Diapers
Garrett still wears a size 5 diaper. I doubt he'll go into a 6 because we're going to start potty training this summer. He gets out of school mid-May and then he will go to a summer program at our church for 3 weeks in June. So my plan is to spend July potty training. Hopefully we'll be diaper free by the time school starts again!!
Shoe Size
I really need to go get his shoes sized again because I have no clue what his official size is, but he's still wearing size 7's. Now that it's hot again in Alabama (Spring never comes here anymore) we need to be buying some summer shoes like crocs so once we do that we'll know what size he is. My guess is that we'll be buying 8's.
Clothes
He's officially in 2t clothes now. Poor kid never really gets to have new clothes because he wears all the things Carter passed down to him. But he doesn't care at all. I've bought him a handful of new shirts but pretty much everything else is from Carter. He can still fit into 18 month shorts, depending on the brand. Lots of 2t or 24 month shorts are too long on him. This is the same problem I had with Carter. My short legged boys!
**I should explain this picture. Garrett got a hold of my booklet of stamps and I guess he assumed they were stickers. So he took them all off the booklet one by one and put them on himself. It was hilarious!**
Sleep
He still takes one nap every day. Usually we make our way upstairs around 1pm, but lately it's been closer to 1:30 or 2pm. I've noticed that he's not quite tired at 1pm and ends up playing in the bed for a while before falling asleep. He has a blanket in the bed along with about 10-15 stuffed animals (just like big bro). He is still in his crib but I can see the toddler bed transition coming soon because he's tried crawling out of the crib a few times. At nighttime, we always change diaper, brush teeth, read 2 or 3 books, then we pray and sing a couple of songs. He's starting to sing a long with us which is always fun to watch. He's fairly good about following along with the ABC song, Jesus Loves Me, This Little Light of Mine, and a few others. When we pray I'll say "ok it's time to pray" and he'll put his little hands together. I say "Thank you God for..." and then Garrett lists off the things he is thankful for. And they're pretty much the exact same every night "Daddy, Car Car, Mommy, Ger-key (that's how he says his name), dog (he doesn't feel it's important to know the dog's name apparently), Chase (his Paw Patrol night light), camera (his video camera), and Jesus." I know...he prays for some weird stuff.
About a month ago we went through a rough bedtime and naptime phase where he just refused to go to bed. He kicked and scream and fought it every single time. And eventually we just put him in the bed and left and let him cry it out but we'd end up going back in there probably 2 or 3 times before he finally was ok with us being gone. Thankfully this stage is over and didn't last too long.
Feeding
He loves everything. Seriously. He ate steak and broccoli from Justin's plate the other day. He really is pretty adventurous with his foods as long as it doesn't look shady. Shady as in....I can guarantee he'd never eat anything like sushi. But other than that, he's pretty open to new foods. His favorites include yogurt, sandwiches (or anything with bread-which is the OPPOSITE of his brother), green beans, macaroni and cheese and chicken. The only thing I can always count on that will be a struggle to get him to eat is spaghetti. He'll eat it, but it takes him forever and he won't eat all of it.
He loves eating in mommy's car too. Poor thing is so used to that! Monday's is Carter's practice for tee-ball, so they have to eat in mommy's car on the way. Tuesday and Wednesday are church ministries so they have to eat in mommy's car on the way to church on those days too. Usually I make something here and then they take it in mommy's car. Rarely do we get fast food but when we do, he prefers Chick-fil-A and also likes the chicken nuggets from Wendy's and McDonald's. Both kids also love Zaxby's too. He's definitely more of a carb lover than his brother is. One time I asked him to go find a snack in the pantry and he came back with an entire loaf of bread in his hand. He literally will eat a slice of bread as a snack if I let him. I've let him a few times but I try to limit the bread.
