Tucker Monthly!

And a double dose of it! I realized the other day that I never wrote about Tucker's 22nd month and we are almost finished up with his 23rd month with his 2nd birthday right around the corner! SO much has happened in these few months developmentally and personality wise so it's fitting to put it all together.

T H I N G S T O R E M E M B E R...

Tractors...and more tractors! Everything that moves and has any resemblance to a construction vehicle is a "trac-ter". We cannot drive anywhere without every vehicle being pointed out and I find myself looking for tractors even when Tucker is not in the car :) For several weeks, we had a few tractors in the lot beside us doing some work and Tucker literally parked himself in front of the window daily to watch the action! Can we say BOY?

He's started "role playing" and pretending... He loves to set up scenes with all of his stuffed animals and he is especially fond of his "beer" (bear) right now! As you can see, he was putting his socks and tennis shoes on the bear's feet :)

He LOVES to give hugs and kisses and has started doing this with friends, not just mommy and daddy. He has become more and more affectionate with age and it's so sweet to watch him in those moments of pure sweetness!

His hugs sometimes turn into wrestling :) He had so much fun with his friend Lucy since she didn't mind him rolling around on her... We'll have to work on how it's probably not best to wrestle with girls :)

He's all over the place! On this day he learned how to flip over and he's always climbing and falling over on something. He rarely cries when he gets hurt so we've got a tough little guy.

You also get the good underwear shot in this picture :) Potty training is pretty much done at this point. He does still have accidents here and there but most of the time they are out of laziness and him not wanting to stop playing long enough to go "potty". He is doing much better at school and other outside environments...learning more and more how to tell other people besides us that he has to go! Daddy has even taught him some potty sound effects... I should have known that was coming, right?

And speaking of school, HE LOVES IT! He is never sad when I leave and seems to have so much fun with his little friends and all the fun stuff he does there! He talks about "Elle" all the time...she's the only girl at preschool so I guess she stands out to him... first little crush I guess? :) I am so glad for all the ways this time is benefiting him and of course, I am thankful for the time to myself each week!

He eats A LOT! He has graduated from the high chair into a booster and he has done great with staying in it while he eats! He is not too picky and will eat a huge amount of food when he likes it! Right now, he is loving oatmeal, yogurt, apples, turkey and cheese wraps, cookies of any kind :), mac and cheese, chicken, cheese sticks, and anything he can steal off Mommy's plate! It will be interesting to see how much he's grown when we go for his 2 year old appt but he is definitely no lightweight!

He is talking up a storm! He pretty much repeats whatever you say (watch out!) and in the last 2 months, he has gone from a short list of words to putting words together into phrases. He is associating words like farm, barn, cow, farmer and trying to put it all together even though it doesn't quite sound like a sentence yet. Watching him develop in this way has been one of my favorite things about being a mom! It's so amazing all of his thoughts finally coming out in his funny sounding words! We love it and are constantly laughing at him...behind his back, of course. :)

He loves to read and is constantly picking out new "bedtime favorites" to keep on his nightstand...

He loves music and playing the drums and guitar...even if he is pretending! He begs for "see see" ("A sailor went to see see see...") and "shunshine" ("you are my sunshine") in the car all the time! He's even starting to sing Twinkle, Twinkle, the ABC's, and Jesus Loves Me along with us!

He still loves BALLS and sports in general...he is not minding all the football watching/throwing in our house right now!

Grey and Tucker are best buddies! Tucker has recently starting commanding Grey just like we do (Sit, Come, etc.) and recently, she has actually starting sitting when he tells her to!

He's our little engineer... He loves to put things together! Puzzles, tupperware, toys, blocks...he likes to make things fit together and will work on it for a long time before losing his patience. It is amazing to watch his mind at work!

Tucker, we are having so much fun with you right now! I absolutely cannot believe you have been with us for almost 2 years! I'm thankful for the ways you keep me company every day...even though you do challenge and test me at times :) You are tender, intentional, funny, silly, and active! Thank you for keeping this Mama on her toes!