Clothing:
He currently wears a 2T, though this is a recent move from 24 months. Still no preference on what he wears (thanks goodness!), and I'm cherishing the last couple of months that I still have one of my babies in onesies. I HEART ONESIES. I think because they in some odd way make me feel like I still have a baby and that he's really not growing up THAT fast. Though he is. :)
Eating:
Kemp has kind of gone back and forth on being a good eater and being a picky eater, but thankfully as of late we are on a good path. He has been easier to transition into eating whatever John and I eat than Peyton who still really likes "kid" food. Debbie, Kemper's daycare lady says that he is a fantastic eater, and finishes everything in his lunch every day. He is now drinking 1% milk (yay for only buying one kind of milk), and drinks it from sippy cups. Thankfully, we were done with the bottle before he even turned one years old. His favorite foods include the following: Pickles, ice (haha!), bananas, fish crackers, turkey sandwiches, oatmeal, and cooked carrots. He really likes stroganoff too, just like his daddy!
Sleeping:
Oh did we have no idea how well we had sleeping with Peyton. She is and always has been a fantastic sleeper. Our little Kemper on the other hand has certainly had more struggles with it. Kind of like the eating thing, we are thankfully on a really great sleeping path with him right now. But that didn't come without struggle. Around 18 months or so, we struggled with him waking in the middle of the night several times literally crying and screaming as loud as he could. Naturally we explored all ideas of what we thought the problem could be and we came up with...drumroll....nothing. So, to overcome those issues, we decided it would be best to be consistent in not picking him up when we went in there, not bringing him to bed of course, and keeping all other bedtime rituals the same. Eventually he figured it all out and we once again have sleep. He's still sleeping in his crib, but by the beginning of May, we will switch him into a big boy bed as we promised the crib to another new baby. Kemper sleeps with a small toddler pillow and blanket, and still sleeps with his music on and a pacifier. We plan on taking the pacifier away once he's had a good month or so in his toddler bed. He is still very attached to his pacifier and would probably have it in his mouth every second of the day if we let him. Thankfully, we keep the pacifier for sleeping times only.
Daycare:
Kemper still goes to daycare at Debbie's, though in July of this year, he will start at Appleseed Preschool where Peyton goes. We think he is very ready for the change and will be excited to be with his big sister for a couple of months before she goes to Kindergarten.
Talking/personality:
When Kemper's doctor asked me how many words she though he had, I guessed it at about 100. His vocabulary in the last month has really just exploded. He'll attempt to say anything that you ask him to say, and he is starting to talk in 2-3 word phrases. People tell me that he is a pretty laid back 2 year old, though not shy at all. He won't be the loudest one in the class, but he also won't be the shy one unwilling to try new things. He's right there along with all the other kids, but not necessarily needing to be the center of attention. We sometimes struggle with him hitting (mostly his sister), which is new to us since Peyton didn't go through a phase like that. I am being reminded how difficult it is to try and discipline a child that you can't reason with at all because of his age. Fun times!
Doctor:
This year, Kemper battled several little colds, and maybe a couple of fevers, but nothing too awful. We were also lucky enough for him to get a very mild case of Hand, Foot, Mouth disease. In addition to these, he had his first little ear infection and it was treated easily with antibiotics. We changed doctors from Dr. Melissa Walsh to Dr. Maggie Bevilacqua, who is also a doctor at Richmond Beach Pediatrics. The only reason we changed is because she was able to accomodate Friday office hours and Melissa Walsh was not able to. Kemper has also had 2 check ups at the dentist and seems to have great teeth so far. All his teeth are in except his final molars, which there is no sign of yet. The following were his 2 year stats at the doctor:
Weight: 29.2 lbs (77th percentile)
Height: 35 inches (63rd percentile)
Kemper's Favorites:
- Loves, loves, loves any kind of ball, but especially a football or basketball
- Loves to play catch
- Pickles
- Boy cousins Hank, Mason, and Alex
- His sister Peyton whom he adores
- playing outside
- chapstick (calls this "dapdick too mommy")
- his pockets (calls it his "pock")
- his toy car that he can drive, ride in, and pack stuff into the back
- choo choo's
- garbage trucks (or any other big truck)
- Motorcycles
- ice cream
- Not really into TV yet, though he does like the Mickey Mouse Club
