2.5!

Wow.  Frankie is 2 1/2.  Wow.  Sometimes when I stop and look at him - like really, really look - I find myself in disbelief that we created something so amazing.  Nothing has made me more proud.  Here's a quick run-down on FTD at 2.5:

• He is nowhere close to being ready for potty training.  He fooled us months ago.  No desire to even sit on the potty now.  The other night in the bathtub, we had our first 'Caddy Shack' incident and he got so scared/grossed out that he jumped right out of the tub.  I thought that would have done it.  But, nope.  Instead it scared him of baths.  So for about a week we had a really stinky little boy.  Until Uncle Jon came to the rescue and joined Frankie in the tub!  (Uncle Jon had his clothes on!)  And Frankie was sporting his swim diaper - which he's continued to wear for almost two weeks.  I need to figure out a clever way to get rid of the swim diaper now...and wait patiently for Frankie to warm up to the potty again.  For now, I'm grateful he's bathing again.  
• He LOVES trucks and cars - his Matchbox cars go in the bath with him and even sleep with him. He's also a big fan of 'driving' Mommy & Daddy's cars.
• He is a parrot - in both words and actions.  Sometimes I will 'talk' for Julia.  For example, she will sneeze and toot at the same time and I'll have her say, "Oh, I'm so embarrassed..."  So, the other night in the bathtub, Frankie tooted and said "I'm so embarrassed."  And we've recently switched him to fluoride toothpaste which requires him to spit it out.  So, he will hold his hair back while he spits...just like I do.  Love it!
• He's really got a pretty great vocabulary and sometimes his words and phrases just make me smile.  Here are some of my favs:
• gra-noga (granola)
• har-vives (olives)
• big-loo (igloo) 
• I cannot believe that
• Thatman (Batman)
• His imagination is starting to kick in and I love peaking in on him playing with his cars and trucks to listen.  He has the cutest "voices" - for his trucks, stuffed animals, Cosmo, Julia.
• He tells the best jokes - "Knock, knock"  "Who's there, Frankie?"  "Car" or "Milk" - but the BEST are when he just rambles on waving his hand and then cracks himself up.  I'm not quite sure where he picked that up from - but it's classic.
• He's getting rather opinionated about his clothing and will insist on wearing certain shirts, "comfy" pants or particular socks. 
• He's obsessed with taking every one of his books off the shelf and piling them onto the floor - every.last.one.  Then he climbs on the "mountain".  
• He is very particular.  VERY.  Things have to be in their place.  Shoes have to come off when you're inside.  One night at bedtime, I heard him crying and went in..."Please close my hamper."  Ugh.  Once the hamper was closed, all was right in the world and he slipped into dream land.

Frankie is growing up and turning too quickly into a little boy - but he is still full of such pure innocence.  I love his hugs and kisses and hope he never tires - or becomes too embarrassed - to give them to me!