2 and 1/2!

I have been remiss in keeping up with Luke's blog posts, but certainly could not let the 2 and 1/2 milestone go by without acknowledgement!  I didn't see a huge difference when Luke turned 2, but in the months since there has been so much growth! Physically, he probably grew another inch, weighs about 33 lbs, and his shoe size increased to 10. He wears size 5 diapers, size 6 overnights. Shirts are 3T, soon to be 4T, and shorts/pants are 2T. The kid is TALL. He has the stature of a 3 to 3.5 year old and is often mistaken for an older child. 

A lot of his friends are potty training, but we had been waiting until Lacey was born before we began. Everything I have read and all I have heard points to regression once a sibling comes along, so I figured I'd just wait and start fresh once she's here. Plus, our Pediatrician is big on not pushing potty training at all. Now that Lacey's here and we're adjusting, potty training will be right around the corner. I'm not looking forward to it; hopefully it goes better than expected.

Luke remains obsessed with firetrucks. He watches a show on the Sprout channel called Fireman Sam, a silly little computed animated/claymation show about a firefighter that he loves. In fact, a few weeks ago when I was putting Lacey's bedding in her crib, he was climbing on the crib and would call out, "Help, I'm stuck! Call Fireman Sam!" Too funny. He also turns anything and everything into either a fire hose or a fire pole. The latest fire hoses have been Daddy's ties, but he can make just about anything into a fire hose. Mommy's arm is another one he likes to use. As for the fire poles-- mommy's and daddy's legs (which he will literally slide down), furniture legs, the edge of his bed, anything he thinks he can slide down becomes a fire pole.

 One of his other obsessions relates to all things yard-related: lawn mowing, weed-eating, leaf blowing, trimming hedges, etc. Everywhere we go he keeps a lookout for landscaping trucks that might have several yard tools in the back or for anyone out doing yard work. My mom just found him a "leas blowder" (his words) yesterday and it was the first thing he wanted when he got up in the morning and the first thing he went for after his nap. He now has a full collection of toy versions of all yard tools.

His favorite TV shows include Barney, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Caillou, Fireman Sam and Little Einsteins.

He has started singing frequently! He started singing much later, but the story was similar with his language skills. He vocabulary just exploded one day and similarly, he started singing all of a sudden. A lot of the songs he sings are the ones he and Daddy sing together or the ones he hears almost every day on the shows he likes. He's also very particular about what we listen to in the car, typically requesting nothing but "Luke's songs", a few kid CDs we keep in the changer in my car.

Luke is a rough and tumble boy! He's loud, aggressive, busy, and fearless. He loves to wrestle and play chase. The classes we recently did together at The Little Gym were great. He could run and jump on/off of everything. I stopped for now because I wasn't sure what I could handle with a newborn, but we'll likely begin again at some point in the near future. This kid needs an outlet!

Pretending is one of his favorite games, which shows good cognititive development. He talks to himself when he pretends, whether it's cooking at his little kitchen or helping one of his little people into/out of the firetruck ("You ok, Man?" "Come on, Man, let's go!") and loves to make whatever noises are associated with the toy. He has a good grasp on his colors, shapes, opposites (big vs little/small, tall vs short, in vs out, near vs far, etc. etc.) can count to 14, and even count backwards from 10. Some of these skills he will not perform on demand, but at random times, confirming he does know a LOT. Luke has learned a ton from school and from some of his educational shows.

He's also one of the most social kids I know and LOVES to be the center of attention. With Allen as his daddy, that's no shock to anyone. He'll work to get your attention if he doesn't have it already. :)

Life with all toddlers is tough, but Luke gives us a run for our money, that's for sure. He's stubborn and defiant, opinionated and willful. Conversely, he is happy and well-adjusted and loves to give/get hugs and kisses. His school report has good news just about every day he's there with few exceptions.

The plan for now is for him to continue attending Highland Day School, the nursery school at our church, 2 days/week from 9am -2pm. We were thinking to start him at Harding this year, but decided that the addition of a new baby was already going to throw him for a loop and, since he has trouble with change, at least for this semester we should keep his school the same.

Here are some pictures from the start of the new school year:

And here are some pics of Luke's big boy room. We went with a transportation theme.

 GranPa re-finished Mommy's old dresser for him and made tires for the little drawer pulls. Super cute.

He loves to pretend like he's going to work or coming home from work. He usually grabs whatever bag is nearby and tells us he's off. On this day, Auntie Annie was over and her keys and purse worked perfectly for his escape to work on his ABC train. Hysterical, this boy!

WE LOVE OUR 2.5 YEAR OLD!!!