Serious Kiddo at Age 8

A. His Schedule – Left to his own devices, he'd wake up at around 7 a.m. and go to bed at around 9:00 p.m., but his bedtime is 8:30 p.m.

B. His Size – He's wearing a mostly size 7 clothes and he's wearing size 1 shoes.

C. His Personality – He's a contemplative child. He is very gentle, patient, kind, and forgiving with his younger siblings.

D. His Favorite Things

• Colors: Blue.
• Shows and Movies: He likes watching other people play video games on YouTube.
• Books: He reads a lot. His favorite type of books is graphic novels (particularly humorous ones), but he also likes Pokémon guidebooks.
• Toys and Play: He barely plays with toys anymore. He likes playing Minecraft on his laptop.
• Art: He's not very into art, but he's still pretty good at getting his point across when he needs to create drawings to accompany his writing assignments. He enjoys working with clay though. He also likes crafts, like jewelry-making with Rainbow Bands.
• Activities: Besides the aforementioned video game playing, and watching other people play video games, he likes to read. He enjoys quiet activities like putting together a puzzle.
• Time of Day: I think he enjoys his afternoons at SACC (school-aged childcare) the most.
• Bedding: He has a blanket with stars on it that is just like his brother's, and a soft blue pillow.
• Clothing: He'll wear pretty much anything, but he has a preference for blue and for soft, cool clothing (e.g. shorts not pants, and cotton not denim).
• Foods: Besides milk, he likes raisin bread and American cheese.
• Animals: He still loves our dog, cat, and rabbit. He also likes Triceratops, sharks, and snakes.
• Heroes/Characters: Mewtwo from Pokémon.

E. Things He Does Not Like – Meat.

F. What He’s Thinking About – He thinks he can sense how animals are feeling. This year, he wants a Halloween-themed birthday celebration again.

G. Surprises – I'm a bit surprised that he's not more into art.

H. Best & Worst Things –

• The best thing(s): That he's a great big brother. That he plans well, such as budgeting for things he wants to purchase.
• The worst thing(s): He sometimes gets very hyped up, and then it's difficult to get him to wind back down.

I. Family and Friends – He has a few close friends at school, including a "girlfriend" that he always sits with. He really enjoys spending time with my mom – she is probably his favorite person to hang out with.

J. Parenting or What I’m Doing Differently – Honestly, I'm trying really hard to create good habits and rituals (e.g. "movie night") but it is so hard with a tiny house and so many people.

K. Milestones – He is above grade level in both reading and math. He devours reading material.

Serious Kiddo Update, age 7

A. His Schedule – He wakes up at about 7 a.m. ready to watch YouTube videos, and goes to bed at about 9 p.m. His school day starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. He has in-person school two days a week, and virtual school two and a half days a week.

B. His Size – He's wearing size 7 clothes and size 1.5 shoes. His feet are unfortunately wide so he has a hard time finding comfortable shoes. He uses Crocs on most days.

C. His Personality – He's somewhat of a difficult kid to parent. He likes very few things... He doesn't like going for walks, playing soccer or other physical activities. He doesn't like most art projects. He doesn't like most foods, including all meat except bacon, all vegetables except carrots, etc.

D. His Favorite Things

• Colors: Blue.
• Shows and Movies: He likes YouTube shows about video games like Minecraft and Roblox. He also likes Japanese animated shoes like Pokemon and Guku.
• Books: Books about the Loch Ness monster and Norse mythology.
• Toys and Play: He hasn't played much with toys since he got his laptop. He plays Minecraft on both his laptop and the Xbox.
• Art: He will create with beads, but most art projects including drawing just make him frustrated.
• Activities: He is sort of a couch potato. He is willing to try to help entertain his younger siblings, a plus.
• Time of Day: He's not a night owl. I'd say his favorite time of day is probably the mornings, or any time of day when candy is involved.
• Bedding: He has a dark blue fleece blanket with stars on it that he likes. Unfortunately, his pet rabbit tends to chew holes in his stuff!
• Foods: He eats a grilled cheese sandwich on raisin bread almost every day, sometimes twice a day.
• Animals: He likes animals, particularly our pets. He used to like sharks too.
• Heroes: Perhaps Batman.

E. Things He Does Not Like – When he needs quiet time but doesn't get it.

F. What He’s Thinking About – He seems to spend a lot of time thinking about superpowers.

G. Surprises – I'm surprised that even things he used to like, he seems to no longer like. From cherry tomatoes to creating art.

