Bye Bye Toddler, Hello Preschooler

Here's a duh moment, Zach is two. Here's something that some people might not know. Most Developmental Psychologists say toddlerhood ends when two begins (or at the latest two and a half). Even though he isn't in preschool, his skills are more preschool like. In fact, he's in a way being homeschooled. I'm certified to teach preschool and make monthly workbooks with a page a day activities diversely designed for kids 2 - 4. He loves the pages where I cut out either a picture ruler or other pictures and he has to tape them into boxes. The pages for 2 - 3 year olds, he does very well. The activities vary. Shape identification, matching size, and bigger or smaller identification are strong parts. I just tested some from the July book last month though. In September we'll do the pages he can handle more diligently. He loves his notebook and crayons and can now sit still and enjoy coloring. He has plenty of crayons (5 packs) so he's good there. Next July I budgeted in scissors and by then he'll need glue too.

He also looks more like a kid then a toddler. You can see it on the playground. He's been in 3T shirts since 22 months (April) and that means Mommy is collecting bigger shirts for when he needs it. That required research. He has a big head so the boy smalls (4) are better suited for him then the 4T. He has some things that are 4T but when I hold them up they are the same size at the boys small so that's what we'll be buying. He already needs youth sized hats which we got on vacation.

He prefers playing with the three year olds because they play with him. He tries playing with the two year olds but that are still at the age of "play next to". The three year olds are better at sharing so he likes that. He learned about pretend play from a four year old girl at the park yesterday. She was a princess and had a 3 year old sister who is also a princess and he joined in as a prince locked in a castle but that girls' grandma let them out with a magic key.

Talking, wow talking is getting better too. Three word sentences sometimes even more are no longer a special thing. At the end of each day he recaps the day with little to no prompting on the events but he initiates talking about his day, just like he sees us do. I love how there aren't many tandrums since he doesn't get what he wants for those but with actions and words he communicates his needs.

He's only wearing diaper at night now. We have over 60 so we have officially brought our last diaper. I used that budget to raise the grocery budget. He ate some of my lettuce a couple of times from my salad. That is a big boy thing too. He's great at understanding the rules and following directions. This shows the maturity of a preschooler, not a toddler.

Sorry if I'm bragging too much. It's hard not to in these conditions. Especially since he can count to two. Twice now we've seen people with two dogs. Without saying how many dogs there were he turned around in his stroller both times and said "two doggies two doggies there". You should have seen Grandma C's face when he did it in front of her yesterday!!! Man you should see how well this kid knows directions how to get places!

Daddy's Count Hoodie From Vacation "Ha Ha Ha"