{photo by Meg Newton Photography}
{two and a quarter years} It seems like so much longer ago than three months that Fitz turned 2, but here we are!
Rewinding a bit back to fall, Fitz dressed up like a Minion for Halloween. It was the first time dressing up + going out trick-or-treating beyond about 2 houses. We went down to the neighborhood parade and he seemed to enjoy the drum line for the marching band, from afar, but was nervous in the crowds of people. It was probably the most people he had ever seen in one place at one time. He was pretty excited about the actual trick-or-treating though. He had a little bucket and just followed the girls up to people’s doors. His little “trick-or-treat!” and “thank you!” was so sweet to all the neighbors. It took him a while but he finally figured out that the neighbors were giving him small pieces of candy. That was such a game changer and he just wanted to eat all the candy…
In his last update, Fitz was on a bit of a nap strike, specifically for naps that were on school days. Because of his pick-up time at preschool, those naps are slightly later than usual. And he’s often wound-up still from being at school. BUT he’s doing so much better with naps those days, and napping in general. There was a time in the fall where he wouldn’t nap on his own very well (after he was sick once and we sort of had to re-sleep train) but once we figured out he would do well with his bedroom door open (until he’s asleep) it’s worked out well for both nap time and bedtime.
And as another major change, Fitz now doesn’t hate school! Yay! There is quite a bit of time between the girls leaving for the bus in the morning and Fitz starting school, so we still get to have slow mornings with first and second breakfast, and some quiet play time and reading. He hangs out with Aaron for a bit in the morning on his school days while I get ready for the day; sometimes they FaceTime with family or take a walk. Sometimes Fitz is a bit reluctant for me to actually leave him at school and gets a bit clingy, but he doesn’t cry or say “no school!” anymore, which is great.
The biggest thing about the last quarter for Fitz has been ear infections. It feels like it’s been constant since the fall. Even with a simple cold, he develops an ear infection. He’s had one every month since his birthday…oof. Luckily, we’ve been able to be in contact with the nurse’s line at his doctor’s office and in to see his doctor or another in the same practice. His biggest symptom is a high fever, sometimes it will come down with fever reducing meds, but it comes in waves throughout the day; mostly it is when he’s waking up from his nap or right before bedtime that he has the highest fever.
Once he starts a course of antibiotics, we are able to wean him off of fever reducing meds within a day or two, which is great. He doesn’t mind the liquid amoxicillin, but we have had trouble getting it due to an antibiotic shortage. So last month, we got amoxicillin tablets that we had to grind up and make into a slurry with apple juice. Honestly, that wasn’t the best. It was awful for the first 5 days or so. Fitz did NOT want to take the meds and would throw them up half the time. Yeah, cool. But then, for some reason, like on day 6, I pretended to give his stuffie the meds first and then I pretended to take them, and guess who started taking them? It was like magic.
This last ear infection that he had the week before Christmas was actually from a flu infection (that he brought home from the midwest). He had a cough and a runny nose, but honestly, it seemed like just a cold. But then he started fevering. I figured I should look for a doctor’s appointment just in case because we were heading into the holiday the next weekend and I was able to get him an appointment. He was diagnosed with a double ear infection and was swabbed for COVID/flu/RSV based on his symptoms. And his swab for Influenza A and we were really shocked. With the exception of his ear infections, his other symptoms were SO mild (luckily). I didn’t fare as well and ended up also getting the flu and being down for 3 days, but that’s another story. And this last infection made him eligible for ear tubes, so we are waiting for the referral to the ENT and then will likely have those put in sometime in 2023 (hopefully towards the beginning of the year so we don’t have to worry about more ear infections in the meantime)!
As I mentioned, Fitz picked up the flu from the midwest because he and Aaron took a trip to Indiana the second week of December. Fitz hadn’t met anyone, except Papaw Sam, on Aaron’s side of the family, so a boys’ trip got planned. It was great to have Fitz meet everyone and for Aaron to be able to hang out with his family. Fitz also got to ride in an airplane for the first time and did great! We were worried he might get motion sick on the plane (since he does in the car still) but he was okay. Thankfully.
The other HUGE thing about this update is that Fitz learned to use the potty! It was an ambitious undertaking, but we started “training” the first day of Winter Break; this is the longest break we have until summer so I thought it was worth a try. We used the “Oh Crap!” book (like we did with the girls) and honestly, it was a bit easier than I remember. Maybe it’s just him being the third kid and not having so much mystery about the entire process. Or maybe it was because I came down hard with the flu on Day 2 of training. I guess we’ll never know! I don’t mean to say that it was perfect and there was definitely a learning curve for everyone. And lots of waiting, cleaning up the floor, and extra laundry, but just over a week into the process, he’s doing SO well. We still have him in diapers at nap time and overnight (which he hates putting on but also hates having taken off) but in underpants for the rest of the day!
Also, Fitz is so, so chatty. And he’s basically speaking in full sentences now. All of the sudden. I mean, he still sounds like he’s speaking gibberish sometimes, but often it’s amazing how well he speaks!
Things Fitz says:
Takes his water bottle off the kitchen counter and says “Here you go, Fitz!”
I called the girls to the table for dinner and Fitz was already at the table. He yells “Dinner Eloise! Dinner Daphne! Dinner Fitz!”
He says “oopsy daisies!” when he drops something.
Fitz always asks for help when he needs it: “Me no can. Mama help.”
“No. Different else.” (if he wants something different that what he has.)
I had a salad on my plate at dinner and he point at it and says “leaf pile.”
Fitz was in the bath and trying to pick up a bubble: “Hey, little buddy!”
Fitz brought me a book to read and Aaron was on the phone in the same room and it was noisy. So I just set the book down on the floor and turned the page (without reading anything). And Fitz looks at me and says “Mama, sound on!”
{weight} 31 pounds
{hair} brown, but reddish in the light
{teeth} 12 teeth and 8 molars
{eyes} dark grey-green with light brown around his pupils (hazel)
{clothes} 2T, 2-3, even some 3-4
{diapers} underpants + size 6 in Abby & Finn for nighttime
And here are Eloise + Daphne’s updates.
Happy Two and a Quarter, Fitz!
M