H. Best & Worst Things –

• The best things(s): He still seems to care what my spouse and I think, a plus.
• The worst thing(s): When he "freaks out," like about school assignments, or us wanting to go on a family walk, or us wanting him to wear clothing that is appropriate for the cold weather, or me asking him to pick up after himself.

I. Family and Friends – It's been a year since Covid broke out. We've seen far fewer friends than usual. Honestly, I don't think he's minded. He's kind of a shy kid. Even when his brother is playing with children in our neighborhood, he usually doesn't want to join in.

J. Parenting or What I’m Doing Differently – He's my first kid so I'd say my parenting of him is sort of a mess of trial by error. I honestly don't know what to do other than to listen to him and to try to do things fairly.

In Kindergarten in Less Than Two Weeks: Serious Kiddo at 5.75 Years Old

A. His Schedule – We cut back on all of our kiddos screen time, but if he wakes up before us, Serious Kiddo is allowed to watch children’s shows until breakfast. He therefore always wakes up before us.

B. His Size – He looks so big and old to me these days, as compared to his younger siblings. Although I think he’s about average for his age.

C. His Personality – He’s sweet with his younger sister. But when asked what he hated, the first thing he thought of was playing with his younger brother, because his younger brother “always messes up what I am doing.”

D. His Favorite Things

• Colors: Still gold.
• Shows: He’s been watching an Indian cartoon called ViR the Robot Boy. Recently, at his request, we bought him the new Pikachu movie, which he’d been campaigning for us to buy for a solid week, maybe more.
• Toys: He likes toys that transform, such as Bakugan, and he still likes Pokemon.
• Time of Day: Probably still the early morning.
• Bedding: He doesn’t have a special pillow. He sometimes drags his twin-size stars blanket out to the living room couch (see photo above).
• Foods: Still as before – he likes sweets, especially chocolate. Some days he says he’s a vegetarian, while on others he’ll eat chicken. I remember not liking meat as a child too. He likes potato chips a lot.
• Activities: He still likes swimming.
• Animals: Still as before – dogs and sharks (Bear seems to be the one most interested in our cat).
• Heroes: He still loves superheroes like Batman and Spiderman, though he still doesn’t have a favorite. He also still likes Thanos, a bad guy.

E. Things He Does Not Like – Not winning. No one likes losing, but Serious Kiddo seems to take it especially hard.

F. What He’s Thinking About – He told me the other day that he’s “like a robot.” I don’t know if that’s the result of him watching ViR, but it did give me pause given that I once said the same thing about myself when I was younger.

G. Surprises – Sometimes his personality seems very similar to my own mom’s personality. Like two peas in a pod. One unfortunate surprise happened recently when we were on vacation at the beach – both boys wanted to buy new toys, a request which we denied. Bear got over it, but Serious Kiddo did not get over it – thoughts of toy purchases consumed him for the entire trip. We had plenty of new toys at home due to Bear’s recent birthday, and we did buy him some shoes and clothes on our trip, so I was doubly surprised by Serious Kiddo’s behavior. I know that in our current neighborhood, we’re one of the families that has the least in the way of money, but I think I need to expose him more to people who have less than he does, both to teach empathy and gratitude. Plus, his behavior spurred me to reduce his screen time (less toy reviews, less ads, more person-to-person interaction within our family instead of starring at a screen silently).

H. Best & Worst Things 

• The best things: Still he he’s nice to his younger sister. I hope they’ll always remain close.
• The worst things: When he throws what my partner calls “a moody” and what I’d call him having a persistent bad mood where various things trigger crying.

I. Family and Friends – I feel lucky to live in a neighborhood with so many children. I really love our neighborhood.

J. Parenting or What I’m Doing Differently – Although it’s harder when I’m sick or he’s sick (like now), I have found that with screen time comes more time for us to do simple things together. For example, a couple of nights ago I paid him chore money to help me clean up the play room. We also did a puzzle together for the first time in months. And once we’re no longer sick, I’d like us to start cooking together more frequently.

Serious Kiddo: 5.5 Year Update

A. His Schedule – He wakes up earlier than anyone else and can invariably be found on the couch, frequently watching something on TV that he’s chosen himself (he can now operate the TV skillfully).

B. His Size – About average, I think.

C. His Personality – He’s a bit shy and seems to be prone to sit quietly, reading or watching a show. He told me he’s very much an “indoor person.” He’s willing to do art but he takes a long time doing things just right, so consequently, he very rarely finishes anything. He can get riled up if another child is encouraging him, but he does seem to tucker out before the other child does.

