Niall turns TWO!

Niall is TWO!

He:
- weighs probably 21-22 lbs or so (official well child visit to come in March). He feels chunkier (especially in the tummy) than Iver did at this age, and has a great appetite! He wears mostly 12-18 month pants, 18-month tops, and size 4-5 shoes (he LOVES boots).
- loves water and milk. He has drunk all but two bags of my frozen breastmilk (which we had been mixing 50/50 with cow's milk for school) and I plan to quit nursing this weekend or by the latest on Monday when we will leave the kids for an adults-only vacation. (I've tried to do some "weaning," including using some tea to dry up my milk [my allergy decongestant may help as well], putting band-aids on my nipples, etc., but it may have to be a cold-turkey thing. I think he, more adaptable, will take it better than Iver did at the end!).
- is a great eater (mostly in the morning). "I eat breakfast" is often the first or second thing out of his mouth in the morning.  He sits in a booster seat at the table with a protective tray (for spills) and a catch-food bib. He loves fruit, noodles and soup, cheese of all kids, yogurt, and will even now eat meat. He will literally eat peanut butter (and ketchup!) with a spoon.  He's good with utensil fork and spoon to feed himself (sometimes seeming to have a left-handed preference). He yells "SNACK!" when he gets in his carseat.

- is doing well with gentle potty training. He will sometimes tell us when he has to go poop, and often poops on the potty in the morning and after dinner ("little nugget!" he says). We use pocket diapers at school and cloth fitteds at home (except for overnight). He had been soaking through size 3 overnight diapers, so we just sized up to size 4 (Iver never wore more than a size 3 diaper until he was potty trained at age two!). 

 -  is doing well in the toddler room at his daycare. He doesn't really fuss at drop-off, and loves (and can name) his teachers and friends. He is far more flexible with caregivers and has less separation anxiety than Iver did.

- loves his brother, and both of us parents (seemingly equally). "Where Iver?" is a common first phrase in the morning

- is starting to get opinionated and pushing some boundaries, ("NO!" and "Mine" are common words to hear).  "Niall hold it," "My hold it," or "Niall do it!" he says a lot.  He will play with his brother, but will also antagonize him (i.e. fight back) at times.

- loves being chased, climbing, and reading books. He jumps, and is starting to get interested in the magnet tiles that Iver so loved. He likes to scribble and draw with markers ("I draw circle!"), play with Pepper, and go on walks to see the neighborhood horse, Buster. He loves music and dancing and requests song titles frequently like "Wicked" (from the Descendants 2 soundtrack).  He loves going town tall slides and playing at the park. He's a fan of tub baths and splashing water everywhere.  He loves cuddles and being held/carried ("Mama, hold-ee"!).

- talks a TON-- with many sentences like "Read it again, Mama." "Addie fell off couch at school," and "What Papa doing?" We can basically have conversations with him now, which is super fun. He can count to fifteen and sing the ABCs song. He can fill in the words and phrases of many familiar books when we're reading aloud. He can identify the titles and pull his favorite books off the shelves, and knows most colors and shapes. He's great with remembering names (of people's children, parents, etc.)!  He likes to pick up our house landline phone and say, "Hello? What are you doing?" One day when he was nursing, he popped off the breast to repeat, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the baddest of them all?" from song lyrics of "Wicked" (Descendants 2), which was hilarious.

- has an infectious giggle and laugh, and an adorable dimple-laden smile. He has a great sense of humor and is a really sweet and happy kid overall.

- continues to be a dream sleeper at night, still in his crib, without signs of escape. After a bath and a few books,  we put him in his crib in a footie pajamas and sleepsack around 7:40 pm and he sleeps until around 5:45-6:00 or so most mornings (an hour more than Iver slept per night at the same age). Iver has been relocated to the guest room, when we don't have guests, because he sleeps a bit longer in a room by himself. Niall takes a ~1.5-2-hour nap around 1 pm most days (and is sometimes grumpy upon wake-up but redirectable usually).

Park lounging

Church smile

(half-) Naked guy!

Meal of choice-- PB out of a bowl!

Pizza!

Breakfast antics

Goofy guy

Brother love!

 Off to school!

 Some gift-opening/reading

 

Here's what Iver was doing at two.

I can't believe our baby is now a little boy!  I'm actually thrilled the "baby days" are behind us-- I love the talking and interacting, phasing out the diapers, and having my body free to no longer have to think about milk production!  Onto the (with hope, not-so-terrible) twos!