Sam, 2.5

Tonight Sam pooped in the potty for the first time!  Like a real full-size poop.  I was so excited!!  I'm hoping this means we won't go down the major fear of pooping road that Jackson went down.  Jack wasn't poop-trained until this summer when he was just a month away from being 4!  And even now, we still have to keep a close eye on Jackson.  He'll hold it in for a few days and then really get constipated and be afraid to finally let it out because it hurts a little.

As far as potty training goes, I really haven't pushed it much with Sam.  We tried it out this summer, he didn't seem interested, so we abandoned it.  Then a few months ago, he started asking to wear underwear, so we did for a short period of time during the day, then we'd go longer and longer periods of time.  He still has accidents from time to time, but mostly he has the control thing down.  His weakness is stopping play when he has the urge to go.  He'll go potty if I tell him to, but if I forget and it has been too long, a lot of times he'll have an accident unless something reminds him he needs to go.  But we have gone out to run errands for hours several times with Sam in underwear and he hasn't had an accident.  And now, he pooped!  Yeah!  I think we are getting closer to having 2 out of 3 of our kids out of diapers! WHEW!  Maybe one of them will get to go to college after all!  ;)

Sam always surprises me with the things he understand and says.  He very rarely seems only 2 to me.  He plays with older kids a lot and they enjoy playing with him.  He gets his feelings hurt when he gets left out because someone assumes he isn't mature enough to do what the big kids are doing.  He has a very big vocabulary and not only talks, but makes jokes and expresses his likes, dislikes, things he notices, and asks me insightful questions a lot. 

Just a few months ago, he was a stubborn toddler, but now he is my sweet and helpful almost-preschooler.  He wants to do so much for himself and so much to help me all the time.  He can dress himself (with a little help with the shirt, socks and one or two pairs of his shoes).  He can strap himself into his own carseat.  He helps me with the dishes and unloading the clothes from the dryer.  He can get his own juice out of the fridge, and brush his own teeth.  He also knows the alphabet, can recognize many letters, and can count past 20!  He loves to color, so I hope his fine motor skills will be well developed when I start to sit down and work with him on paper soon.  Recently I realized I didn't need to continue getting him out of the bathtub, drying him of and dressing him.  He can do all that by himself now! This makes the bathtime/bedtime routine so much easier!!  He is also such a big help with his sister!  (See the Ally - 2 mos post a few posts ago.)

For a child who used to be the biggest daily trial for me, he is now one of my biggest sources of pride and joy.  Oh he still has his moments, don't get me wrong. He is still a fairly stubborn eater.  He still screams bloody murder when he gets frustrated or mad at his brother instead of using big boy words and asking for help, and he still craves a LOT of attention, but overall, I am so pleased with how far his behavior and demeanor has come in the last 6-9 months.  We love you, Sam!