but we still had a blast. The kids were so beat (and Cameron and I were too) that we had to leave at 1:15. We didn't make it one block before Maddie passed out. Connor waited until we got to the interstate, but we were all SO TIRED! We had so much fun though! Connor liked looking for Nemo and Dory. He enjoyed just about everything. We would say "Connor, you need to sit on your seat so we can go see the next one," and he would obey and we would move along. He got so giggly when we moved to the next exhibit. He enjoyed the moving walkway, and did not want to leave. He waved hello to the divers and the sharks. He is funny and loved it!