Mother's Day Out
He still loves Hunter Street! He gets to see his cousin Charlotte when their two classes go outside and play together or go to music together. He has a friend in his class that's also the son of good friends of ours. They have made so many cute and fun artwork masterpieces! He just had his Easter egg hunt at school and loved that too. I think he likes music the most because every time we walk by the music room on the way out of the church after I've picked him up, he always wants to run into the music room. His last day at Hunter Street will be May 10th which also happens to be the day Carter GRADUATES from pre-school. Yes, there's a graduation ceremony and everything. Garrett will go to the Summer Fun program at our church in June so he'll still have social and playtime with kids a lot in June. In August he will start back at Hunter Street in the 2 year old room and he will go Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This year he was only going 2 days a week (Monday and Wednesday) so we're adding an extra day next year for him. When he's 3 and 4 I want him going 4 days a week to prepare for Elementary School where you go 5 days a week.
Abilities
Kiddo is talking all the time. I remember about half a year ago I was all worried that he wasn't talking very much but he sure has made up for it since then. He is VERY good at recognizing letters of the alphabet. He points out the letters on my tshirts when I wear things that have writing on them. He also sings the alphabet with us at bedtime. It's not perfect, but you can tell he knows where the letters are in the song. We need to work on counting more. He's got 1-3, but then he struggles with 4-7, but then he's got 8-10. So it's the middle part he struggles with that we're working on. I've been slacking on the numbers because I've been focusing on letters. He knows all his main colors and can even point out shapes already.
He loves taking walks around the neighborhood, riding his toy cars outside and even inside too. He has a toy Mercedes that's inside and Carter has a tricycle and they chase each other in circles around the house. It gets annoying at times, but they love it and you can tell by their facial expressions. He still plays with cars during his free time. He and Carter both just lay in the floor with a hot wheel in each hand and drive them on the floor. He could do this all day. He still loves bath time. It's probably his favorite time. Sadly, the busyness of our lives cause him to only have a few baths a week. We have a pretty set schedule right now too. He goes to school Monday, goes to the YMCA with me Tuesday while big brother is at school, then we all go to church Tuesday night while I do a running ministry. Wednesday he goes to school again and Wednesday night we all go to church again for Bible study. Thursday we go to the YMCA again and then Friday we usually hang out at home or run errands with him and big brother (neither are in school on Friday). So you can see that there's not a lot of free time for baths in there! Don't worry, he's not the stinky kid. He gets bathed plenty!
**This was classic! I yelled out "ok kids, time for nap! Let's head upstairs." And when Garrett didn't meet me at the steps, I went to find him and this was how I found him. Hiding behind a backpack because he didn't want to take a nap. Ha!!!
Statistics
Kiddo is talking all the time. I remember about half a year ago I was all worried that he wasn't talking very much but he sure has made up for it since then. He is VERY good at recognizing letters of the alphabet. He points out the letters on my tshirts when I wear things that have writing on them. He also sings the alphabet with us at bedtime. It's not perfect, but you can tell he knows where the letters are in the song. We need to work on counting more. He's got 1-3, but then he struggles with 4-7, but then he's got 8-10. So it's the middle part he struggles with that we're working on. I've been slacking on the numbers because I've been focusing on letters. He knows all his main colors and can even point out shapes already.
He loves taking walks around the neighborhood, riding his toy cars outside and even inside too. He has a toy Mercedes that's inside and Carter has a tricycle and they chase each other in circles around the house. It gets annoying at times, but they love it and you can tell by their facial expressions. He still plays with cars during his free time. He and Carter both just lay in the floor with a hot wheel in each hand and drive them on the floor. He could do this all day. He still loves bath time. It's probably his favorite time. Sadly, the busyness of our lives cause him to only have a few baths a week. We have a pretty set schedule right now too. He goes to school Monday, goes to the YMCA with me Tuesday while big brother is at school, then we all go to church Tuesday night while I do a running ministry. Wednesday he goes to school again and Wednesday night we all go to church again for Bible study. Thursday we go to the YMCA again and then Friday we usually hang out at home or run errands with him and big brother (neither are in school on Friday). So you can see that there's not a lot of free time for baths in there! Don't worry, he's not the stinky kid. He gets bathed plenty!
