Derek 2 years 7 months
This month flew by with Christmas and our trip to Boston. Derek is growing up so quickly and we are enjoying every minute of it. Being in Boston gave me the opportunity, from time to time, to sit back and observe both kids and experience such joy at who they are becoming. Derek is a sweet boy. We have such fun together. Derek is such an encourager! He will often comment "Good job Mommy!" or "Good job Rylie!" without even being told. I LOVE to see him encourage others.
Derek loves to give and get hugs. Almost every night before I leave his
room he says, "Mommy, can I have a hug?" Sometimes he asks for a hug
right in the middle of dinner. Some
of my favorite memories with Derek are when he is biking while I am
jogging. We have such great conversations and its awesome to see him
push himself physically (he will bike for an hour and a half at a time). Sometimes I forget he is only 2.
Over the past couple of months Derek
has had several areas of interest that we
have focused on during our one-on-one time. Its been so
fun to watch him get excited about learning. These areas of interest have brought about such great conversations. Derek is good at asking questions. We have checked out books from the library, watched YouTube videos and
looked at pictures of these areas of interest. Ideas fly through my head of different activities we can do and different ways I can take the learning. I feel like I am back in
the classroom teaching again!!
One
of the things we have been working on this month with Derek is learning how to share (his favorite toys)
with his sister. Now that Rylie is mobile and quick, he is realizing that she can get to his toys. We continue to work on sharing. Derek is also learning how to make good choices. For the most part making good choices comes easy to him. Now that he is older and can express what he is thinking, it can be challenging for him to obey the first time. But just like everything else, there is a learning curve. Derek is making great progress in learning that making a good choice has its benefits. We are very proud the level of responsibility he handles in making the decisions and the consequences (good and bad) that result in his decisions. So many opportunities to teach
Circle "A" life lessons in these teachable moments!!!
Derek is really into imaginative play with his trucks, cars, trains and even figures from a dollhouse Rylie got for Christmas. He has the cars talking to each other and the trains are acting out different Thomas episodes. Tonight he pointed to different parts of the train table saying, "this is Brendam Docks and this is Misty Island," so creative. He also likes to pretend to be me and do some of our normal errands. So far his favorite is to go shopping. When we play I pretend to be him and ask for a squeeze pouch or a Lightning McQueen snack and say other phrases he says. Derek thinks its hilarious.
Derek started semi-private swim lessons this month at Hubbard Swim
School. He couldn't wait to get back in the pool. It was so fun to watch
him swim with the instructor. I am excited for him and all the things
he is going to learn. I thought I would be a little sad since this was
the first class that he has taken without me, but I was just proud and
amazed at what a big boy he is becoming!!
Derek is a very physical kid. We spend much of our day moving. Lately he has been into jumping off the couch! He can finally jump with two feet!
Derek "racing" Rylie and Daddy with his dump truck...another favorite in the Buman house
Derek LOVES to read!
Built his own airplane
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