D. His Favorite Things

• Colors: Gold. Definitely gold. Though he still likes red.
• Shows: Japanese animation.
• Toys: He likes Pokemon toys and Transformers.
• Time of Day: Probably the early morning because he has the house basically to himself while we’re all still asleep.
• Bedding: He recently chose a blue blanket with stars on it for himself. He sleeps with that and a regular pillow. He’s finally too big to use a toddler blanket.
• Foods: Chocolate. Sweets. Desert foods. Cookies. Grilled cheese sandwiches.
• Activities: He likes swimming and is advancing nicely in his swimming class.
• Animals: Cats. Dogs. He can make a lot of dog-like noises now and will sometimes pretend to be a puppy. Sharks.
• Heroes: He likes superheroes, but I don’t think there’s one in particular that he likes. He recently chose a Thanos piggybank, the bad guy from Avengers Endgame. I’m not sure why he chose Thanos but it may have to do with the gold glove and gem-like infinity stones that Thanos has.

E. Things He Does Not Like – When his brother bothers him. Not winning, like at a boardgame or for a race.

F. What He’s Thinking About – He’s looking forward to learning how to read. I think he’s looking forward to starting Kindergarten too.

G. Surprises – How some of his characteristics are so opposite to his brother’s characteristics. For example, his brother is thrill-seeking, whereas he seems to be hardwired to avoid thrills.

H. Best & Worst Things –

• The best things: When he is nice to his little sister. Watching them become friends is the sweetest.
• The worst things: When he’s feeling moody (sad).

I. Family and Friends – My coworker says that as adults, you wind up becoming friends with your kid’s friends’ parents, and that becomes your social circle. I do try to keep him connected to the kids he’s chosen to become friends with, but it is difficult in this area due to distance, traffic, and work, not to mention our various moves (we moved homes, and he also switched daycares twice). Sadly, due to the crazy district lines in our area, most of kids at his current daycare will be going to a different elementary school than he will.

J. Parenting or What I’m Doing Differently – I’m trying hard to keep our home in order, which means encouraging the kids to keep their toys in one central location (the playroom) and to pick up their items every night or risk having their items be put in “time out.”

He is Actually Five?!

My Serious Kiddo is now half of a decade old!

A. His Schedule – On the weekends, he tries to get up before everyone else so that he can watch his YoutTube shows in peace, without us trying to limit his screen time, or his brother trying to dictate which show to watch.  One thing we’ve been trying to do recently, with great success, has been to limit his screen time.  The results are that he’s actually more content (less bickering with his brother) and plays with his toys more.

B. His Size – He seems to be of average size.

C. His Personality – He seems to be an introvert – he likes people but he needs periods of quiet time to recharge (his brother is the opposite – Bear loves attention and being in the middle of a party!).  He is also kind of bossy.  One thing he can’t stand is to lose a game – we need to work on his sportsmanship skills.

D. His Favorite Things

• Colors: Red, but also sometimes brown or gold
• Shows: It varies – he’ll watch a movie every now and then but prefers YouTube shows
• Toys: He just received a Decepticon Transformer that he’s quite happy with; he also likes activities that involve building or creating things, such as Legos
• Time of Day: Probably nighttime
• Bedding: He likes sleeping with a green coral fleece blanket; he’s not too picky about where he falls asleep
• Foods: He loves deserts – chocolate, ice cream, lollipops – you name it
• Activities: He isn’t that interested in sports with the exception of swimming – he really likes that!  He also really likes it when someone reads him a story, and has even learned how to get Alexa to tell him a bedtime story
• Animals: Cats and dogs, especially our cat
• Heroes: Optimus Prime, I think

E. Things He Does Not Like

• Bedtime
• Limits on his screen time
• When his brother won’t leave him alone

F. What He’s Thinking About

• His friends and his toys; he seems to like his daycare – Mr. Julius draws pictures for him that he seems to really enjoy receiving

G. Surprises – I’m surprised that he has a somewhat adversarial relationship with my husband – their personalities are not very similar, or so it seems to me, and this inherently creates conflict and a lack of mutual understanding – so much for “like father, like son.”

H. The Best Things – For me, I’m happiest when my Serious Kid is doing something that I also like doing, like flipping through the IKEA catalog.

I. Family and Friends – He still remains close with my mom, and less so with my dad. He seems to have made friends at his new daycare, which is a relief to me, and he has maintained his friendships with the kids across the street and with his closest friends from his old daycares.

J. Parenting – One new things I’m trying very hard to do is to institute a seven-minute cleanup time ritual at night – the hardest part (other than keeping the kids on task) is getting my husband and my mom (when she’s at our house) to buy into it – they are so reluctant! But I do think that a tidy house is almost essential for my mental health, and it’s so much easier to accomplish bit by bit each day than doing a marathon cleaning session a few times a year.

