Reshen's 2nd Year Slide Show

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Happy Birthday, Reeshy-Roo!

Happy 2nd Birthday my Reeshy-Roo!!

Your birthday was on Monday (the 19th), but I feel like we've been celebrating it all week. On Friday we all stayed home together (because you had a bad cold and we felt like you should stay home) and we gave you your birthday present from mommy and daddy (a geo-trax train set). You love it an played with it all day long. You call them your "new choo-choos" and love to control the train with the remote, or "hammer" as you call it, because it resembles a hammer, I guess.


On Saturday, you got a present from your great-aunt-Nancy- a fun magnetic farm book, which you played with enthusiastically.

On Sunday we made you a birthday cake, which you helped mommy decorate with sprinkles of your choice. You delighted in us singing you Happy Birthday and even tried to blow out the candles all by yourself. You thought your yellow cake with chocolate frosting was very yummy and asked for more after you devoured your first piece. That was not a shock to us.



Monday was your actual birthday, and although mommy hated taking you to daycare, I knew you would have fun celebrating it there with your friends. Before we left, you got to open a present from Grandma- some books. I sent cookies with you to share with all your buddies, and I knew Pam would make it a special day for you. I sang Happy Birthday to you again and gave you extra hugs and kisses before dropping you off. You came home that day with a Diego safari set and cookies on your face, so I know you had fun.

Birthday cards and well wishes have been arriving all week. When asked how old you are now, you say "Be Two!" and try to hold two fingers up (you can get one, but can't quite control the others- it seems to be either all or nothing for the rest of them). You love the Happy Birthday song and like to sing it now to other people and toys. You even sang it to mommy :-)

Little man, how can you be two years old already? You are officially not a baby anymore... it just doesn't seem possible. It's really hit me this week, how much you are maturing recently. You want to do almost everything yourself...the other day you were listening to music on the computer and I was hovering above you. "Mommy go over there," you said and pointed across the room. My bubby boo wanted to be left alone! Talk about bruising my mommy ego!

You want to help do everything. You like to read by yourself. You have very definite preferences for food, tv shows and music. You seem to have a greater understanding of the world every day and always amaze me with what you pick up from casual conversation and observation. You're also becoming increasingly stubborn and are testing your limits with mommy and daddy. I still think you are basically compliant and easy-going for your age, but you do have your moments- we've had our share of public embarrassments the past few months. Most of your "misbehaving" have been related to running away from us. You have such a mind of your own- you want to go where you want to go and when you want to go there- no matter if it's at home and you want to go upstairs or downstairs of if it's at the store and you want to go down a different aisle. You don't listen to mommy when she tells you to stop or wait- you just go faster! *sigh*

You seem to have a better understanding of time now. You use the word "after" often in relation to when you can do something. Such as "watch show after daddy game." Meaning you can watch your show after daddy watches his game. If I say you can't do something, you immediately say "after..." and then whatever is going on, such as "after nap" or "after eat". You always have hope, don't you? :-) You also are using the word "remember" and telling me you remember things that have happened in the past. Today you pointed at the decorating sprinkles and said "member (remember) making cakes?" I love that you are making memories now that might last a long time- into adulthood even. The more you verbalize your memories, the greater the chance they will survive in that intricate mind of yours... so I encourage your reminiscing.

You're finally starting to correctly identify colors. You can usually point out blue, green, yellow and black. You can also identify some shapes- circles, triangles, squares, stars and hearts, and often tells me that is what you're drawing (although all your drawings are actually large, loose circles).

The Typical 2-Year Old, you have many favorites, so I'll take the time now to share of them:

TV:
- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
- Jo-Jo's Circus
- The Wiggles
- Thomas the Tank Engine
- Jungle Book Movie
- Care Bears Movie
- Little People
- Finding Nemo
- Happy Feet

Toys:

-Trains
-Cars and Trucks
- Books
- Paints
- Ride-On Toys
- Anything that has buttons to push and parts to manipulate
- "pretend" toys such as his microwave and play food, phones, and keys- you like those that look and feel real

Food:
- Crackers, cereal and carby things
- Mac and Cheese
- Noodles
- Baby Corn
- Carrots with ranch dip
- Sweets of any kind (cake, ice cream, candy, etc.)
- Pickles
- Yogurt
- Meatballs
-Potstickers
Strange mixture of food, isn't it? Of course, just because these are your favorites, doesn't mean you get them often. We do the sweets and pickles sparingly. Luckily you will also eat other food- these are just the ones you especially love and are sure to gobble up.

