At two and a half, Bailey loves to be outside, would always prefer to be running or jumping to sitting still, delights at pointing out bird poop on the car or talking about poop at any chance he gets, already has an opinion on his clothes and prefers to wear pants that have pockets and shirts that have either a car, train, or super hero emblem, already lounges like a teenager, would wear sunglasses all the time if we didn't consistently lose the 5+ pairs we own, and for the most part colors and paints in a series of straight vertical lines. He is the best combination of wild and sweet and I can't get enough of him at this age!!
For the fall Bailey has been in speech and occupational therapy once a week. His therapists are awesome and I have been really proud of how far he has come. Over the past few months since getting tubes in his ears, he has become much more verbal. He is beginning to speak in short sentences and uses several phrases and words to communicate. Several of his words still sound very similar and so out of context it can be difficult to know what he needs and we still have lots of instances of frustration when we can't understand him.... but we are still seeing improvement and are thankful. I also feel like he is able to understand what we are saying better, ie. responds better to our explanations and requests, when he wants to. He started occupational therapy this fall because we were noticing some oral motor sensitivity issues specifically around eating and his speech therapist had noticed low muscle tone and movement in his cheeks, lip, and tongue. He has done great in this area and with a few exercises that the therapist does and we repeat at home and a few other changes and additions to his activities and schedules, we have seen great improvement. He is more willing to put new things in his mouth and is better able to interact with food once it's there. We have also seen improvement with his gross motor skills like reducing his toe walking and being able to jump with two feet. He is happy to go to therapy and has fun while he's there but I know that is isn't always easy and I'm so proud of his hard work and the progress he has made.
Also, as a brief follow up since having tubes put in his ears, he hasn't gotten sick like he was this summer (only having a minor cold and currently strep throat from sister since his surgery) and he has just been able to hear so much better. We are so incredibly thankful for this surgical option especially that he has remained healthy for this long. We have seen such an improvement in him overall and it is such a blessing!
Ainsley and him have developed quite the bond and want to be together almost constantly. It is sweet because I can tell that they miss each other when one of them is away for awhile. They often play together great, with the most popular games lately being kitty where they both crawl around on the floor and make high pitch meowing noises, chase where they growl and run after each other, super heroes where thankfully so far they are both crime fighters against imaginary bad guys instead of fighting against each other and pirates on endless treasure hunt adventures. This past week at school when talking about what they were thankful for Bailey said that he was most thankful for Ainlsey. Things like that melt my heart. That said, it isn't all golden and they of course do their fair share of fighting. They are also funny because they each like to have their own space and if they don't "match up" and one wants to play but the other doesn't, they often have hurt feelings. But they truly adore each other and Bailey feels so grown up and proud when he gets to do the things that he has seen Ainsley do. For instance, was super sweet and thrilled when his big boy backpack came in the mail and when he got to go to the gymnastics program and Ainsley went to last year. He kept saying 'me. me. me' over and over in excitement and disbelief when we walked into gymnastics the first time.
Another thing Bailey adores is books. He will often bring books over and ask us to read to him and can spend good amounts of time flipping through pages of books on his own. I love to watch how he studies each page and am so thankful for his interest. He has started to develop some favorite books that he likes to read before bed and requests them.
Personality wise, Bailey continues to be more laid back, easy going, and less emotional than Ainsley was/is. George and I often joke that Bailey is all George (laid back but with a temper) and Ainsley is all me (emotionally driven especially when tired). He is also eager to help often saying "I help, I help" and "Me too, pleeeaasseee" and is much more obedient and less defiant than he used to be. At times he even gets a little sensitive and heart-broken when he gets in trouble now, which is something I definitely didn't see coming. That said, Bailey has developed quite the possessive streak. He has always been a daddy's boy (sigh) but has started getting very possessive of George especially at the end of the day. He will say, sometimes very harshly at Ainsley, "NO, my Daddy!!" And he won't let Ainsley get close to George. He also likes to claim "his" property in a very possessive way, "my book, my book" "my bed, my bed" even if he has just walked into Ainsley's room and picks up one of her toys "my leap pad, my leap pad." Situations like this usually don't end all that well. :)
Which leads us to his pouting. I'm not sure where he got this but he has become an expert pouter and does so anytime he doesn't get what he wants. It is always silent and short lived but and usually makes us smile because he looks so cute. But it is definitely his was of showing us that he isn't happy about something!
(This is a phase that passed earlier this fall but I'm still cherish it and want to have it documented.) At night, George usually does storytime with Bailey while I do it with Ainsley and then we switch because Bailey asks for me to put him in bed and Ainsley wants Daddy to 'lay with her for one minute.' This is my favorite time of day with Bailey because he is so so sweet. I hold him and he puts both of his arms around my neck and plays with my hair. Or he squeezes my neck and rubs noses with me saying 'nose, nose, nose' over and over. He will also squeal with excitement and give me sweet kisses. And inevitably before the process ends he will say 'one more' at least once for things to continue longer. Even thought it all only takes a few minutes, it melts my heart so much to feel such love, trust, and joy radiating from this little boy. Ahhh.... the best!
My favorite sweet moments with Bailey now are probably in the morning. George will bring him into bed with us and he is always so happy and excited to see us and will say, "hi mommy" in a high-pitched and sweet tone. I'm usually still half asleep and he will sometimes rub my arm or snuggle his lovey to my face or lay his face down really close to mine on the pillow and just want to be close. And then sometimes he will shove me to face the other way and say "shush, mommy night-night." Either way I just love it and I love him to pieces!
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