This boy is so so so verbal. He loves reading and spends a great deal of time reading to himself and looking through books with mommy and daddy We put a basket of books near his potty chair and he will sit there for a good half hour while he waits to do his "business".
He can count to twenty, but really isn't interested in going higher just yet. He also has a good concept of one to one correspondence with numbers. He loves organizing. He loves folding, unfolding and creasing papers. We have about a billion folded papers at the house and they all have to be folded in his very special way.
Noah has really taken to potty training. We have mastered most pees in the toilet for a while now and recently he has started pooping (yay!!). I introduced a sticker chart where he receives a sticker for every poop made on the potty and that seems to be extremely motivating for him. He doesn't ask for stickers for peeing just pooping. We originally told him that if he pooped on the potty five times and got five stickers then he could go to the toy store and pick out a bubble blower to replace a broken one. After a week he was successful and we followed through with our end of the bargain. Since then we have just kept up with stickers and that has kept him entertained. He hasn't even asked about getting another toy. He is just happy to fill the potty and see his chart look all nice and colorful. He also enjoys all the reading and lego building we do while he waits on the potty. Sometimes we have short visits to the potty and sometimes we have to wait around quite a bit. He is doing so well and we are very proud!
In addition to potty training, we have started to wean Noah from sleeping in the crib. He actually asked about when he could sleep in a "big brother" bed and we had actually already purchased one a long time a go, but with everything going on, I was really not in a hurry to introduce it. Anyways, I figured I would just put the mattress in his room and let him try it one day so that he could see that he wasn't ready and that would be the end of that. Well, no. He loves it. For a few days he still had to take his naps in his crib, but was doing well at going straight to his "big brother" bed and laying there until he fell asleep at bedtime. He actually did the full 12 hour stretch and when I came to check on him in the morning he was just waiting on the mattress happily for me. Now we have managed to do both naps and bedtime. I am hoping this will continue and that he won't start wondering his room at night and playing. We keep his door open (sometimes only cracked) so we can see him and hear him (we don't have a monitor and he's a very sound sleeper).
I kind of feel weird that these big changes are happening right now, but I know he's ready because the transitions seem to be going really well. I think they would go even better if I actually took the time to commit better to them. Since he is potty training and crib weaning, I am not pushing the pacifier weaning just yet. I figure since it's only at bed time and car rides that we can deal with that later. I am not really ready to take away all of the things that make him a baby. In fact, I kind of miss all the sweet things that made him seem so tiny and young, like the night wakings or the constant feedings or just the sweet momma-baby cuddles we had as he napped on and off throughout the day. He just seems so BIG these days and I'm not nearly ready for all that's in store for him.
This month is going to be a big one for Mr. Noah. He is going to start AM Preschool at a local Montessori school. He is also starting swimming and gymnastics. He is going to be busy busy busy! I am hoping all of this business will help him to be more settled at home and give me a chance to get more done. He is just so wild at times and it makes it very difficult to even get one task completed at home.
Noah seems to be getting more and more excited about the upcoming birth of his baby sister. I really hope that adding another person to our house isn't a disappointment.
