This Growing Joey

Joey is getting old before my very eyes.  When people have asked me how old he is lately, I've been saying 2 1/2 (which is true).  But then it hit me... it's July.  September (his birthday month) is in twoooooooo months.  

He's not just 2 1/2 anymore, but almost 3.  

He sleeps in the big boy bed with hardly any problems.  He's no longer using a booster seat at the dining room table.  He doesn't use plastic toddler utensils either... he uses the big people silverware like the rest of us.  He can drink just fine without a lid on his straw cup, but we don't let him do it often because he sticks his hand in the cup and then fingerpaints milk on the dining room table.  He IS still 2 after all.  :-)

He says things like "Play Lego Sets with me Mom?" and has an amazing vocabulary.  He has a fiercely independent spirit and always wants to do things by himself and needs to be convinced he needs help when he's stuck.  He loves tackling his big brother and copying what he does and says.  He plays so well by himself and loves vehicles, super heroes, and building towers.  He is L.O.U.D. and usually shouts everything... especially when he sings. 

He is wearing 3s and 4s now... probably will be a solid 4 when he starts wearing jeans and long sleeves again in the fall.  He is so tall and suddenly, out of nowhere, hits his head on the countertop that hangs over the cabinet on our kitchen peninsula, and I think he fit under just 2 months ago. 

Strong-willed children come with a bad connotation.  I used to dread the possibility of having one until I read Dr. Dobson's book, The Strong-Willed Child, and learned that it's a good thing if we tend to his personality properly now when he's so young.  If it's harnessed and reigned in now, if he's trained well with everything we desire him to know and believe, then he won't be a limp noodle when he gets older.  He will know what he believes and it won't be easy to pull him away from that.  Right now, it means lots of correction, being consistent with that correction, and loving him through and through.  It's hard work now, but I pray it pays off down the road.

And I love that boy.