2 Years-Old

Age: 2 years-old

It's hard to believe that two years ago today, my life would change forever and I am now the mama of an athletic, clever, tender-hearted, spirited, strong-willed, adventurous, and inquisitive little boy. It's so much fun to watch him discover the world and building his skills and knowledge-base. He's definitely got my silliness, compassion, and creativity and Leif''s ever-changing interests, love of play, and affection. He's definitely got a lot of his own personality traits and marches to the beat of his own drum, but is beginning to learn some manners and can be reasoned with to an extent. Life is much easier now that we can easily communicate for the most part. Of course, there are plenty of terrible two tantrums but I try to give BB choices as often as I can and make sure he understands why something is wrong rather that simply telling him no. It's been a wild ride these last two years, but I wouldn't trade it for anything and even though I know each age has its challenges, I am doing my best to cherish these early days since I know these are the times I'm going to miss most someday (I'm getting a little teary just thinking about it!).

Milestones: 

• BB had his 2 year appointment last Monday and he is in the 20th percentile for both weight and height. He is still following his growth curve and is what the doctor calls "well-proportioned." I had to fill out a screening form for developmental delays and he is meeting all of his milestones physically, mentally, and socially - many of them well ahead of time. BB is still scared to death of the doctor, despite our best attempts to explain that it's to keep him healthy and safe. We even watched "Elmo Visits the Doctor" the night before and BB seemed comfortable with the idea at the time, but as soon as he realized he was at the doctor's office the next day, he was inconsolable. He kept yelling "Help me!" and "Go! Go!" while pointing at the door. There was a comical moment when he was heading toward the door and appeared to be pretending to limp... the doctor asked what was wrong with his leg and I had to tell her I had no idea why he was dragging his leg like that. 
• In the last couple months, BB has started using 2-3 word sentences and has gone as far as repeating lyrics for "No More Moneys Jumping on the Bed." A lot of the phrases he says have to do with wresting moves and playing with action figures like "Boston crab" (a wrestling move Leif taught him that he says while performing said move), "trapped in Spiderman's web," "super kick," and popular this week, "happy birthday."
• Now that the playgrounds have opened up, it's fun seeing how much more of the equipment BB can use. He's very fond of any sort of rock climbing wall, dome-shaped climbers that he likes to go under and yell "I'm trapped!", and tube slides. He also really likes the sand box, especially burying things, scooping sand into buckets, and tossing the sand around. Once we get his water table going, I'm guessing he will do similar things with it!
• BB loves chocolate and I pretty much have to hide eating it or risk him taking all of mine! He also still likes most fruit, green beans, broccoli, carrots, fresh sweet corn, corn puffs, sesame chicken, juice, chocolate milk, bread and hummus, ranch dressing, and most Italian foods like spaghetti, pizza, etc. I don't know when he'll ever stop being such a finicky eater but it's getting a little better every month.
• Potty training... is a journey. We've attempted starting the process a couple times without any success so far. He is happy to wear underwear and will sit on the potty every 15-20 minutes but he hasn't made it when he has to go on time. I know he's still pretty young, so we'll just keep trying and when's he'll be ready when he's ready.
• His favorite activities right now include play wrestling, sidewalk chalk, pretending to practice martial arts, playing in the rocks and sand, action figures, learning about trucks and animals, and helping me with household tasks like unloading the dishwasher. He enjoys watching PJ Masks, Virtua Fighter, and Kong: King of the Apes and like Scooby-Doo books, farm animal books, truck books, and his Highlights toddler magazines. He really loves this Japanese wrestling character call Tiger Mask too.