Milo: 23 Months

23 months old. That is just one little month away from being two years old. TWO YEARS?! Has that little guy really been here that long? What's he been up to lately, anyway?

Everything is his. My spoon, my bed, my food, my water, my hammer, my shoes. Etc. He doesn't like it when something is not his. He is definitely learning how to get some control of his world.

Milo is silly. He makes silly faces, does a silly dance, and loves tickling and being tickled. He loves running around with Daddy, chasing and being chased.

He is learning how to use his imagination. He holds his arms straight out and flies like an airplane, spinning in a circle. He drives his cars through the "dinosaur tunnel" under his toy dinosaur's legs.

He loves music and is starting to sing a few songs. He sticks his lips out in the most exaggerated kissy face you can imagine and sings "Cookie, cookie, ceeeeeeee." (He's going for "cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C" from Sesame Street.) He sings that there's a party in his tummy. He says "Hokey pokey" but won't do the motions. He thinks Mommy and Daddy are hilarious doing the hokey pokey, though, and I can't exactly argue with that.

He knows so many words and sentences, and he can put four or five words together to form a sentence. I understand most everything he says, though he still pronounces things like a toddler, of course.

Milo is learning how to take his pants on and off. It only recently occurred to us that we should let him try those kind of tasks on his own, but I'm glad it did. He's gotta figure that stuff out, eventually, and it helps reinforce the idea that he is a big boy. Still crossing my fingers that he doesn't decide to start taking off his pants and diaper all the time, of course.

Side note: he has outgrown all his 2T pajamas! They just squeeze his chunky thighs and he complains about it being itchy. So we got him some 3T, can you believe it? Not even two yet, and he's in 3T pj's.

As for adjusting to life as a big brother, well. It's been a little rough. His sleep has regressed; he hates when I leave the room after tucking him in. He cries for an hour or more, fighting sleep with every ounce of strength he has. I know he needs attention, and we're trying so hard to give him positive attention, but he's still adjusting. He is getting in trouble more, and we're putting him in time out pretty much every day. I think he likes Olive, he notices her little mouth and her little ears and her little hands. He asks to give her kisses, which is so sweet. But he needs to make sure we still love him too. Which obviously we do, more than ever, and it breaks my heart that this is rough for him. I cry after leaving him in his room at bedtime, hearing him crying "No, Mommy, no, Mommy!" not wanting me to leave.

Milo is stuck in that place between wanting to be completely independent and needing me and Andrew like he's never needed us before. I hope he gets used to life with Olive soon. He is going to be a fantastic big brother. No, scratch that. He already is a fantastic big brother.