Eli is still a good eater for the most part. While he may refuse to eat a certain food one day, he will eat it again another day. Among his favorite foods are oatmeal, cheese and crackers, hot dogs, all kinds of fruits except apples, tuna and noodles, soups, and fruit snacks. While I still offer him vegetables daily, he will rarely eat them. Cooked carrots have the best chance of getting eaten by him. Both "cake" and "cookie" have become a regular part of his vocabulary, and he will immediately identify these if they are offered to him as a dessert. While I myself enjoy an occasional meal from McDonald's, we have found Eli's favorite Happy Meal option: Chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce. He will devour them along with the fries. (I think I may even be just as excited as he is to see what the toy is at the end of the meal, too.) Another special treat is ice cream from Dairy Queen. Instead of just sharing some of mine the last time I ordered, I got him his own small dish of twist ice cream, and he ate the entire thing.
Finally, he has shown interest in using utensils. He is becoming more proficient at using his fork and spoon but will get easily frustrated if it doesn't work quite the way he wants it to the first time.
Now that he is 2, he has been switched from whole milk to 2%. I don't even think he really noticed the difference. For the longest time, he would refuse to drink both water and juice; he would only drink milk. (What kid doesn't like juice?!) He finally has started drinking more than a tiny sip of both of those. Maybe he was just waiting until he turned 2 to acquire a taste for them. In fact, today was the first day he drank half his cup of apple juice.
As for his teeth, he has 16 teeth now. Some days it seems like he is working on his molars in the back, but they have yet to start popping through.
Eli is also still a good sleeper. He takes one afternoon nap from 1:00 to 4:00. Occasionally, he will take an extended nap and sleep for 4 hours. He goes to bed at 8:00 at night and wakes up at 7:00 in the morning.
As for potty training, I am going to hold off on that for now. I am still waiting for his language to develop a little more. I am going to follow the doctor's advice; it can be done in as little as one day if you wait until they are ready.
Of course, Eli's main interests right now include tractors and trucks. He loves to chase the cat around the yard when he is playing outside. He seems to also have fun walking aimlessly around the yard pointing out trucks and cars as they go by. He enjoys pushing things, such as his new toy lawn mower and his grocery cart. He still likes shopping cart rides in the grocery store and going to the library and to the park. He gets so excited when he sees the slides he can hardly wait to get out of his car seat. Going to daycare is a treat for him, too. His daycare provider has described him as an observer. From what I can tell, he plays independently quite a bit there, going from one toy to another and is more of a follower at this point and is still learning how to interact with other kids. There are two other kids there now that are his age; the rest are all older except for one baby girl, who he is very gentle with, even handing her toys to play with. Eli still loves books and will spend a lot of time pulling off one book at a time from the shelf and looking through them on his own. He loves to be read to and picks out his favorites often.
Once we moved to Maquoketa, we could sign him up for the Imagination Library program. This program, founded by Dolly Parton and sponsored by our local library, is open to all kids ages birth to 5. There is no cost to the parents, and once a child is signed up, they receive a free book in the mail every month until they reach age 5. One day when I went to get the mail and I had Eli with me, his book for that month was in the mail that day, and he really seemed to know it was for him as soon as he saw it. The books are age-appropriate, include a variety of genres, and are fun to read. Quite a few of the books he has received so far are among his favorites that he picks out over and over again.
"Bubble Guppies" and "Team Umizoomi" are still two of Eli's favorite TV shows, but now he also enjoys watching "Dora the Explorer" and "Mike the Knight." He has his very own mini recliner that even includes a cup holder that he received as one of his birthday gifts. It makes for a good TV-watching chair:)
Slowly but surely, Eli has been adding new words to his vocabulary. He still understands way more than he can actually say and follows simple commands. When he helps me empty the dishwasher, he knows where certain things go in the drawers that he can reach, and he will put them away. Any new words he learns will only be said again on his own accord and not always when prompted. The words he says most often include mommy, daddy, truck, tractor, car, papa, kitty, and "cah-cah" for motorcycle. He has started stringing words together more often (daddy's truck, papa's tractor, where daddy go?).
This second year of Eli's life has been quite the adventure. He can really have a mind of his own at times as he learns to gain his independence. Overall, he is generally a mild-mannered boy with boundless energy who can keep himself entertained easily. We are looking forward to seeing what the rest of toddlerhood has in store for us.
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