34 month updates on Lil J

I skipped last month.  Not a whole lot to report, but also I was very busy.  I'm a day late this month, but better late than never, right?  Yesterday was another busy day.  Hubby had to work Saturday so he took yesterday off.  I had to go grocery shopping & then running errands with hubby.

So, getting down to the stats.  He now weighs 33.4 lbs (75-90%).  His height is 36.5" (25-50%).  And his head circumference is 21.5" (>95%).

His communication skills are AMAZING me these days.  I think I've said that before maybe, but they just continue to improve so much all the time now.  He can REALLY convey what he wants to now, more than ever before, that's for sure.

Since while I was pregnant I have dreamed of reading stories to my child.  It's such a happy memory from my own childhood & I do believe it inspires a child to love reading, which is crucial (& seriously lacking in this day & age) as a Christian.  When Lil J was very little I would read to him often, both in English & in Spanish. But once he was old enough to cry & scream & object that's exactly what he did.  And so I had given up.  Occasionally I try to read him a bedtime story.  Sometimes it works & sometimes it doesn't.  I take what I can get at this point.  But as of the just the last couple of days he is loving me reading to him & he actually will bring me a book & ask me to read it to him!!  Needless to say this really makes me happy & touches my heart.

He is definitely able to read a few words, although I am not going to start any formal reading lessons until he turns 3.  And even then I'll start & see how he does & go from there.  If it's not working out then I'll just put it on hold for a while & try again at a later time.

He has an amazing memory.  He loves any type of vehicles-cars, buses, boats, trains, planes, trucks, etc.  Quite some time ago hubby had given him a little die cast tow truck.  Little did we notice that it was from the Disney movie Cars.  Not that that's such a bad thing, BUT it sure does mean that it's gonna be everywhere.  And it certainly is.  He totally fell in love with the tow truck.  I'd be in a store (even grocery stores!) & he'd be exclaiming "tow truck!!" & I'd look around & find some sort of advertising related to the Disney movie.  Later on I got him some books & other things with those Disney Cars in them.  He really liked them.  Me & hubby kept saying that we really needed to get him the movie.  I had looked at it but it was $20!!  A little more than I'm willing to spend on ANY movie.  Shortly thereafter the 2nd Cars movie was released to DVD.  I was expecting the price of the first one to drop at that time, but no.  Disney has too much pull I guess.  No such luck.  One day when we were Christmas shopping hubby grabbed the 2nd one while we were at Costco.  It was funny because the first couple of times we put it on Lil J wasn't interested in it at all.  As I started narrating what was going on & making it more interesting for him he finally got sucked in & shortly thereafter was in love with it.  About a month ago I finally got the first one on Amazon for about $5.  When I first watched it, while I liked it, I couldn't help but notice it was different from the 2nd one.  The 2nd one is very action packed, so it's easy to hold Lil J's attention.  The first one has more story to it, though it is a good story.  I wasn't really sold on the first one though, until I watched the part of the DVD that showed the making of the movie.  The story they shared & the fact that the movie was based on a real life situation & that it emphasized old time values really appealed to me.  And I can now say that I truly love the first one.  Lil J is enjoying it more now also.  It's just hard to narrow down which one he wants to watch when he asks to watch Cars.  I usually show him the covers of the DVDs & ask him which one he wants to watch.  Whichever one he finally points to is it.  And so far he hasn't been unhappy with the one that I put on, but I think he just likes both of them.

We are still doing well with the Candida cleanse.  His tongue is looking normal, his breath is normal.  His toes are much improved, although not 100% back to normal just yet.  I did get the ThreeLac probiotic & both me & Lil J are taking it daily.  The pack will last us a month.  After that I want to start their other product called FiveLac (has 2 more strains of beneficial bacteria in it than ThreeLac).  When I did  my own candida cleanse I did it for 2 months, so that's sort of what I'm planning for Lil J.  But of course I have to evaluate where he's at when we get to that point.

I am beyond thrilled that my homemade almond yogurt is soooo good & that Lil J loves it just as much as I do, maybe more.  And I know that it has truly live active cultures, which there truly is no guarantee of this in store bought yogurts, even though they state it on the package.  And it's non-dairy & super fresh.  I am truly shocked that there is no almond yogurt option available in health food stores, alongside the soy & rice yogurts.  I am wondering how I might be able to get that option available.......although I don't know if I could keep up with the demand.  I don't know how healthy companies get started, guess I should look into that more.

I've been buying his new short sleeved spring/summer shirts gradually & am now finished.  Yesterday I got him  a jacket the next size up before jackets are completely gone from the stores, just in case he outgrows the current ones before jackets are back in the stores (that happened to us once before--even in the summer months it can get windy & chilly where I live, especially in the evening, so I like to always have a jacket with a hood available for him).  And once the hot weather is here I need to see which shorts fit & which don't & see if I need any new ones.  But spring/summer clothes are always much cheaper than fall/winter clothes.  In the fall/winter I have to get pants, jackets, & shirts.  In the spring/summer a lot of times I only need shirts, a lot of the times his shorts still fit even though they are very small sizes.  I am really excited because I found a shirt with Lightning McQueen & a shirt with Tow Mater (the two main characters from the Disney Cars movie that I mentioned).  I know when he sees him he's gonna be sooo excited!  They also had sweatshirts with the Cars on them, but his size was all sold out sadly.  He currently has 2 long sleeved shirts with the Cars on them & he really loves them.  And his undies are Cars & Thomas the Train themed & he really loves those as well.

He loves his toy vehicles, his books, his stuffed animals, his little plastic (rubber?) animals, his choo choo, his spring horse, balls, swinging.  I'm sure there's other stuff, but that seems to be his faves that he does most of the time.

I think that's all the updates I have for now............