**This was classic! I yelled out "ok kids, time for nap! Let's head upstairs." And when Garrett didn't meet me at the steps, I went to find him and this was how I found him. Hiding behind a backpack because he didn't want to take a nap. Ha!!!
Statistics
When he turned 2 years old back in October 2016, he was in about the 15th percentile for height, 60th percentile for weight and I honestly can't remember the head circumference percentile. He weighed 28lbs, 12oz and was 33 inches long. Now technically, he may be taller than that....there was a TON of squirming on that table. Regardless, Garrett's always been short. Shorter than even Carter was at his age. Garrett is done with his vaccinations until he's 3 so we don't see the pediatrician again and get legit measurements until then. But at 2 1/2 years old, I have weighed him at XXlbs and measured him at roughly XX inches tall.
**I'm not sure I'll ever tire of seeing them hold hands walking through parking lots and crowded stores**
Teething
Teething
We have all of our teeth!!!! Yaaaaaayyyy!!!! We haven't visited a dentist yet and I don't plan to until he turns 3. That's how old Carter was when he went for the first time and it went well. Right now I don't think Garrett is brave enough to let them brush his teeth or take x-rays. Garrett seems to be more timid than Carter was at this age so he may even not go to a dentist until he's closer to 4. I'll just see how I feel about it and whether I think it will be a wasted trip. Because honestly, there's no point in going to a dentist if the kid won't lay down and allow a stranger to put their hands in his mouth.
Other Noteworthy Things:
- He loves baseball apparently. He really likes watching it on TV and he likes watching Carter play teeball.
- He has FINALLY begun to say "Love you" to me and Justin. He took forever to talk but once he began talking, he'd repeat everything you told him to say EXCEPT "I love you". I have no idea why these were the only words he wouldn't say. But he finally started saying them last week.
- He likes watching racecars, but he thought that being there was a little loud. I don't blame him. We took him to Barber Motorsports for the Indy race and he curled up on Justin's shoulder the whole time because it was so loud and we didn't have headphones for him. We went down to the racecar garages and looked at all the garages with cars in them. He thought that was REALLY cool and ever since then, every car he has must be in a "garage". Even if that garage is really just some books stacked in such a way to create a fake garage. He also likes watching races on tv too.
- He and Carter have "car shows" frequently in our house. Which means they take EVERY SINGLE HOT WHEEL we have in our house and line them up on the bed or in the floor for a car show.
- He's recently gotten to where he cries when we drop him off at places. The exception to this is school. He doesn't cry when I take him to school. He will whine a little bit but he never cries. However he has been crying when I drop him off in the nursery at church or when I go to the YMCA and take him to learn n play. He's never done this before. He's always happily gone wherever we take him. Not sure why he's doing it now but hopefully it doesn't last long.
- Loves his brother. I mean, LOVES his brother. He does everything Carter does and if Carter isn't with him he is constantly asking about him. We require a hug and kiss from brother before every nap and bedtime. He loves holding his hand and he loves wrestling with him and playing with him. He LOVES his brother.
- Lest you think he's perfect, he is also two. And we are in the refusal stage. Many times when I ask him to do something he always flat out says "no". When he does this, he gets one chance to take it back and do what I asked otherwise he goes to timeout. He knows full well that he doesn't get to leave timeout until he apologizes and then does what I asked. Regardless, he's not good at obeying the first time but we're working on it.
- His hair grows INSANELY fast. Y'all, I'm cutting this kids hair about 3 times a month!!! His hair is so thick and grows so dang fast and I can't keep up with it! Carter's hair is nothing like that and we get his cut about once a month or so. But Garrett would have hair to his chest if we only got one haircut a month. It's the weirdest thing ever!!!
