He's been talking SOOO much lately, and now he's even saying sentences. The ones I hear the most often are "I want more" and "Can I go outside?" He just learned today "please." We have been trying for the past year to get him to say please, but he just wouldn't/couldn't say it. He had his own way of saying it though. When we'd tell him to say please, he'd rub you and say "nice" (like we have him do with the dogs)... so he sorta understood the concept, but just couldn't say it. Tonight we were at a Halloween party and I had some smarties, and he wanted one, so I said "can you say please?" (which is what I probably tell him 20+ times a day) and he said "please" so clearly. Aaron and I started laughing and were shocked. Then we gave him a candy and he said "thank you" which he NEVER says either. Then he said "please" and "thank you" another 10 or so times while eating the smarties, lol
His favorite thing to do is the same thing that he's ALWAYS loved doing. Going outside! He would live outside if I let him. When he wakes up in the morning he wakes up his daddy, and says "Dakota outside?" (Dakota's our dog)
When we first got Dakota a month or so ago, we were having a LOT of trouble. Connor absolutely adores her, but he thinks that it's VERY funny when Dakota runs around the living room, jumping on the furniture, etc. So once he threw something at her, and she dodged it... and he started laughing (because he thought they were playing) and kept doing it. But of course the dog didn't appreciate the "play time" and they were getting into fights (to say the least). Also... Connor has softies (which are his little blanket things with stuffed animal heads) and Dakota has decided that they are her chew toys, and will run up to him and rip them out of his hands... which of course sets him off into major tears. So... we've had a few challenges, but we're working through them and hoping for the best!
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Connor's had a pacifier(s) since he was born, and he's always liked it, but he's never seemed majorly attached. But recently (within the past few months) he's decided that he always needs his paci and his softies with him. I figured that when he turns two, we'll make it a rule that he can only have it when he's taking a nap or going to bed... then get rid of the paci at 2 1/2 or 3 years. So currently, I constantly hear "pa-pa?" and "sa-sas?" ("paci" and "softies" if you can't figure out Connor-language) coming from him... with tears if we can't find them in seconds. He also thinks that he needs more than one. If I give him one... he says "more?" over and over, until we find more. Usually it takes three until he gives up when I say no! Oh, and sometimes he thinks he needs all three in his mouth at the same time, lol...
He's finally starting to enjoy nursery.. and he only cries for 5-10 minutes when I drop him off now :) And I know he's actually listening and participating, because the other day we were in the car, and he suddenly started singing... and then I hear "pop pop pop" as he does the motions to "Popcorn Popping" (and LDS kids song). I have never sang him that song, so I knew he learned it in nursery. Then he started doing some motions from "Do As I'm Doing." So now all I hear is "pa-corn...pa-corn...pa-corn" with some other words that make no sense, lol. I tried to get it on video... but he thinks that when I pull out the video camera, that means it's time to grab it!
Connor's all of a sudden decided that he loves hats.
He went through a stage where he wouldn't put a thing on his head, but now he's perfectly fine with certain hats. It's not all hats... he's very picky on which ones he'll allow on his head! He's being Cat in the Hat for Halloween, and I was worried that he'd refuse to wear the hat, because it's not quite like a normal hat. But he watched my mom make it, and then we tried on the costume and he said "my hat?" and wanted it on his head. And now he wants it on all the time, and doesn't want to take it off!
He's a great sleeper lately (knock on wood!). He usually takes about an hour and a half nap around 1pm or so, and then he goes to bed between 7:30 and 8pm and sleeps til anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30am. We used to have a little nightly routine where we'd get jammies on, brush teeth, go into his room and read a few books, say our prayers, rock and sing a few songs, and then he'd go to bed, usually fussing for about 5 minutes before giving up and going to sleep. Well, now he's decided that he just wants to go straight to bed. I'll get his jammies on and brush his teeth, and walk into his room and go to sit in the rocking chair and he says "bed" and points to his bed. So I lay him in his bed, say prayers, and walk out of the room as he says "bye... bye... bye... bye... bye" literally 5 times, even after I leave his room, lol. He does this at nap time AND bedtime. But of course this is ONLY at home... so nap time is a bit difficult when we're at my moms or sisters, or at church (we sadly have 12:30-3:30pm church).