Songs:
-Wheels on the Bus
-Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
-Itsy Bitsy Spider
- Teapot
- Octopus' Garden
- Down on Grandpa's Farm

Animals:

-Lion
-Monkey
-Penguin
-Elephant
-Giraffe

Games You Play:

-Pretending to drive vehicles, such as trains, buses and trucks. You sit and steer pretend steering wheels and "buckle" your seat belt. You also always have a destination in mind (library, store, restaurant, or home).
- Cooking food in your microwave for mommy, daddy or your stuffed animals
- Pretending to be a lion- roaring and all
- Pushing around your school bus with "guys" in it
- Dancing in crazy circles to music
- "I'm gonna get you"- basically me chasing you and you running away laughing hysterically
- Making your stuffed animals drive your big car
- Reading books in your tunnel tent
- Pretending to go to the library and brining me back pretend books to read, each on a different subject that you make up (cows, buses, monkeys, etc.) I then have to make up a story about the subject.



Reshen, you are such an delight. I couldn't have asked for a sweeter, more snuggly little guy. I love that you still want me to hold you before bed. I love that you still like to snuggle in the morning. Your hugs and kisses are the highlight of my day. You are such an amazing little person. I celebrate your achievements, marvel at your sharp mind and applaud your independence... but there is always a small speck of wistfulness for the baby you are leaving behind. But even though you are growing up, you will always be my baby boy. Always.

Love You To The Moon and Back,

Mommy

Imagination

One of my favorite recent developments about our boy is his budding imagination. Lately some of his favorite games are pretend-based. He pushes cars around the room and pretends they are going to the beach, library, store or park. When they arrive at their destination he acts out what they are doing (throwing rocks in the water, eating food, or reading books). He'll even point into the distance and announce that he's watching birds or looking for whales. He loves to look at books and pretends that he's picking up whatever is in the picture and uses it (like he'll "pick" up a ball and then "throw" it, or "pick" up food and "eat" it). When he's done he'll pretend to put it back in the picture :-) I love watching his imagination flourish and hope that he never looses this gift. Although I'm really enjoying this age, I also look forward to when he is a bit older and can play with more advanced playsets, like Playmobil and Legos. How fun that will be :-)

Speaking of playing and toys, we bought Reshen's birthday present this weekend. Something I've had my eyes on was being sold at Costco for a reasonable price so we snatched it up. It's a Geo Trax electric train set. It's *so* cool! Here's a link to it: http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=geotrax
You can control the trains by a lever and it has "guys" that you can take in and out of the train and move around the train station and other features to manipulate. It's an interactive and imaginative toy that hopefully will grow with him (there are additional sets you can buy to add on to it). Anyways, I'm very excited to give it to him, but have to hold off for a couple more weeks.

Catching Up

As you may have noticed I have fallen *very* behind in this blog! Life has been full and I've been so tired in the evenings it's been difficult to take the time to write down all that the little man has been up to. But no more excuses- today I will try to catch up. Mind you, because I'm trying to capture a month's worth of Reshen antidotes, it may be jumbled and not very poetic ;-)

Most recently (and note-worthy) was Halloween. Reshen still didn't totally "get" it this year, but at least he was a little more aware than last year. To kick off the festivities, we went to a pumpkin patch at Craven Farms in Snohomish (out in the country) on the weekend before Halloween. I dressed him in a clown costume that my great-grandmother Crowe made for my mom. Three generations (including my sister and I) have now worn it :-) Reshen was actually almost too big for it, but I managed to stuff him in it long enough for him to walk around the pumpkin patch and attract a lot of attention :-) He had a great time playing on a tractor, and "pushing" a huge wheelbarrow. Most of the pumpkins out in the field were already rotten (we have had a lot of rain and cold temperatures), so he began saying "yucky pumpkins!" We picked out a nice healthy one up at the front and Reshen decided he wanted his own tiny pumpkin too. Later that day I let him paint it at home (he chose to paint it mostly black for some reason). He also decided to paint his cheeks and nose telling me "clown on face." He was re-creating his clown costume.

That Sunday I wanted to carve the pumpkin we picked and thought he might like to help me take the "guts" out. He watched with interest as I pulled out the first handful and then wrinkled his nose. I asked if he wanted to try and he shook his head and declared "No Reshen put hands in there. Yucky pumpkin!" He's been particular about his hands lately and so I didn't push it. He just sat and watched me for awhile, supervising and telling me to throw the pumpkin guts in the trash. I thought having kids meant I got to delegate these tasks, but I think Reshen enjoys pumpkin carving as much as Alan (which means not at all). Maybe next year...



