Haircuts and Hot Chocolate

Our little man is looking like a big boy now with a new haircut. It's his second haircut (his first was in August), and we actually sprung for a professional job this time. We took him to Supercuts and were pleased with the results. The stylist was great with him and he sat so still and quiet. He did look just a little worried, but was brave and enjoyed a complimentary sucker afterwards (his first, by the way). I'm always a little sad to see the long hair go, but it was in his eyes and also people were beginning to call him a girl again, so we said "bye-bye" to the long locks...although, I did have her keep the sides and the back a little longer than is traditional... he has kind of a 60s or 70s shaggy look going on now, and I think it's adorable :-)



Not only is he looking like a big boy, he's really talking like one even more. He's using the word "I" a lot more often than he used to, so his sentences are sounding more complete. Yesterday I called him a "goober" and he said "No. I not a goober. I'm Reshen!" I know he's used "I" before, but he was still referring to himself in the third person a lot, often saying"Reshen do it,"etc. It just struck me this weekend how often he now talks in the first person and just how "together" his sentences are suddenly sounding.

I realized the other day that I need to be more accurate with my words, as Reshen takes everything literally. I noticed that his diaper seemed a bit full this weekend, so said outloud "Hmmm... I think you need another diaper." Meaning, he needed a clean diaper. "No, mommy. " He said. "Need just one." Too funny. He was right, though. He only needs one diaper at a time. :-)



The boy has been melting mommy's heart lately with exceptionally sweet displays of affection. Out of the blue he will throw his arms around me and announce "I love you, mommy" in his sugary voice. When we rock before bedtime he will suddenly sit up, cup my cheeks with both of his pudgy toddler hands, stare intently into my eyes, smile, say "Hi Mommy" and then kiss me square on the lips. I suppose these "mommy and Reshen love sessions" make up for all those screaming fits in the grocery store and 5 a.m. wakings.

As a child I recall my parents wondering how my sister and I could swim happily swim in the frigid Lake Michigan waters. We somehow just didn't feel, or perhaps simply didn't mind, the cold... and I wondered back then what the big deal was... why didn't my parents want to swim too? Now I understand. No, Reshen and I weren't swimming in January. But we were playing outside in the unusually cold Seattle winter weather. It was probably in the 30s and a bit breezy. I know, it could be worse, but I'm not used to these temperatures and I was freezing. Reshen, on the other hand, was happy as a clam. We walked completely around the block. We pushed the cross-walk button and went over to Walgreens. We walked home and then went next door to the park. We looked at bugs, stirred puddles with sticks and collected pine cones. He had such a great time. But did I mention I was freezing? I tolerated it, of course, because I love my little boy and it's not often we see a clear, sunny *weekend* day in January. So I shivered and indulged him and eventually coaxed him back inside with the promise of hot chocolate. Mommy knows how to make the boy happy :-)

Words

This Sunday we took advantage of the winter sunshine and went downtown. I'm not sure which Reshen enjoyed more- the tasty hot donuts we got at Pike's Place or the Monorail train he saw speeding above us. "Train up there!" he exclaimed about the Monorail and stretched his little arms up as high as he could, "Can't reach it!" He also seemed to enjoy the bustle of Pike's Place, the plethora of vegetables, flowers, seafood and souvenirs lining the hallway, the variety of people, the occasional street performer and the hidden nooks and crannies of the market. We brought his stroller, but he wanted to walk the entire way- even up a huge hill. He had so much fun, we had a bit of trouble getting him back into the car when we were finished.

Reshen continues to have adventures with his "guys." He has two that are named "Michael" and "Sonia Lee" (no he didn't name them, they came that way). The other day he gave me "Michael" and went to search for "Sonia Lee" for himself. He was having trouble finding her and came over to me, knelt down and looked directly at the guy in my hand. "Where Sonia Lee, Michael?" he asked the plastic figure in a very serious voice. Trying to contain my laughter I spoke for Michael, suggesting that we all go look for her together. Sometimes I wonder how much of Reshen's interaction with his "guys" is pretend and how much he really believes they are real.

Reshen has discovered one of my favorite children's shows, Little Bear. The artwork is by Maurice Sendak (you know, artist of Where the Wild Things Are), and the stories are simple and slow paced.. unlike some of the flashy, hyperactive children's shows of today. I've liked it for years and even bought a Little Bear plush animal when it was on clearance probably 5 years ago, long before Reshen was thought of.. hoping to share it with my child someday. How sweet it is to snuggle with him on the couch as he clutches his stuffed Little Bear and we enjoy our show together.

