ChristinelovesChristine: Ariy Update

Somewhere along the motherhood "lines" regular updates become not so regular. This is my best form of documenting the kiddos lives although I am trying to create some type of baby book for each of them but I wouldn't say it's my gifting.

What to say about Ariy these days???

He turned two on April 20th and has fully embraced the role of toddler. I really love this age. He is soaking in so much, learning on a daily basis, saying new words and sentences constantly and makes us laugh. Things to remember for this age:

"...a little bit." I often say, "let's let it cool down a little bit" in referring to his food. This ending has now become one of his favorite things to say. "Go upstairs a little bit?" "A walk a little bit?" "Nap a little bit." Really anything.
Tools, tools and more tools (and lawnmowers too). He is pretty much obsessed with Rick and especially watching him fix things. Without a doubt, if you were to hang out with Ariy today he would talk about his Daddy fixing something or his daddy mowing the grass. Both are his two favorite things to do along side his Dad.
He is "all boy." I really like to think that all the gender stereotypes are just stereotypes but whether are culture has cemented them into specific "roles" or not, it is pretty obvious that boys and girls are created a bit differently. Most all of Ariy's closest friends are girls his age and I am getting to the point that I feel myself apologizing a lot. He seems to be a bit more destructive kind of like a tornado but I also find his communication and discipline seem to be simpler. I find the girls seem to understand a conversation and how to "talk through things" much earlier. Ariy just does, destructs, creates, fixes and moves. I love it all though.
He is mostly dairy free. He has always struggled with coughs and something called restrictive airway, similar to asthma and uses an inhaler on an as needed basis. Well, after months straight of daily and nightly coughing and two bouts of croup, multiple steroid treatments we found ourselves we no answers. We asked two different doctors if he will ever stop coughing (he was waking up every single night coughing for 3 months straight - no exaggeration) and their answers were not actual answers. One said he will most likely cough for the rest of his life "some people just cough." Really?! The other said all children have a "thing" they struggle with and his is a cough. I started to do my own research on the internet and through some books I trust as well as some friends. I landed on dairy as the most plausible culprit. We tried taking him off an within 2 or 3 weeks the coughing stopped. All in all it has been a very good and healthy decision for him.
Other loves: parks, playing with friends, lawnmowers "cutting the grass", vegan mac and cheese, rubbing "baby sissy's" head, blankets, tools, keys and playing in cars, music, "I will wait" by Mumford and Sons is played at least once a day here, jumping at gymnastics, raisins, all breakfast foods (this morning's bfast consisted of 2 mini egg quiches with vegis and fake cheese (we call them egg muffins and 1 entire bowl of oatmeal), trains; Newberg constantly has trains going through it and we can hear them so some days we try and chase them down to see them. The other day one stopped as it was going through the middle of town and Ariy got to touch it (big moment). He also loves to play his guitar, sing songs and play the drums.