We are entering a new development stage and I think it is correlated to Cooper turning 3 soon. We call him the dragon and my friend uses the word "beasty" which I also really like. He's started biting (again). It used to be that he would bite me when he was 18 months or so. Now, he is biting his friends as a way to control the situation. We checked out the book, "Teeth are Not for Biting" and it helps to read that to him. He also reads the book aloud to me and says "no biting, teeth are for chewing." This week he has only bit one child and I am taking that as progress.
In play with kids he is getting more physical and vocalizing what he does or doesn't want to do. He likes to be in charge of objects, like the stairs to a slide or the end of a slide and that kind of thing. He lays his body across the slide or refuses to get off the slide or let another child get past him. When he does this I ask him "Who are you in charge of?" and he usually stops doing it, otherwise I have to physically remove him. Some more dragon type behavior, telling his aunties "no", throwing toys when asked to pick them up or put them away. His behavior is definetely linked to not getting enough sleep or not getting a nap for the day.
The cool thing with Cooper right now is how much he is talking and how much we understand him. Our friends and other kids can understand what he is saying 90% of the time and it is great! He gets really frustrated when I don't know the word he is using but he also keeps saying it so that we can figure it out together. He says some pretty funny things and he has a great sense of humor.
One of my favorite things he still says is, "The freeway makes Cooper crazy." He said it again today and I wondered how much longer he will say that. I often find alternative ways to get home if I am not pressed for time and he appreciates it. He also requests that we go over or find railroad tracks. Today was the first time he said railroad tracks, it used to be choo choo train tracks. He knows where they all are in the city and near his friends' houses. He also knows and labels all the fire truck stations in the area. There is my (Cooper's) fire truck station, Holly's fire truck station, Teo's fire truck station, and Grandma Lindsay's fire truck station.
I am challenged with this new dragon behavior he is having but I know we will get it figured out soon. These milestones come up every few months and it's always a reminder to Sharon and I to alter what we are doing in discipline and find new strategies to keep us all sane.
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