Austin 2.5

Either today or tomorrow, depending on how you look at it, is Austin's half birthday.  Today is the same number as his birthday, but there is an odd number of days in a year, so to get to half it calculates out to be tomorrow.  I kind of like recognizing it on July 23rd because that is my Dad's birthday, and he would have turned 74 tomorrow.  At any rate I am here and have time for a blog, so I wanted to share what Austin 2.5 is up to these days.

• He loves to play ball, and the kid has an arm.  I am about ready to ban all balls from inside the house as he definitely throws them hard enough to cause damage.  Doesn't really matter what kind of ball, he has them all, and he calls all of them "b-ball".  We will correct him and tell him whatever kind of ball it really is, and he will repeat it, but then goes back to calling it "b-ball".  Any time we drive by a basketball court he yells out "b-ball" too. 
• His language development is really coming along.  He says about any word now and speaks in short sentences.  Mostly he is too busy to stop and chat, but is able to effectively communicate whatever he is thinking.  Sometimes when he doesn't know a real word for something he will spout of some made-up word, and it cracks me up.
• Potty training is in the finishing stage...I think...I hope!  I will probably do a stand alone post about our potty training adventure, but briefly I would say we are about 90% there.
• His eating is all or nothing, which drives me a little crazy.  I know they say you should not make your kid eat, but it just seems wrong to me on the nights where he does not eat a single bite.  Then there are nights he will eat more than Dustin and I combined. 
• He still loves to be outdoors and I think would prefer to be outside than in.  If there is a lake or pond his job is to throw rocks in it.  He was driving my sister crazy last weekend when we were fishing and he was trying to fill in the pond.
• He is really into books at the moment.  He loves to look at books and be read to.  
• He loves to color and brings stacks of artwork home from The Learning Center.
• He loves to play with playdough.  I got him a set of little cutters and presses and he takes and fills the cutters in like a mold.  
• The kid is a fish in the pool.  He has no fear of the water at all and loves to go down water slides.  At our local pool they have a play feature for younger kids and he runs up and down that thing the whole time we are at the pool and does the slides by himself.  We took him to a pool with a big slide while in Colorado and we were taking him on our laps, but by the end of the time we were there he got grumpy and wanted to go down by himself.  I told him it's not the slide that's the issue, it's the 4' deep pool at the end that he can't swim in yet.  Of course a two and a half year old is invincible.
• In clothes he is in a 3T top and 2T-3T bottom.  Size 7.5 shoes.  We have a doctor's checkup on Monday and will get his official height and weight there. 

Everyday is so fun to watch him learn and develop. He is such a blessing and we love him very much!