He LOVES music, but sometimes he's VERY picky on what he wants to listen to. I'll be listening to a CD or the radio in the car and if something comes on that he doesn't like, he'll say "a different one." Normally I just ignore him and listen to what I want... but sometimes he can be very persistent! lol
Connor LOVES cars, trains, trucks, planes, etc... anything that moves! I'm thinking about getting rid of all the toys in the house (putting them into storage) because they are never played with anymore. ALL he wants to do is push around his cars and such. When he was born, we had his bedroom a cute jungle theme... but it's VERY babyish, and so we decided to go with someone else now that he's a big boy in a toddler bed. I searched and searched but couldn't decide what to do. I was thinking about doing a monkey theme because that's what we call him, but couldn't find anything that I liked. So I started thinking about a transportation type theme... and there were a lot of sets out there, but not a lot for toddler beds. But my mom and I finally found a set that I LOVE... but it's a crib set, so we basically bought different pieces of the set from different places (Target, craigslist & ebay) and we're creating our own bedding :) We're going to be working on it in the next couple of weeks, and I'm sooo excited! :) We're almost done painting his room too. There's a middle divider thing, and we did the top the light lime green color, and the bottom the darker/navy blue color. And then we're painting the middle grey, with yellow lines (to make it look like a road going around his room. I'll post pictures when I've finished :) But here's what the set looks like...
Connor LOVES helping me and Aaron. He helps put the laundry into the washer, and then from the washer to the dryer... he helps put away groceries and stacks cans... and he loves to sweep and vacuum. The other day, he had a bowl of cheerios (just the cereal, not the milk) and he spilled the whole bowl on the floor and then grabbed his toy vacuum and started vacuuming them up while giggling and saying "vacuum... vacuum... vacuum." How can you get mad at a kid who's cleaning?! lol
We're kind of at a standstill with potty training. He's still great when he's naked... but the moment he puts underwear on, he pees in them. I'm not sure what to do to fix that issue. And it's been so hot, he's just been running around the house naked, so he was basically 100% naked potty trained (at home, of course, lol)... but it's winter now, and colder... so naked isn't really working anymore. Plus we kinda can't go out of the house naked either ;)
Connor is VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY afraid of heights. This is something very new too! But any time I set him on something he starts saying "whoa! whoa! whoa! whoa!" over and over and starts shaking and crying and grabbing onto me until I take him down. But now it's gone so overboard that he's not only heights... it's when he's on anything. My bed, the pew at church, the back seat of the car, the couch... and even last week, I laid him on the FLOOR to change his diaper, and he started saying "whoa... whoa... whoa..." and I just started laughing.... but I think now it's just habit or something.
Connor loves his Daddy! Aaron works from 2-10:30pm... so he's here when Connor goes down for a nap. But when he wakes up, he's gone. And he'll ask for him over and over, and sometimes cry because he's not here. He'll always say "where Daddy go?" and I say "he's at work." So now Connor will randomly repeat "Daddy go? at work... Daddy go? at work... Daddy go? at work..."
I don't know if it's a boy thing or what... but Connor does NOT voluntarily give kisses/hugs. The only way we get them is by bribing him, lol. ("you can have some yogurt if you give mommy a kiss first" hehe) I know that sounds bad, but if I don't bribe him, I'd never get a kiss!! My mom said that she had to do the same thing with my brother, but all of us girls would give her kisses whenever she asked... so maybe it is a boy/girl thing?
Well, I can't think of anything else. I'm sure I'll think of something I wanted to write down as soon as I publish this post... it always happens that way.
Some of Connor's Favorites:
Favorite Foods: yogurt, applesauce, meatloaf, cheese and any & all fruit
Favorite Book: Miss Mary Mack & First 100 Words
Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite Song to Sing: "Popcorn Popping"
Favorite Drink: Milk
Favorite Store to Shop at: any shoe store... he LOVES shoes!
(he's not too fond of Walmart.. I think it's because we're there all the time!)
Favorite TV Show: Backyardigans (still!) and he's started to watch Sesame Street a little bit again
Favorite Song to Listen to: Bye Bye Love by the Backstreet Boys
(he likes songs with a beat... he'll usually ask for a different song when it's slow and boring)
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