George's first two word sentence, and other things

George said his first two word sentence the other day (July 15, 2013). He pointed at a balloon arch at the grocery store and said, "What's that?!"

He is starting to officially be a little kid and not a baby. I have finally weaned him and it was a gradual, comfortable process for both of us. He will still point and ask for milk and when I tell him it's all gone, he will sometimes cry for a moment. But then if I ask him if he wants a drink of milk in a bottle, he's very happy with the substitute. He LOVES his bottle. (Well, then I wrote that and nursed him to sleep the other night. We'll get there. I'm not worried about it. It had been at least two weeks since I'd nursed him before that, so this is definitely on its way out. Ha!)

He can make his needs quite known and is getting more words all the time. He even has favorite TV shows- Bo on the Go on Netflix or the "train" show, which is really Dumbo. He loves them and requests them multiple times a day.

He loves to pretend to be a doggie and I'll often get an affectionate lick on my arm or leg or cheek.

He's finally figured out the difference between mama and daddy and calls me the right one most of the time. He can say Charlie "Djar-yee" and likes to point to each of us and say our names over and over.

 Some more favorite words: "bobble" (bottle), "dang-doo" (thank you), "pease" (please), "dangdee" (blankie), help, out (which he says in the high chair, carseat or at the back door), "shew" (show), "sigh" (outside), shoe (shoes), "Bo" (Bo on the Go), cheese, juice, fish (goldfish crackers), uh-huh and uh-uh (not yes and no). He's also started to pretend to read letters and count. He thinks all colors are blue.

He recently had a scrape on his arm and would check on the status of his "owie" multiple times a day and inform us that it was still, in fact, there.

 He's starting to get aggressive with other kids his age (or younger). He pushes or hits when he feels his territory is being threatened. Part of that I know is normal for kids his age, but I'm sure it's partly learned from his brother. Charlie still struggles with outbursts of anger and frustration which he displays in physical aggression. George is the unfortunate recipient of these frustrations. It's one of the biggest struggles in our household and hurts my heart. I am hopeful that one day they will play nicely together. (Or that George will just get big enough to defend himself, one of the two). That being said, they really do love each other and are starting to have some nice moments of playing together occasionally.

We took him camping and the first night he slept pretty well except for a two hour stretch when he would doze and nurse and then wake up delighted that I was right next to him. He would say, "Mama!" over and over while patting my face. (It was my plan to wait to wean until after the camping trip was over, and I'm glad I waited - it was a nice benefit to get us through the night!)

He still loves music and dancing, although doesn't really like singing before bedtime.

He's started enjoying nursery and no longer cries the whole time. It's cute to hear the other kids and leaders call him "Georgie". I can't help calling him that, but I don't want that nickname to stick when he's in elementary school! I'd better watch it. :)

I was snuggling him the other day on my lap and I looked at John and said, "I just want to remember, remember, remember this." He's my baby, sweetie boy. He loves to cuddle, he's so funny, he brings balance to our family, and I just always want to remember him at this age and the weight of his little sleepy, cuddly body.