Two-Year Bear Update

Bear just turned two!

A. His Schedule – He gets up at about 6 a.m. every day of the week, and goes to sleep at 8 p.m. He usually does not take naps these days. Sometimes, he wakes up in the middle of the night and wants to crawl into bed with us – he is a cuddly guy!

B. His Size – He seems small for his age – he is slim and not very tall, but he is very strong.

C. His Personality – He loves to make us laugh, and is fun-loving. He loves physical touch, such as being held and giving and receiving hugs. He seems to prefer my husband’s company to mine, but lets me know that I’m still one of his favorite people. He seems to be a people-person, and more extroverted than his older brother.

D. His Favorite Things

• He loves his moose blankies – he has a few copies of the same blanket, and he loves sucking on the feet of the moose – he prefers having two blankies at a time to just one
• He likes almost all foods – he even likes spicy foods (unlike his older brother)
• He loves the outdoors, whether it’s going for a walk, playing with bubbles, riding on our toy motorcycle, or splashing in his new kiddie pool
• Music – he has a CD player that he likes to carry around; he can also sing his ABC’s now!
• He enjoys some quiet activities like play with Play-Doh, painting, and playing with stickers, but he also loves being active – I think he’ll enjoy getting into sports someday (like this fall, when he takes a toddlers’ soccer class!)
• He likes Spiderman and Power Rangers
• Colors – I think he likes blue and yellow, but I’m not sure
• Water, e.g. taking a bath or shower
• Our pets

E. Things He Does Not Like

• Surprisingly, he does not like chocolate (he prefers white milk to chocolate milk, and prefers white cake to chocolate cake)
• Being left by us (such as when we leave him at daycare)
• When he suggests that we go get a "Happy Meal!" and we drive past the McDonald's anyway

F. What He’s Thinking About

• #BearTed has a lot of words now to try to tell us what he wants, such as “Go up,” “Go out,” “Get up,” and “Bubbles!”
• He is a risk-taker – for example, he does not seem to be afraid of heights or falling
• He is learning to go potty but sees it as optional; he goes on the potty because he likes doing it, not because he thinks that’s what he’s supposed to do

G. Surprises – I cannot think of anything truly surprising about him at this age, other than just how much energy and stamina he has!

H. The Best Things – I love it when he will sit near me (or on me) and drink he bottle when he’s sleepy – it reminds me of the past when he was younger and even more cuddly. It's also very endearing when he recognizes someone (like my father) and stops everything he's doing to run over to the person, yell out their name, and hug them!

I. Family and Friends – I wish that some of my cousins lived closer to us, or some of my spouse’s, for that matter. That being said, the friends we do have in our area are pretty great.

J. What I’m Doing Differently This Time Around – At this age / stage, the only significant difference between how I’m parenting #BearTed now and how I parented #SeriousKiddo is that #BearTed does not have a younger sibling. When #SeriousKiddo was two years old, #BearTed was already here!