Jones is 2 years old, or, The Last Monthly Update Post for the Jones Man!

This is it people:  the last monthly update post for Jones.  From here on out, we can all only hope that I stick to my goal of more frequent, shorter posts about what Alan and I, and Jones are up to.  But, for now ...

Jones is 2 years old!

I said, "Jones, stand still and let me take your picture!"  And this is what he did.
I think most of our pictures from here on out are going to be action shots :o)

He's holding a broom.  Kid loves to sweep :o)

"Jones, come stand by the crepe myrtle and let me take your picture!"

 At 2 years old, Jones:

• Wears size 24 months and 2T clothes, a size 6 1/2 shoe, a size 5 diaper, probably weighs around 30 pounds, and is probably around 3 feet tall, maybe just a little under, but we haven't measured, so ... who knows? 
• Has all of his teeth except his 2-year molars, I think ... it is incredibly difficult for me to verify that, because it's hard to get him to open his mouth wide enough and for a long enough time for me to actually confirm this, but I'm pretty sure they're all there.  We're doing really well with brushing our teeth - the biting is at a minimum nowadays, since he can understand and follow the simple instruction of, "Open wide!  Don't bite!"
• Is not a good eater.  I have to really work him to get him to eat anything, unless he's just famished.  He still does the best with breakfast.  He's not picky, he's just not all that interested in food.  He oftentimes gets his plate, eats like 4 bites, and then waves his arms and says, "Done!  Down!"  Favorite foods include:  hamburger/deer burger, green beans (he loves to say, "Bean!" and then eat them, one by one), pinto beans, any kind of fish (I know, right?!  Kind of weird, but a good thing - he chows down on any kind of fish, and I don't just mean fish sticks, like he loves salmon and grouper and tuna steaks, that kind of stuff), chicken (if you ask him what he wants to eat, he always says, "Chicken!"), oatmeal, cream of wheat, scrambled eggs, yogurt (he has started calling yogurt "eggo" ... I don't know about that ...), cereal bars, PB & J, mashed potatoes ("tatoes!") and ice cream (who doesn't love ice cream?).  I am continually shocked and amazed that he doesn't like macaroni and cheese, like, at all.  He doesn't seem to like any kind of cheesy pasta, as a matter of fact.  And he'll only eat pizza if you give it to him by the slice - if you cut it up into bite-size pieces, he won't eat it.

He does like cheese tortellini!

• Loves Mickey Mouse, The Little Einsteins, The Dinosaur Train, The Cat in the Hat, Curious George, and Sesame Street. 

Watching Mouse

"Hey Jones, let me take your picture sitting in Daddy's chair!"

• Loves to play with all of his musical instruments, especially his drum and his guitar, and he loves to bang on the piano.  Hopefully he'll have Bunky A's musical sensibilities.

• Is big on dinosaurs - he loves to roar like a dinosaur, and he loves to chase you and be chased with his stuffed dinosaurs.  He talks to himself all the time about dinosaurs and puts together his little dinosaur puzzle.

• In true boy fashion, is really into trucks and construction equipment.  On the ride to school we pass a construction zone and he points out all of the equipment to me every day.  His favorite piece is the crane.  He also points out all of the trucks he sees everywhere we go.

• Loves to play outside, in his cardboard pirate ship, and with chalk. 

 

He likes for the dogs to come outside and play with him too!

 

• Talks a lot - very chatty little fella!  I can only understand certain words, but I know that'll get better.  He is always telling me about the kids at school, but I can't understand a thing he says about them besides their names :o).  He is bossy with the Spoiled Labradors - "Eat, Augie!"  "No, Augie!"  "Quit, Augie!" (Can you tell that Augie is the one that spends the most time with him?  Layla loves him, but she prefers to love him from afar, unless he wants to throw the ball for her or play tug of war with her and her dragons).  He's always trying to get Layla to come to him, for some reason - he'll say, "Leee-yla!" in this imperious tone like he wants her to come over there, and she sometimes will, sometimes won't, depending on what's going on at the time.  He can and will voluntarily say please, thank you, sorry, uh-oh, oops, gross (aside:  I picked him up from the gym daycare the other day, and I was super sweaty, and as I bent down to tie his shoe, he put his hand on my back and said, "Gross Mommy!" Ha!), yuck and yucky, welcome, hi, bye, night-night, and excuse me.  He will also say "lub you" for "I love you", and then he has a whole host of other words, like train and dinosaur and truck, car, all kinds of animals (he's really good at animals and their sounds), shapes and numbers (he can count to 10), all of the usual kind of stuff you would expect from a 2 year old.  Not so good with colors, but that's okay :o).
• Favorite books include Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Baby, a new Thomas the Train book he got for his birthday, and a book about the elephants at the Little Rock Zoo that he got from Tee for his birthday.
• Is obsessed with buttons - his biggest thrill each day is to get to push the button to raise and lower the garage door, and to turn the TV on and off.  If it's got a button on it, Jones is all about it.

Chillin' with dad!

• Is still a champion sleeper, and we've started putting him in his crib after his bedtime stories and a little milk, and  a little rocking, and he goes to sleep on his own.  He's probably always been able to do this, but I've just always enjoyed rocking him, so that's always been part of our routine.  It's so peaceful in his room at night, when it's just the two of us in there, rocking quietly (I have been known to go to sleep in there in the comfy chair myself) but it's nice to know he could do it on his own if he had to.
• Is every bit of two years old, all boy, and is, as always and forever, precious to our entire family!