One way to describe Ralph is "In Charge" - its so true in more ways than one. Ralph knows what he is doing and likes to see how far he can push things OR maybe its because he is two-years-old and his life his centered around himself.
He is daytime potty trained now. There's been a few times I've crossed my fingers hoping we'll get home in time and, so far, we've made it. He knows how to use it as a stalling tactic - we've gotten out to the car at daycare at least twice in the past week before he declares "I go potty now". Not willing to call his bluff (or clean up the car seat) we go back inside.
He is either a picky eater or only wants to eat what he feels like eating, not what we suggest (oxymoron?). The past 3 nights he has had a corndog for supper; tonight he switched to waffles after he saw the box in the freezer. Our first theory with the corndogs is that he would grow tired of it after so many meals. My other thought is that the kid is on the low end of the weight spectrum and he needs all the calories he can get. Sometimes the only way he'll eat is if he doing some other activity (ie coloring at the table) and we put food in his mouth - AND sometimes he likes to be a lion (or some other animal) and receive his food through the slats in the chair back. He does not always eat unhealthy - last weekend he had almost two containers of yogurt for lunch and clementines but barely touched his pb&j.
We have been trying to break the habit of having someone lay with Ralph until he falls asleep. Some nights are better than others. The first three days this week it took 45 minutes for him to finally fall asleep by himself - he gets out of bed, goes to his door (where he is stopped by a baby gate), and calls for someone or cries/whine . .we put him back in bed and walk out, sometimes saying a few words. Sometimes he stalls claiming the need to go potty. At least once the door had to be held shut and after much protest he finally fell asleep.
This coming Monday he will move to the Transition room at 'school' with two of his friends. One of his teachers commented today that they were angels when they visited their new room and were naughty in their current room . . .almost like it is time to move on to a new challenge. Ralph will reunite with his teacher from the infant room who has moved to the Transition room. I have picked him up from the Transition room a few times this week and he seems right at home. He will remain in the Transition room until he is 3 years old.
Ralph's vocabulary continues to expand. Sometimes we are amazed at the sentences he puts together. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves he probably learned a few things at school and that he is not a total genius. He loves asking questions - mainly "where" over and over. He is not afraid to repeat new words. He also is a good little parrot and likes to repeat what he hears.
His imagination is growing. Tonight, after supper he had to line up his Honeycomb cereal to get ready to go to the gym. Curious George has been in time out a few times in the last couple of weeks. Sometimes on the way to school we see Percy (of Thomas and Friends) in his car going to HyVee or home. His coloring skills are also getting better. He knows his colors and letters of the alphabet pretty well.
Ralph is definitely not on a time schedule and does not understand the meaning of 'hurry up'. It can take up to 5 minutes in the morning picking out which pair of briefs to wear, commenting "which one" followed by a pause as he considers his options for the day. He likes to climb up in his car seat and then check out what is in the back of the car, not fully sitting down until heavily encouraged. He likes to climb out of the car seat. He also has to decide "which one" toothbrush at the end of the day (for some reason he has 3 right now). Sometimes I try to bribe him - if you get 'this' and 'this' done now I'll give you 'that' - usually 'this' and 'this' does not get done in time so then he throws a fit later when he does not get 'that'. One of the few times we've seen it work is one weekend morning when he was lounging around in his jammies. I was going to Walgreens and said if you had your outfit on you could come with me. Before I knew it his jammy top was off and his jammy shorts were half-way down his knees.
