Heading into the Toddler Years

As the toddler years arrived, life has been anything but dull. Mr. C was one of the most active one and two year olds you would probably ever meet. The energizer bunny has nothing on him. We had to let him play in the garage on his tractor to help get his energy out or he was bouncing on the walls!

For awhile he continued taking pretty good naps, but after a move to a new home in April of 2009 (a few short months after he turned two), naps became a thing of the past. Of course we tried to hold onto these for dear life as they were my only hope for a break during the day, but he resisted with every bone in his body.

It ended up delaying his nap so much that he wouldn’t go to bed at night during his usual bedtime. Then he would be up for so long lying awake in bed that he would be overtired the next day.

Finally, we gave up and just moved his bedtime to a ridiculously early time to ensure he was getting adequate sleep. He usually gets the 11-12 hours each night that he needs, but the 12 hour stretch during the day is exhausting.

We still have him in his crib because every time we try to transition him to a big boy bed he starts waking up in the middle of the night to play with his toys or try to get us to play with him. We tried it a few times, but then decided since technically he still fits in the crib and for some reason does not climb out of it so why bother.

My only real issue is the whole potty part of it, but he tells us when he has to go and we just get him down and take him to the potty. However, the first week of potty training he ended up pooping in his bedtime pull up, removing it and then making the most beautiful finger painting all over the crib.

I was especially thrilled by the streaks that were on his blanket that he was chewing on when I arrived. I suppose I should just get used to life as the mother of a boy and expect to see snakes, bugs and other slimy unidentifiable objects throughout his upbringing.