I’ve lost my Baby! – J at 29 months.

My little baby James is gone – all that’s left is a giant ‘boy’ (feels wrong calling him a toddler when he can walk better than me!) His development over the past few months has been terrifying.

He’s mastered the dark art of sleeping in a bed, I put him in bed, and he stays put – no dicking about or constant trips upstairs, he’s grasped that ‘Bed = Sleep’. His sleeping pattern varies, but usually it’s a solid 8pm to 6am at least 0 more if I’m lucky. He fell asleep on the sofa before 7pm last night, and I groaned loudly when he got into my bed at 5.30am, but I’ve got to take the rough with the smooth, he goes to bed beautifully. We’ve got into a bit of a routine saying ‘Nigh Nigh’ to his GroClock too (hopefully I can teach him the ‘wake up’ element of it too). His ‘dody’ (dummy) is now only a ‘bedtime’ thing which is really good.

Physically, he’s a beast of a child, some of his 2-3 clothes are getting tight on him, and he’s now a size 8 in shoes. I’m trying to get him to do a bit more walking, despite it being painfully slower than charging around with the buggy. I’m heading into London today for a blogging event, and I’ll be completely without it, there’s minimal walking between trains and the event so it’ll be a good test.

One thing I’m not looking forward to today is the fact I’ll constantly be thinking about where the nearest loos are, as his potty training is going extremely well. He is in pants constantly now and is having fewer accidents, I’m just on the guard for the cry of ‘Wee-Wee Poo-Poo!’. When he’s at home he’ll happily trundle off to the potty and come and proudly show me the contents and ‘helpfully’ empty the content into the toilet. Out and about I just get a few minutes warning of ‘Wee-Wee Poo-Poo’ which sends me into a blind panic for the nearest public toilet. There are sometimes the odd false alarm, but I’d rather that than need to change his clothes.

Language wise, his speech is coming on leaps and bounds, his understanding has always been excellent, but his speech always seemed a little behind – now though – WOW – he doesn’t stop. It’s easy to hold a conversation with him, and suss what he’s on about. His time away with Loz has thickened his Northern accent massively, it’s adorable, I always wondered just how he’d sound when he found his voice properly. G’s question before he was born about if he’d sound Northern or ‘Essex’ doesn’t seem so daft now – I’ve a feeling it’ll be a mixture of the two.

He’s starting to name shapes, numbers and letters too – it’s scary how quickly he’s grasping these! The shape identification has turned him into a bit of a diva at the lunch table – he’s asking for his sandwiches and toast to be cut into ‘triangle an ‘quares’. I’m happy to indulge this as it’s no real hardship and I think he REALLY likes it.

Behaviour wise, he really is fantastic, there are of course the odd toddler meltdowns, but he’s so lovable and placid, I couldn’t really complain in the slightest – he’s very happy-go-lucky. Telling him ‘No’ usually results in a massive exhale of breath and a shrug and a sulky ‘Awwww’. He never really gets too worked up over things unless he’s tired, which now he’s not really napping, can happen occasionally, but I feel firmly blessed with his behaviour.

So all in all, things are going really well, J’s shaping up to be a fantastic little man, I am extremely proud and lucky to have such an amazing son.. Hopefully his growing up journey will continue to be as smooth.