thirty-three months (d)

Dylan is just 3 months shy of turning THREE. Oh. My. God. Where did my baby go?



I thought we were going to make it through the terrible-twos without meeting "the terrible" but as of recently, I am realizing we aren't so lucky. Occasionally the 'terrible' side rears its ugly head. I know you all think that this adorable little boy could not be terrible but I assure you, you are wrong. Sometimes he makes me want to pull my hair out. It doesn't help when my neighbors try to comfort me by saying "three is worse than two." Let me tell you, I can't wait.

Dylan is OBSESSED with Thomas the Tank engine. He knows all the engine's names and even the names of the buildings (like the Tidmouth Timber Yard). If you ask him what color a particular engine is, he will tell you. He'll even look at a black & white outline of a train (coloring book) and tell you which one it is. He learned all the engines by studying the 'map' that comes in each package of the Thomas Wooden Railway system. He even forces us to study the map with him. "Mommy, way down. Wead my map, peas." How can you say 'no' to that? Dylan is really developing an imagination too. He talks to his trains while he is playing and he likes to build tunnels and tracks out of random objects around the house.

He has his absolute favorite trains too...James ("Mase"), Spencer, Gordon ("Monin"), Murdoch ("Mocock"), Harold ("Hadold"), and lately Peter Sam ("Beeter Dam"). We got him a train table for his 2nd birthday and we recently set up a new track layout with a roundhouse that he begged for, for months. The table turned out great and he spends hours playing with it. Every night, he takes a train (or three) to bed and oftentimes he takes one along in the car too.





Dylan has little interest in potty training. He refuses to sit on the potty and if we try to put him on it, he will straighten his body. We even put the potty in front of the TV thinking maybe that would help. No such luck. The weird part is that he will watch his Elmo's Potty Time video over and over again. Last week when my mom was watching him he said to her "Big boys wear diapers." Nice.

Eating has been hit or miss with Dylan lately. Some days he eats a ton, other days he doesn't want anything. He won't touch a PB &/or jelly or grilled cheese sandwich, you know the things kids normally love. It can be frustrating. He will look at something and say it is yucky, without even tasting it. His favorite things to eat are avocados, tomatoes, olives, soy sausage, whole wheat english muffins, rice, and french fries. Oh, and milk. He would drink milk instead of eating. Actually he has done that, but it was entirely his choice.

Here he is snacking on a whole wheat bun. Strange kid.


And some fries (while wearing Grammy's Soduku glasses).




Dylan knows the entire alphabet. He doesn't know the ABC song but he can recognize & say all the letters. Today we were parked in front of Toys R Us and he read all the letters out loud on his own. I didn't even ask him to do it. I was so proud! He also knows his numbers and has counted to 13. His favorite number is 18, and he likes to say "18 minutes" even when we are not talking about time.

He knows his full name although he only says his middle and last name together. He says "middle name Mike-o, wast name Al-ba-do". His first name comes out like "Den-in" and he calls Gavin "Davin". Some things that he says only Bryan & I can understand, while other things are perfectly clear and anyone can understand him. It is almost like he is speaking two languages. Maybe he is. Last week he said "Dos XX".

Dylan LOVES his baby brother and says "my baby bra-der loves me all times". He can't wait to see Gavin in the morning. When he hears Gavin wake up, he runs into his room, flips on the light and wants to hug him. It is so sweet!



Dylan starts swim lessons this week. I am excited for him. He loves the water and I know he will do well.

There is never a dull moment in our house. Not a day goes by that Dylan doesn't say or do something funny. I can't stop giving him kisses (and neither can his Grandmas). He has brought so much joy into our lives. I look forward to what the future holds for him.