stage & age


31

I think last month I was desperately googling and pleading from my keyboard things like When does the crying end? and mentally noting that there hasn't been a day he's lived that he hasn't cried over something. Crying is expected from a baby, yes. But there's gotta be a mental limit. 

Now? I kind of just have an overly sensitive, dramatic, foreign exchange roommate-friend that I'm teaching English (and life) to. 


The part where it's noticeably easier.

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He lets me brush his teeth without a fight.
He'll try almost any food once.
He understands what it means to wait while I'm getting ready. He can entertain himself.
He'll take No for an answer. As long as I give him an explanation.
We can carry him to bed while he's limp with sleep, and he won't wake up.
He won't go out the door without shoes. And! He can put them on himself.
He'll go get me a diaper.
He'll attempt to give an actual answer when I ask Why?
He smiles for pictures. Until I'm taking too many.
Conversations are made of broken sentences instead of tantrums. 
I get to laugh all day yet. He adds the word yet to the end of all his sentences.
We can't [blank] until we [blank]. Works for everything.
We can go (unnoticeably to the public eye) to restaurants and grocery stores again.
He gives compliments on shirts, nails and makeup. They are, most commonly, Ree-wee nice.
Personal time. It's happening.



New challenges.


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Stores that have toys. Yeah, they suck.
He knows how to use the potty. Except he doesn't want to, and the poops aren't getting any smaller.
He's having dreams about mean monsters and running to our bed every night.
Booger eating.
Fingernail chewing.
With what little vocab he can pronounce, he mocks things Matt & I say.
Sharing means we're proposing war.
He still follows me all day, around the entire house.
He wants toys that match whatever new show he's into.


Quirks.

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He carries around toenail clippers, calls them his gray phone and has conversations on them.
He hates to be dirty.
He asks to see his poop to analyze how yucky it was after his diaper gets changed.
His favorite things are swimming pools, sweets, Daddy and anything with wheels.
He doesn't really play with his toys as much as he just carries them around.
He put himself down for a nap once without telling me where he was going. In his bed. Covers and all.



23 comments:

  1. I love reading your posts! It's been a long time since I have visited a blog and I've missed hearing how Carter is doing. I am at my wits end with my 26 month old and I could relate to so much of what you wrote but, I was also so encouraged to hear about the improvements as that puts some light in my tunnel. We can't go to grocery stores or restaurants really at all without a crazy mental and physical workout ensuing. Play dates now consist of me saying no 5 million times and getting wacked in the face by flying objects. I'm over it! HA. Good to know I'm not alone:). Oh parenting. So much fun and yet so much energy required. lol.

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    1. all that struggle you just described was a stage i remember lasting forever. we'd have easy & hard spells, but it was always the same stuff over and over and never really got "easier." At 31 months though, I'd say it all just suddenly slows down and you can actually say that it happened - it finally got easier. a little less energy required :)

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  2. Too cute! I love that he put himself to bed all on his own. I am SO anxiously awaiting that day. And the poop examinations, while gross, are hilarious. And if you figure out when the crying stops, oh, please will you tell me? I'm dying to hear no more crying. Or at least not every.single.day.

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    1. when i find the last crying day, I'm going to figure out a way to get a book published with only 1 page that says: the crying ends at (whatever age). why don't people record this stuff? maybe it's because it never ends?

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  4. I think this was one of the most interesting stage run-downs I've ever read, in that it actually seemed honest. It's almost like you have a real live child! I have an eleven-year-old and a 23 month-old. It seems like every stage is both harder and easier than the last, though we're just entering the tween years. Suddenly all of the challenges of my almost two year old don't seem like anything in comparison. Although I'm happy to report the crying does eventually slow down a lot. :)

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    1. thanks Mela! i agree about it always getting harder and easier. i never know what to expect, but at least I can expect to always be busy with some type of toddler drama :)

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  5. Lol wow most of everything you described Carter doing is exactly what Jacob does! I thought Jacob was the only one who wants to see his poop after I wipe him, carries around toys that he don't really care about ( he even loves to stash toys in my bed) and gets mad if I remove them!, Jacob hates having sticky hands or a dirty diaper..he comes running to me slapping his diaper and telling me " mama pee pees again!!" He goes and gets a diaper so I can change him, Jacob follows me everywhere and he too knows how to use a potty but refuses to use it. He still fights me with brushing his teeth. He has me refilling his sippy cup even when its still a quarter full. He never just drinks it until its empty. He loves watching videos about trains, dancing & singing gummibars (video) he dances to it lol. He loves to throw heavy objects and picks on his big brothers. He'd rather eat my food before he eats his own. He loves to eat though! He loves going for walks! He absolutely loves anything to do with water!! Its crazy! I can't keep him away from the bathroom faucet. I guess toddlers tend do do a lot of the same stuff lol. Carter is so cute and smart! He's getting bigger everyday :)

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    1. aww jacob! that was a good rundown, ruby! carter loves water, too. i have to lock the door to his bathroom so he doesn't go in there and play in the sink during naptime. i think i made such a big deal about it that he's too scared to do it anymore, though! haha

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    2. lol I know what you mean, Jacob will make a huge watery mess all over the bathroom floor and counter top! And whenever we're going for a walk he loves to stop at the bridge so he can watch the streams or rivers, he loves to throw pine ones into the water.

