My friend Alison just did a thoughtful post about her son at 2 and a half, and it made me think about Tucker reaching that milestone as well (this past Thursday!).
First of all, I just want to say that Tucker at two and a half is very different than Tucker at two. His language has exploded in the past six months, and he usually can tell me what he's trying to say. His imagination is also exploding, so what he wants to say may have less and less bearing on reality. At two, language was a vehicle to get the food he wanted. Now it is a vehicle to tell me that his bus is flying to the moon, but is running out of gas, that he's hosing me down with water from his kitchen sink because I'm on fire, and so much more. With his increasing abilities, he has a lot of increasing opinions... about everything, really. I have learned a lot about consistency over the last several months out of sheer desperation; Tucker is amazingly methodical at testing just exactly how far he can go with anything and everything and get away with it. And yet, of course, to everyone else besides Austin and I, Tucker is perpetually a joyful and obedient little boy with a constant smile.
We're starting to learn about social niceties like "please" and "thank you," about sharing, and taking turns. He really likes the idea of taking turns with the radio in my car... as long as it's always Tucker's turn. His social sense is also developing and he pays more attention to other kids wherever he goes. His favorite is running amock in a little playroom with kids of every size after church.
He is a champion sleeper still, usually going to bed at 7 pm (maybe 7:30) and getting up at about 7 am (maybe 6:30 am). He also takes at least a two hour nap, and often three hours or more several times a week. I don't see his nap disappearing anytime soon.
He is very much a "big boy" these days, having given up his crib in January with no trepidation--he truly loves his bed and has not wavered at all on those feelings. Also, amusingly, he hasn't figured out that he can get out of his bed whenever he wants to--or maybe he loves his bed so much he just never wants to voluntarily get out of it on his own. He has been potty trained during the day and at naps since late January as well, though he needs reminders to go pee. Life is very busy, and it can be hard sometimes for Tucker to be willing to stop the action for a potty break. He is refusing to wear one piece sleepers to bed anymore--he wants real pajamas now, which would be a lot cuter if he couldn't occasionally wiggle his diaper off in them in the middle of the night in his sleep (with the expected disastrous results).
The one remnant of babyhood left in Tucker's life is his pacifier, which he is still very attached to for sleeping. He is good about leaving them in his bed, but has no interest in letting the Pacifier Fairy come and exchange them for a big boy present so she can give the pacifiers to the babies who need them. The Pacifier Fairy hasn't decided how long she'll wait for him to be willing before she comes anyway!
Tucker continues to be very focused and methodical. He lines up his trucks and cars with precision, often in big lines that caravan across whole rooms. Another passion continues to be the Wheels on the Bus videos, which Tucker talks about constantly.
