Noah 2.5 years

During the first year of life I usually do a monthly update, since I take monthly photos. I think after that I'm going to start doing updates on the kiddos every 6 months. It will allow me to remember that time and I think it can also help others. As a mom I find myself asking other moms, "did your kid do _______ at this age?" I also find that when moms ask me that question I don't always remember! So I'm going to follow the format scripture lays out for how Jesus grew:
Luke 2:52 (NIV) And Jesus grew in wisdom (education) and stature (physical growth), and in favor with God (spiritual growth) and men (social development).

Let's see how long this lasts! This may be the only post that follows this structure but we'll see. I think I will like having sections because it will remind me of things I want to remember...

Anyway, Noah is 2.5! Here is more about his growth:

Education
I am going to start setting some weekly goals for him. Before this point I haven't done anything strategic with him, just the casual learning as we go. I mostly want to do this so I can figure out what he knows. I will occasionally point to a letter and ask him what it is and sometimes he knows, sometimes not. So this week we are starting with A, 1, and learning to talk on the phone. We also have a cup activity from Slow and Steady that we are doing to teach up and down. He is a smart little cookie and it is fun to work with him because he is so verbal for his age. He will also now sit for a story that has 2-3 sentences on a page! That is some progress for him!

Physical growth
He is starting to lose his toddle. That is so sad to me! I love when they run and toddle along. But I guess he is approaching the age where he won't be considered a toddler anymore too. Sad! He can hold a writing utensil the right way. Hmmm what else... Potty training! This boy is potty trained. Even at night. He just got it so fast. It's crazy, I was expecting it to take so much longer and be so much more stressful. It's amazing what a kid will do for an m&m.

Spiritual growth
Noah will repeat prayers after us...when we tell him to. He loves when we sing him hymns and he can answer the first question from the catechism we got, which is "who made you?" We try to do family devotions once a day, which at this point consists of reading a little book that we think is focused on Jesus. Some days we will sing too and pray. We have been keeping a little basket on the dinner table with all the Christmas cards we got in it and pulling one out each day to pray for them. I also plan to start having a memory verse each week that we learn together. We will probably start with the Seeds Family Worship verses since that will be easy on everyone!

Social development
Noah is quite the charmer and generally does not know a stranger. Sometimes he can put his mean face on and refuse to say hi to someone...which is not ok for us. So we're working on that! But overall he is super friendly and likes to chat people up! He plays very well with his siblings. One thing he is really good at is giving people turns. He struggles with Mary in that they will both want to be first at things or want to do better than the other. My constant refrain is that God only gives you one family and we need to work as a team and stick together! Also mark 9:35, "Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else." They will get it someday.