Reshen loves to talk with me as we drive to and from daycare. He's intensely aware of his surroundings and likes to tell me what he sees. The other day a huge flock of birds engulfed the sky. "Look at that!" he exclaimed "Lots of birds! Birds on house! Birds in tree!" Eventually we passed them and I asked him if he could see anymore birds "Just one, Mommy." he answered. I looked in the mirror and he was holding up a finger on one hand and pointing out the window at one lone bird with the other. What a smarty-pants. :-)

He also likes to pass the time by playing a game where you ask a question, such as "What has wheels?" and then go through the objects that have them or don't have them. Example:

Me: Does a bus have wheels?
Reshen: Yes, bus have wheels!
Me: Does a tree have wheels?
Reshen: Noooo. Tree no have wheels. That silly. (pause) What else have wheels?

This game can go on and on.

"Mama talk." he often requests, as if he can't get enough of my words. He likes me to read to him, to make the "guys" talk, to just chat with him about our day. It's very sweet. I'm sure someday it will be "Mom be quiet" or something to that effect, so for now I'll talk to my little man for as long as he likes. :-)

Busy Times

We've had a busy month! Reshen has been doing great, growing and learning. He's talking so much and saying funny "grown-up" things. Some that caught me off-guard just recently are:

- "I think so" when I asked him a question

- "Oh yeah" when I remind him of something

- "Remember that?" when he's recalling a past event

- "Hmmm, let's see." When he's thinking about something

- "Oh, so cute!" about babies.

- "That (was/is) so funny!" Followed by a forced hearty laugh

He seems able to express almost anything he needs to now. I think he talks fairly clearly for his age (as I understand almost everything he says), but find myself having to sometimes translate for him to others- so maybe he is still a bit "dutchy."

He knows a lot of colors now- blue, green, orange, yellow, red, pink, black, purple and his new favorite- turquoise (or "turk-noise" as he calls it :-)

He is really into trains and loves to read about them, watch them on TV, and play with them. He's into both Geotrax and Thomas the Tank Engine. He has two Geotrax episodes on DVD and has watched them so often he now recites lines from the show and acts out scenes on his train set. "Slow down, Eric!" he says and makes the train fall off the track. He makes his "guys"
wait at the station and has the train stop and makes the guys get on and off. Yesterday the train was running out of batteries and he told me it was "going slowly." He also loves the music of Choo Choo Soul and enjoys getting on the computer (with our help of course) and watching their music videos. In fact, he has now begun singing their theme song when he pretends that *he* is a train. Yesterday he decided that a pattern on the floor at Macy's looked like a train track and immediately he became a train and had to "chugga-chugga-choo-choo" around it.

Speaking of pretending, he pretends to be many things these days. The newest is a water hose. He makes a funny sound-effect (sounds like "ppssshhhhh") and waves his hand around. Then he laughs and exclaims that whatever he was aiming at is now all wet. If he sprays me I have to pretend to dry off (yes, I said *have* to- he orders me to if I don't automatically). Other animals/objects he pretends to be:

-chicken popping out of an egg
-cat (he has the cutest meow)
-dog
-lion
-monster
-monkey
-fire truck
-airplane

His other favorite thing to play besides trains his with his "guys". He has a variety of them- from Fisher Price Little People, to GeoTrax figures, to toddler-friendly Superhero action figures. He makes them "live" in a toy house that Santa brought him for Christmas and acts out day-to-day life. They eat food in the kitchen, wash their hands, go potty, take showers (funny, because he actually takes baths, not showers), play with toys, read books, play outside, etc.. Of course, he enjoys it most if mommy or daddy play along and we have the same scenario everytime:

Reshen: "Want come inside?"

Me: "Sure, I'd love to come inside"

Reshen: "Hungry. Want, ummmm, applesauce!"

Me: "You want some applesauce? Sure I'll make you some."

(pretend my "guy" is making applesauce.) "Here you go, guy."

Reshen: "Thank you." (pretends his guy is eating it). "Bleh!" (pretends his guy is spitting it out) Laughs hysterically.

