Benaiah: Two Years Old
How can my baby boy be two years old? It seems like just yesterday, he was barely crawling around and now, here is he – walking, talking, jumping, and straight up running around. It is hard to fathom how quickly time goes by. And it is really eye opening; another reminder to slow down and enjoy the moments, because they go by so quickly. So, far, this phase is sweet and challenging and joy filled and emotional and I love it. But, I think I say that about every stage.
Sleeping
Benaiah is still on a sweet routine going down around anywhere from 8 at night and sleeping until 7-8am. His bedtime used to be right around 7-7:30, but we’ve found it is working better to put him down a little later and get a little extra family time at night. He goes down well and always asks to read about 5 books each night. Right now, we still are enjoying Curious George and any other book that involves dirt, trucks, or anything mechanical. I am thankful to have his bedtime so consistent and easy now after so many months (really in the early stages) of hard nights. Yay for sleep!
Naps
Napping is still going strong over here and I am totally fine with that. I don’t know when a child normally drops their nap (mom?), but as long as he will sleep, I will take it. He usually goes down around 2 and naps from 2-5. I know we both do well when he is able to get in such a solid nap, mid-day and we work hard to make sure he is tired enough by two to take a solid siesta. We keep the nap time routine pretty similar to bed time, with books, snuggles, and almond milk before nap and it seems to work well for him.
Social and New Skills
This is the stage that I have found to be the most fun. I feel like each day he is waking up saying new words, discovering new skills, and learning new things. Benaiah has quite the vocabulary and has recently started to put together 3 word sentences ever so often. He has also started noticing whose mom and dad are whose and started saying, “My mommy, or my daddy,’ when talking about Landon and I. He has also had a couple sleepovers under his belt with my both sides of family and has done super well with both sides, which is a relief! He loves reading, going to the park, watching trains, playing with trucks and cars, eating any kind of fruit, jumping, running with mommy, chasing daddy, and playing with his friends. He has started wanting to go for walks and runs with me and the other day he ran .5 mile (almost) without stopping! I was amazed and super proud. He is quite the little athlete. Watching him learn new words and concepts makes me so excited and teaching him new skills is one of the best things ever. 2, you are a good age.
Two years does have it’s challenges and I am noticing discipline is definitely becoming more of a top priority as we approach the age of tantrums. I’ve noticed he has a lot of emotions bound up in that little body and we are working with him on how to use his words instead of crying, respond to mommy with first time obedience, and follow our directions. Training a two year old is flat-out exhausting, but in the best sort of way.
Eating
Benaiah loves to eat and does well with most foods. There really aren’t many foods that he won’t eat, but he definitely favors the sweet foods (duh) and loves his fruit, smoothies, and cake (aka anything sweet.) He will drink a big green smoothie most mornings with avocado toast and eats a decent lunch most days. He does well with some raw veggies, but enjoys others cooked better. I am finding by dinner time he really doesn’t each much and I don’t know if he is snacking throughout the day enough to decrease his appetite by dinner, but I am working on getting a better dinner in him. He loves donuts, grapes, enjoys broccoli, cucumbers, noodles, eggs, toast, crackers, hummus, homemade pizza, and meat. Overall, I am happy with his ‘diet,’ but would love to make it even better, nutritionally by adding in a few more nutritionally dense foods throughout the day. Any good snack/meal suggestions fellow mamas?
How am I doing?
I don’t even know if this topic is still relevant, now that I am 2 years postpartum (does that even count as postpartum?) But, I am doing good. I love raising Benaiah, pouring into his life, and watching the joy in his face. Yes, some days motherhood is long and hard and draining, but it is the one of the best gifts I’ve ever been given. There’s truly nothing I would rather be doing and raising this little munchkin, my little friend, is such an adventure, each day.