Rylan: 3 1/4

I also want to write a few notes about my best boy. I have been working on this post for over a week and think the third time just might finish it. Maybe I need to be less long-winded!
Rylan has been growing and maturing since his 3rd birthday way back in October. I am so proud of how well he has been doing with potty-training the past month. I can't remember the last time he had an accident during the day. He will go to the bathroom all by himself now and is almost completely independent with pulling his pants back up.
We struggled with getting him to tell us about going #2 for long time, but now he alerts us and loves to sit and read a book or magazine, always asking for privacy. I wish he didn't have such an affinity for going #2 at the park bathroom.....but at least he is telling us when he has to go! We have had more than our share of funny/gross/frustrating potty moments over the past few months, which I won't share in any gory detail because I am sure most of you moms can relate already. We have had lots of discussions about anatomy and bathroom etiquette, like not peeking under the stall to say hello to the nice lady next to us, or trying to have a conversation with her, or asking if he can scratch his bottom in a public place.... Sometimes having such a chatty, outgoing child isn't so great.

I am thankful that Rylan still takes an afternoon nap anywhere from 1-3 hours. He goes to bed around 7:30 at night and gets up around 6-6:30. He plays in his room, sometimes quietly, and usually we don't have to get up with him until 7. He is starting to stall sometimes at bedtime, asking for one more....of this or that, and he does express being afraid of monsters sometimes.
I wonder if he is going through a growth spurt, because his appetite is incredible, especially in the mornings. He has put away two pieces of toast, some blueberries, cereal, and eggs for breakfast without slowing down. I can't imagine how I will feed him when he is a teenager! He will eat a decent variety of adult foods for dinner and dessert is always a great motivator to get him to finish his vegetables.

Rylan has been especially interested in dinosaurs and one-eyed monsters lately, the latter due to receiving "Monsters vs. Aliens" for Christmas. I'm pretty sure he has asked to watch it every day always telling us to "on-forward" it to the part where his favorite monster appears. One of his favorite toys is a large empty plastic container that Charlton drew one eye on the front, poked holes on the sides and threaded a bungee cord through to make arms. Again, why do we buy him toys? I made the terrible mistake of throwing away makeshift one-eyed monster #1 just before Christmas in an fit of organization. I hadn't seen Rylan play with it in weeks, so thought we could make room for the new toys coming. Big mistake, lots of tears= lesson learned and one-eyed monster #2 will be safe for a long time to come.

Rylan loves cartoons and movies of any type and it is a conscious struggle to limit his TV viewing. I have been letting him watch Sesame Street when we are home, (that's my prime shower time) and he loves it, especially Elmo. We also discovered some alphabet type games on PBSkids.org and he has impressed us with his ability to identify letters and their sounds. Plus he thinks it is really cool to have computer time like a big boy. He also loves a program where he can "play" the piano by typing on the keyboard. Rylan is full of questions about life: one of his favorite is the "What's inside?" game. He starts with a random object, a grape, or his arm and asks me what is inside. We get all the way down to protons, neutrons, and electrons before I tell him you can't get any smaller than that. Sometimes the constant questions can tire me out, but I do love his curious nature and want to encourage that love of learning. I am also glad he loves to read and can understand longer and more complicated stories. He will still pick out a favorite few books and want to read those over and over again, though.

We still have our playgroup with Jimmy and Dain on Wednesday mornings which is one of the highlights of Rylan's week. We are still working on sharing the toys and taking turns, but overall they guys play well together, especially if they get some time outside to run off energy. Jimmy will be moving to North Dakota at the beginning of the summer. I haven't told Rylan yet, and probably won't until the time gets closer. I'm not sure if he will be able to understand the concept, but I know he will miss his best buddy. Dain is having his 3rd birthday party at the end of February and it should be fun to celebrate with him.

Rylan is not terribly fond of his baby sister these days. He is so territorial of his play space and possessive of his toys. I can understand his frustration, but the constant refereeing gets tiring. I am trying to teach him to pick out another toy to offer Caroline so she won't try to steal his toys, or simply ask me for help rather than beating on his sister.

Last year I read in a book about child development that you should start to wean your 2-year old from his/her lovey or special toy. I thought the timing was bad since his baby sister was soon to arrive and then before I knew it, we were starting potty-training, and well... I am really behind on this issue. Plus I am not totally convinced it is such a terrible thing to have "bear-bear" still tagging along with us everywhere. Rylan usually just wants him when he is tired and sucks his thumb. Still, I think we should probably try to transition to keeping "bear-bear" just at home before he turns four, so I want to try to work on that. Also, I am thinking Rylan might be ready to try wearing underwear for naps instead of pull-ups. So, those are a couple "goals" we might be working on in the next few months.