Then we move our guys into the "living room," then into the "bathroom,"etc.. and play out the normal scenarios there. It's very cute, but can also get a little monotonous for an adult- when you've already played it 10 times that day. ;-)

He also pretends with his Fisher Price animals that came with a zoo set. He has designated the seal as the mommy, the lion as the daddy and the x-ray fish as the kid (himself probably). He is always the fish and then he makes me be "mommy seal" or "daddy lion" or sometimes both :-) They "walk" around the room and go on adventures to the library, zoo, restaurant and Costco :-)

He's still a big music fan. Still loves the traditional nursery rhymes songs and action songs, Raffi, and songs from A Mighty Wind. He got a little guitar from his Gramma for Christmas and likes to play it while daddy plays the Guitar Hero video game. He also likes to play drums and is also a
very enthusiastic dancer (his moves mostly involve spinning and jumping).

Health-wise he's doing pretty great too. At his 2-year check-up in November he was 29.5 lbs and close to 34" tall. That put him around the 50% percentile for both height and weight. He's in 24 months to 2T clothes for shirts and mostly 24 months for pants (although he can wear some 2T pants if they are on the shorter side). He seems to be long waisted/short legged, like his daddy. ;-) He is also in size 6.5 extra wide shoes.

Illness-wise, we've still been pretty lucky to avoid anything too terrible. He's had a number of colds and one long ear infection so far this fall/winter, but other than that nothing too bad. That was the same last year too- just colds and ear infections, but none of that nasty flu, bronchitis and other viruses that went around. Wish us luck that we'll avoid all that again this year! Knocking on wood so hard my knuckles are bleeding!

He's still the early riser- 6:30 seeming refreshingly late for him. He normally is asleep around 8, although I do try to get him down earlier, seeing that he wakes up early no matter what time he goes to bed. So on average he sleeps from 8pm-6am (although this week it has been like 5:30
a.m.). He takes one nap at daycare, and I think he sleeps around 1.5 hours. At home on the weekends, he always seems tired and crabby in the morning, so sometimes he'll take a 30 minute morning nap and then another 1 hour or 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon. He resists sleeping on and off (although that is not really new), but now is tricky about it. Sometimes he'll tell me his mouth hurts. If I say he's fine, then he says his ears hurt. If I again say he's fine, he then tells me he has a poopy diaper. He's such the little stinker, because he knows those are all things that have previously gotten him out of his crib.

He is becoming increasingly a "2-year-old" in the behavioral sense. We've had some issues with him running away while in public. He now gets a warning when we're in a store and if he continues he gets strapped into the cart or stroller (which he hates). He's become more defiant at home, yelling "No!" if he objects to something and/or collapsing on the floor crying. We do warnings and then time-outs at home. It seems our discipline is going to have to get a little stricter than it has been... he is getting older and able to handle more rules and consequences now I suppose. All-in-all, though, he is still a fairly compliant kid for the most part. The bad behavior is mostly triggered when he's tired, bored, hungry or overwhelmed, so I try to keep ahead of those!

The potty is still an on-again/off-again interest. 2 days ago he announced out of the blue that he wanted to sit on it and read books. We did just that and he actually peed in it. That was the third time he's successfully used it since July. He didn't seem too impressed, though, nor did he the other times. He hasn't even sat on it since. We're still taking it slow.. just letting him use it when he wants. I still don't think he's really ready for any real "training" yet. I don't think he has the physical control and doesn't usually tell us before he has to go. I honestly don't mind the diapers too much so it's really no big deal for me to wait until he's ready.

He's beginning to become afraid of things. Some things we now know he is scared of:

- The crow in the Fox in Socks book

- Halloween gorilla masks

- Jim Carey as The Grinch

- A scene in the movie "The Snowman"

He is only mildly afraid of the crow.. in fact sometimes he actually wantsto see it. But he is very afraid of the rest of them (cries and clings to me). Poor little man.

We had a fun Holiday season. Reshen enjoyed Christmas- he got the idea of Santa and giving and getting presents. Between his birthday and Christmas, he got to open a lot of presents and knew exactly what to do when he saw a wrapped gift. It was fun to share the Holiday with him this year and watch his wonder at the lights, music, snow and general atmosphere of the season.

So in summary, our guy is doing great! A happy, healthy and very active 2-year-old. We are truly blessed :-)