Baby J is turning two

Arrested for cuteness.

I don't know if I should still be calling him Baby J, since he turns two next month, but a Mama's gotta hold onto the baby stage as long as possible. Especially when this is her last bubba.

With the girls, I tried to record some of their developments from this stage of life, so it's high time I did the same for baby J. Just because he's the third child doesn't mean he has to miss out on all records and photos of his life.

1. Words and sayings

The Three Amigos pulling funny faces.

This lil guy has SO many words and sayings, it's impossible to record them all here. Since about 21 months, he's been giving any word a go, and often surprisingly accurately, so his vocabulary has sky rocketed. Here are some of his more common words and phrases:

• "Thomas pooter" - means he wants to watch Thomas the Tank Engine on the computer. Duh.
• "Batman there!" - said whenever he sees Batman, Darth Vader, or a man wearing a motorcycle helmet. Our car has also become the "Batman car", because of its dark colour.
• 'Nono" is Noddy, who J loves to watch on TV, read books about at creche, build houses for out of Duplo and draw pictures of.
• "This my Mummy!" - if Mummy is giving too many cuddles to the sisters or holding another baby.
• "My, mine, mys" - talking about himself and his things, obv.
• "Meow" - all cats are "Meows" to J, who corrects anyone that dares call them a cat.
• "Pease" Please - used at all the right times. This week I got a lot of, "Cuddle pease?" as J was feeling so sick with a vomiting bug and just wanted his Mummy to hold him. 
• "Hungy" - Hungry (this was a heartbreaker this week, as he kept on throwing up and then complaining that he was "hungy".
• "Tank ooh" - Thank you
• "Dat one dere" - That one there.
• "No! Smith pop pop." - blaming farts on his cousin when I ask J if he has filled his pants.
• "Yay!" - said whenever Mummy agrees to one of his requests.
• "Where's the remote Mummy?" - because it's time to put Thomas on. 

2. Developments

• Bed - J went into a big boy bed a couple of months ago and is loving it. It's a King Single, so big enough for Mummy or Daddy (usually Mummy) to lie down next to him as he drifts off to sleep. This is something he always requests, saying "Mummy piyo" as he pats the pillow next to his where he wants Mummy to lie.
• No more naps - J dropped his daytime sleep at 21 months - just didn't need them anymore. I tried to fight it, but gave up when I realised he wasn't going to budge and it made night-time sleep so easy to achieve.
• Toilet training - We are in the very early stages of this and won't embark properly until the weather warms up, but J has practised climbing up onto the toilet and can sit himself on it without help. When the weather warms up, he will go around with nappy and pants off at home so he can start connecting the dots between a full bladder and toileting. 

3. Interests

• Toys - J loves building with Lego or Duplo, and he's just discovered Thomas the Tank Engine, so chances are he'll be getting some of that for his 2nd Birthday. He calls all trains "Thomas" and corrects anyone who tries to correct him. J loves to sleep with soft toys, and has lots of teddies and furry animals in his bed with him. 
• TV - J discovered the TV a couple of months ago, and now wakes up every morning wanting to watch Thomas, Noddy or Postman Pat. It's been a godsend this week, as all three children have had the vomiting bug, but I'll be glad when everyone is better and we can get out and about again.
• Swimming - although he hasn't done any official swimming lessons, J has been watching his sisters' lessons for the last year and picked up quite a lot. In the bath he blows bubbles, kicks his little feet and happily floats on his back. We went to a pool party recently and J swam in the pool with Paul, but kept pushing Paul's hands away because he wanted to swim on his own. He had lots of fun jumping off the edge and into the water, going under every time with no worries or fear, before Paul lifted him back up.
• Painting - I've set up a painting area in our garage, which J absolutely loves. 
• Drawing - J draws these amazingly detailed pictures, with lots of circles and small shapes completely covering his page. He also likes to draw on walls, which I'm always trying to prevent. We have to keep pens out of his reach, because they are impossible to get off the wall. Everything else comes out with Jif, thank goodness.
• Reading - J loves to look through books by himself, but doesn't often let me read them to him. He's more likely to let Daddy read them, and they look so sweet reading together.
• Playgrounds - J loves the adventure playgrounds at his big sister's school, and will happily climb ladders, walk the rope bridge and wobbly bridge, and slide down the slides.

4. Personality

J learns by watching and imitating others. It is amazing how observant he is, and the things he has already picked up. It makes him really helpful because he copies me and knows to put rubbish in the bin ("bim" he calls it), put his dishes on the bench and his toys in the toy baskets.

This boy of mine is super sweet, helpful, cuddly, funny and delightful. I woudn't change him for the world. Happy (almost) Birthday baby J. We love you to the moon and back.