On Halloween Reshen had a party at his day care. Of course I wasn't there, but it looks like they had fun as he came home with a pumpkin painted on his face, a bag full of goodies and real pumpkin. I picked him up early that day and took him to Bothell Country Village for their early trick-or-treating. It was perfect. It's a quaint, village-like setting of local shops. There are chickens, ducks, a pond and streams and fountains, and cobblestone streets- a great place for kids. At first Reshen didn't want to put on his lion outfit, but I told him he had to wear it if he wanted to get candy. He finally agreed and actually kept it on (including the hood) the whole time. He was a little overwhelmed and unsure at first- I suppose it was a combination of all the people and all the costumes. He didn't want to go up to the doors to get the candy and would plant his heels and say "no." After I gave him a piece of candy, though, he decided it was OK to go get some more :-) He took everything in with those wide, dark eyes. I asked him a few times if he wanted to go home, but he quickly told me "No. Reshen go trick treat." So we stayed awhile longer. I let him have a few pieces of candy, but we didn't go overboard. He has enough trouble sleeping as it is and I wasn't about to get him on a sugar high before bedtime! All in all it was a fun Halloween. It's so nice to have a kid of my own to share it with now :-)



Our little man is quite a voracious book reader lately. Yesterday evening he pulled out every single book he has in our living room one-by-one. He would take one out, flip through it quietly, and when he was done, he would put it down and grab another one. He was so serious and focused. He read books like that for a good 30 minutes without a peep, except for the occasional comment about what he was reading. We've also started reading a book before bedtime (The Going to Bed Book, by Sandra Bonton) and he's formed an attachment to it- taking it to bed and even brining it downstairs in the morning. The past few nights I've put him to bed with two books and his star light on so he can see and he reads until he falls asleep without any complaining. How wonderful is that? :-)

I scored Reshen a wooden train and track set from Freecycle. I was going to save it for his birthday and add a bunch of accessories to it, but couldn't wait that long and gave it to him last week. He played with it every chance he got for a few days, but now he's more interested in the one battery-powered engine that it came it. He's so much like his daddy sometimes- all about the electronics. I had these visions of him making long trains with the many pieces it came with and pushing them around the track and over the bridge... but he just likes to turn on that one engine and watch it drive. He does like the set, though, and it was free so it's not like I wasted any money. Also, I think this is a toy he can grow into and we can add new pieces to it as he gets older.

Reshen's "Gamma" and "Gampa" (my parents) visited in early October and had so much fun with him. He totally ate up all the attention and really enjoyed spending his days with them. He still talks about them and says goodnight to their photo now. It's really sweet and I'm glad he's at an age where he'll remember his relatives even though they all live out of state.

Reshen went pee in his potty for the 2nd time at the beginning of October. Like the first time, I think we were just lucky, as he hasn't done it again since. We're not pushing it yet, though. If he wants to sit on it, that's great, but if not, that's OK too. He really has shown no sign that he can really control it yet and is only mildly interested in the whole process, so we're not too worried at this point.

He's such a talker and has taken to saying "mommy" after almost every sentence that he says to me. Example: "Mommy sit by you read book Mommy." "Chancey eat food Mommy." "I want Mommy hold you Mommy." It's like he has to confirm that he's talking to me and that I'm listening. It's really cute :-) He also says "please" a lot. One morning I came into his room to get him out and he greeted me with "I want mommy change biper (diaper) please mommy." :-)

As usual, he is really into music and singing. He sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" so well- he even has the melody and cadence down. He still really likes "wheels on the bus," and also likes "baa baa black sheep" and "Bingo." I check out music tapes for him every couple of weeks from the library and we listen to them on our commutes to and from daycare. His favorite tape so far has been Raffi.

He has discovered his belly button. He noticed it before bath the other nigh and asked Alan "What's that?" Alan told him it was his belly button. The rest of the night he would look down and say "Where button go?" Funny kid, though, he won't touch it. I told him to show me where it was and he looked confused so then I told him to pat it and show mommy where it was and he said, "No Reshen touch button." I have no idea why he won't touch his belly button- just one of his little quirks I guess.



Reshen and Chancey (our cat) are becoming better friends these days. Chancey hangs around him more and even rubs against him. Reshen is softer with him and pets and hugs him. For the most part they get along well, although we still have to make sure he doesn't run his cars and trucks into the cat and sometimes we have to tell him that Chancey is not a pillow. He thinks the cat is hilarious and it's so funny to watch Reshen get a laugh out of him. Chancey often hangs out around his toys and Reshen will crack up and say "Chancey playing with trains!" or "Chancey read book!"

Well, it's getting late here and we never know how early our little man will wake so I'll end this here for now. More later (and hopefully sooner rather than later) :-)