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  6. Lol wow most of everything you described Carter doing is exactly what Jacob does! I thought Jacob was the only one who wants to see his poop after I wipe him, carries around toys that he don't really care about ( he even loves to stash toys in my bed) and gets mad if I remove them!, Jacob hates having sticky hands or a dirty diaper..he comes running to me slapping his diaper and telling me " mama pee pees again!!" He goes and gets a diaper so I can change him, Jacob follows me everywhere and he too knows how to use a potty but refuses to use it. He still fights me with brushing his teeth. He has me refilling his sippy cup even when its still a quarter full. He never just drinks it until its empty. He loves watching videos about trains, dancing & singing gummibars (video) he dances to it lol. He loves to throw heavy objects and picks on his big brothers. He'd rather eat my food before he eats his own. He loves to eat though! He loves going for walks! He absolutely loves anything to do with water!! Its crazy! I can't keep him away from the bathroom faucet. I guess toddlers tend do do a lot of the same stuff lol. Carter is so cute and smart! He's getting bigger everyday :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lol wow most of everything you described Carter doing is exactly what Jacob does! I thought Jacob was the only one who wants to see his poop after I wipe him, carries around toys that he don't really care about ( he even loves to stash toys in my bed) and gets mad if I remove them!, Jacob hates having sticky hands or a dirty diaper..he comes running to me slapping his diaper and telling me " mama pee pees again!!" He goes and gets a diaper so I can change him, Jacob follows me everywhere and he too knows how to use a potty but refuses to use it. He still fights me with brushing his teeth. He has me refilling his sippy cup even when its still a quarter full. He never just drinks it until its empty. He loves watching videos about trains, dancing & singing gummibars (video) he dances to it lol. He loves to throw heavy objects and picks on his big brothers. He'd rather eat my food before he eats his own. He loves to eat though! He loves going for walks! He absolutely loves anything to do with water!! Its crazy! I can't keep him away from the bathroom faucet. I guess toddlers tend do do a lot of the same stuff lol. Carter is so cute and smart! He's getting bigger everyday :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lol wow most of everything you described Carter doing is exactly what Jacob does! I thought Jacob was the only one who wants to see his poop after I wipe him, carries around toys that he don't really care about ( he even loves to stash toys in my bed) and gets mad if I remove them!, Jacob hates having sticky hands or a dirty diaper..he comes running to me slapping his diaper and telling me " mama pee pees again!!" He goes and gets a diaper so I can change him, Jacob follows me everywhere and he too knows how to use a potty but refuses to use it. He still fights me with brushing his teeth. He has me refilling his sippy cup even when its still a quarter full. He never just drinks it until its empty. He loves watching videos about trains, dancing & singing gummibars (video) he dances to it lol. He loves to throw heavy objects and picks on his big brothers. He'd rather eat my food before he eats his own. He loves to eat though! He loves going for walks! He absolutely loves anything to do with water!! Its crazy! I can't keep him away from the bathroom faucet. I guess toddlers tend do do a lot of the same stuff lol. Carter is so cute and smart! He's getting bigger everyday :)

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  9. Omg I can't believe my post comment went through more than once. Sorry bout that Meghann!

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  10. Meghann, I watched your vlog on youtube today and you broke my heart. I wanted to share my family dynamic with you. I have 8 brothers and sisters, 4 biological and 4 adopted. My 4 adopted siblings are my family, no matter who their birth parents are. My mother had two miscarriages early on in her first marriage. She adopted my oldest sister and brought her home when she was three days old. Ann is closer to me than three of my biological siblings that I share parents with. I don't know if you are religious, I'm not terribly religious. But I do believe that the Good Lord has a plan for each one of us. And sometimes, you have to give up and give your troubles to the Him before He lets you know what that plan might be. Have you ever thought that the possibility might be down another road? If you are truly adverse to the thought of more treatments, you might consider it.

    I hope that you are feeling better today. You are such a sweetheart and I very much enjoy watching your videos and reading about your adventures here.

    Chin up, life is what you make of it =)

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    1. Thank you, Frederica. I also believe that God's plan has purpose to it, even though it's usually not what we originally hope for. I'm open to adoption, but I don't think it's very affordable for us. Our insurance covers IVF, so we're going to exhaust that option and then reevaluate how we feel about trying something new, or just settling for what we were given.

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  11. This post cracked me up!! I have an (almost) 17 month old and the things he is doing now that he is getting a personality amaze me and make me laugh everyday. I can't even picture him at Carter's age and can't imagine how fun it will be!

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    1. 17 months is definitely a cute age! you've got a bobbling baby combined with a little developing personality ... that's the age where everyone who sees him oogles at him :)
      there isn't a word that comes out of carter's mouth that i don't hold on to - everything he says is so cute and full of emotion.

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  12. This was a great blog! My son is 22 months old so I love reading your blogs to find out what is next for me. I also love your blog because you frequently put into words what I cannot say in the way you express your love and enjoyment of your precious son. Many of your blogs brought tears to my eyes. I waited a LONG time for my son to enter in my life (I'll be 40 next month). I experienced a painful miscarraige before the miracle of my son blessed my life, so I feel that I take very little for granted with him. However just very recently, I find myself with a shorter temper and I hate it. I'm getting frustrated much quicker at the frequent demands of my toddler. He seems very demanding. (Let's do this NOW or I'll cry kind of things.) I have never really been away for him yet and I have had very few dates with my husband since his arrival. I haven't felt too much like I'm missing out on anything until just lately. Now I'm suddenly feeling like I need a short break from my boy and it makes me feel guilty. With you staying home with Carter, I'm wondering when/if/how long you've ever felt that way. I'm not sure I could even handle a weekend away from my son but I feel like I need something and we can't really afford babysitters much, let alone a weekend getaway. If you have the time to respond,
    please let me know if you've experienced this and how you handled it. You're an amazing Mom and I only pray God's best for you sweetie.

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  13. If you want to get very fertile to have a baby. I suggest you take black seed oil everyday. Trust me it works . Don't miss a day .

    ReplyDelete
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