Justice – 2 years 4 months

I suppose it’s time to give an update on Justice, since I don’t think I’ve written much about him since his second birthday!

1.  Big Boy Bed. Shortly after he turned 2, Justice officially transitioned from his crib to his big boy bed!  He loves his sports bedding, jumping on his bed, climbing on his bed, rolling around on his bed, etc.  He also LOVES snuggling and every nap and night he asks, “Snuggle with mommy/daddy?”  It’s very sweet.

2.  Terrible Twos?  He started throwing some pretty epic tantrums, falling to the floor, yelling, crying, etc., but thankfully these did not occur too often in public.  Mostly it was at home, happening in respones to any occassion where he did not get his way.   He also learned the joy of saying, “NO!” repeatedly and began to hit, kick, swat, bite, and headbutt!  While it drove me a little batty for a couple months, with some consistent and firm discipline, along with much prayer and supplication, things have improved dramatically and he is learning to be much more obedient.  I think our biggest struggle at this time is getting him to come to us when we call him – all he ever does is run away from us!

3.  Singing Songs.  Justice has developed a real love for songs and will often request his favorites, one of which is “Happy Birthday”, ever since his birthday party.   He also loves the ”Bob the Builder” song, “Jesus Loves Me”, “Jesus Loves the Little Children”, “Father Abraham”, “Jesus is Alive”, etc.  I love listening to him try to sing songs on his own and how he loves listening to the worship music from the prayer room!  In addition to singing, Justice also loves instruments – whether it’s Daddy’s guitar, Mommy’s piano, or anything that you can hit with a stick and it’ll make a noise.

 
(Video of Justice playing drums)

4.  Dancing!  Justice has developed quite the unique dancing skills!  His signature move is jumping up and down while pointing up to the ceiling with his hands, alternating between the left and right, while throwing in the occassional hip twist motion – it’s quite entertaining and tiring to watch!   He loves to dance whenever he hears music or even just a good beat.  He has endless amounts of energy and has dubbed his signature move the “hotdog dance” after the one he watches on Mickey Mouse Playhouse.

(Video of Justice dancing)

5.  Running!  “RUN!  CHASE!!  GET YOU!!!”  These are the repeated commands we hear shouted with much enthusiasm multiple times every day!  Usually this is followed by the name of whoever he wants to chase him, such as “RUN!!  MOMMY!!  RUN!!  DADDY!!  RUN!!  RAYAH!!”  His favorite is when Rayah “chases” him, as we hold in our arms and run after him.   He could run all day long and nothing makes him happier than to have somebody run after him.  But it’s really only fun if we also catch him.  If he finds he’s been running too long, he’ll stop so we can catch him and inevitably tickle him like crazy!

6.  “TRUCKS!!! MOTORBIKES!!! ECHOVATORS!!!”  Justice has an obsessive passion for pretty much any type of motor vehicle of any kind and loves to yell them out very enthusiastically every time he sees them.  It makes for very interesting drives as he has to point out each one – and he knows them all!    Truck, big rig, echovator (excavator), backhoe loader, tractor, car, motorbike, bike, combine, skidsteer, cement mixer, dump truck, ambulance, fire truck, garbage truck, etc. etc.  He loves it when we go driving by construction sites and also had a great time visiting a local fire station with his Uncle who is a volunteer fireman!  (Click on the photo to see the full-size version & his great expression!)

7.  Escape Artist.  Justice has escaped the house on several occassions – one time we found him on the neighbor’s yard barefoot in his pajamas.  Another time he ran outside naked after his bath!  Another time he was in his pajamas and has the foresight to put on his rubber boots to go out in the rain.   We have had to be much more diligent about locking our main entrance doors and making sure the fence gate is always closed!

8.  Mud & Water.  Justice loves playing with dirt, water, and consquently mud!  He’s eaten his share of mud pies already this spring and will often get completely drenched after playing with his water table.  For his love of water though, he doesn’t seem to enjoy being wet, as he will then come inside and tell me, “Too wet! Very wet! Change?” 

9.  Big Brother.  Justice is learning to be a very good big brother!   He loves it when he can make her smile or laugh and one time, he said to her, “C’mere Rayah!” while stretching out his arms to her.  So I sat him down and put Rayah in his lap so he could hold her, and then he said, “Back and forth, love you forever” from the popular children’s book by Robert Munsch where the mother rocks her baby “back and forth” and sings the song I’ll Love You Forever.  It was so sweet!  He will often bring her toys to play with, which can be very helpful!  Unfortunately, in the pictures below, he also decided to share his muddy shovel with her.

  

10.  Athletic!  Justice not only loves running and dancing, but he loves anything athletic!  He has learned how to do somersaults, likes to buck like a horse, loves to kick and throw any type of ball, can do a one-handed dunk with his little basketball into the hoop, loves to climb anything and everything, and basically keeps us on our toes at all times!

11.  Funny!  With his extensive vocabulary that just keeps growing and growing, he is often saying funny things that make us laugh.  Most of his sayings probably come from books we read him, movies he watches, or things he hears us saying, but they sound so comical coming from him.   Like the time he put the phone to his ear and said, “Very interesting!  Are you kidding?” or the time he randomly said, “Sky falling! Holy smokes! So smart!” or my personal favorite, when he said, “Don’t hit JESUS!” while swatting vigorously at the air!    He often asks, “What happened? What’s the matter?  Why you do dat?  Where’s ____ (Daddy, Rayah, Gramma, Grandpa, etc.)?  Sound like fun?  Go for ride in the van?  Try some?  Pwwwwweeeeese?”  Some of his other favorite sayings are, “Sure!  Oh my goodness!  Yes I can!  Apologize!  Oh jeepers!  I think so!  Woohoo!”  And lastly, since we are often having to tell him to stop hitting, or stop whining, or stop kicking or whatever, he has taken to telling others what he wants them to stop doing, like to Rayah, “Stop crying!” or to the birds, “Stop chirping!  Stop flying!” – hahaha!

12.  Potty Training!  We have been in the throes of potty training for the past two weeks, and while there have been times of utter frustration, we seem to be making great progress and I am very proud of him!  I will probably write an entire post about our potty training adventures, but so far I think it’s going really good and we’ve had several accident-free days!

What else can I say other than “I love this kid!”