As mentioned above, I’m also trying to limit the kids’ screen time.  It’s not that I’m worried that what they’re watching will corrupt them – it’s more so that I think we all need more space and time to actively do things, rather than just passively watching things happen on TV.  I thought it would require more parental attention and engagement from us to make this switch, but it’s honestly not any more work than when the kids were watching a lot more TV.  They do find things to amuse themselves with, and are spending more time talking and connecting with us and each other.

He's Seriously Almost Five

My oldest is now 4 and ¾ years old.

A. His Schedule – We try to get him to go to sleep at 8 p.m., but he’s a night owl, so he could honestly stay up until 10 p.m. if we let him. In the mornings it’s sometimes hard to wake him up. On the rare occasions when he gets up before us, he knows how to use the remote to turn on a show for himself.

B. His Size – He weighs 38 pounds. He seems to be of average height.

C. His Personality – He reminds me of myself – shy, caring, and cautious. He has a lot of affection for his new baby sister and he’s so good with her. He’s definitely more reserved than his younger brother, and also seems to have a powerful imagination – he’ll have sword fights with imaginary bad guys, whereas his brother will focus his play on things that actually exist in the real world.

D. His Favorite Things

• Colors: Brown and red
• Shows: He enjoys watching YouTube a lot – his current favorite show is Dino Charge, which is in Japanese; for a while he was really into YouTube Power Rangers toy reviews (World of Ha was his favorite channel), but then that gave way to reviews of Dino Charge toys that then gave way to him watching the actual show; he also enjoys watching Pokémon
• Toys: He doesn’t have a specific favorite toy, although he particularly likes toys that transform – it’s very difficult for him to play without Bear inserting himself and destroying whatever he is trying to create
• Time of Day: Probably nighttime, especially if we’re doing a movie night
• Bedding: He usually sleeps with a green fleece blanket, but he is able to fall asleep without it (unlike his brother, who needs his moose blanket to fall asleep)
• Foods: His favorite food is probably chocolate, and he has a powerful sweet-tooth – he loves desert; as far as regular foods, he likes mac ‘n cheese, and waffles with maple syrup
• Activities: He’s not a very energetic kid, and is just as happy sitting on the couch watching a show as he is being outside or going somewhere; one of his favorite things to do is to spend time with my mom, who I think has a similar personality to his; he also likes playing puzzles on my phone, and looking at his Amazon Wish List
• Animals: Cats and dogs, I think
• Heroes: The Power Ranges, I think

E. Things He Does Not Like

• Spicy foods
• When foods are hot
• When his brother doesn’t play according to the rules he has set, or when Bear throws his stuffed animals off of their bunk bed
• Wearing socks that match – he’s been wearing deliberately mismatched socks for at least couple of months now

F. What He’s Thinking About

• He’s looking forward to his brother’s birthday, in part because we’re giving him a couple of Pokemon figures at the same time as his brother's birthday, but he’s also really looking forward to his own birthday already
• He says he is going to marry his classmate, Sophia – apparently she has accepted his proposal
• He took a swimming class this spring and loved it – I think he’d really like it if we signed him up for another swim class

G. Surprises – I’m surprised with how well he’s doing with having a younger sister. I’ve heard of sibling jealousy, but he really doesn’t seem jealous of her. He loves lying next to her on the floor, and I think they’ll become close, lifelong friends.

H. The Best Things – Not every day is easy with Serious Kiddo, although usually he’s easier for me to handle than Bear. I think the best thing is just hearing him talk. It’s not just the way he says certain words, like how he says “fing” instead of “thing.” It’s kind of the whole thing – it’s how he’s really thinking carefully about the things in his world.

I. Family and Friends – He’s still very close with my mom. He seems to prefer having a small, close group of friends rather than a larger social circle. He lavishes a lot of attention on his classmate, Sophia. He’ll say things like “Today, I sat next to Sophia, and I only talked to Sophia. Nobody else.” He also is building a strong friendship with the boy who lives across the street. Despite their frequent fights, he also seems to love spending time with Bear. He has luckily been able to stay friends with Kaidyn, a friend from his old daycare.

J. Parenting – It’s definitely been challenging now that we’re a three-kid household, even though he is getting a lot easier to parent, and even though the baby is a pretty good baby. Because frequently I need to pump milk for the baby, I don’t have as much time as I’d like to play with the kids, or to go to interesting places with them.

Three-And-A-Half Year Old Serious Kiddo Update

3 years 9 months old

#SeriousKid is 3 years and 9 months old (so, 3.75 years old, if you’re a math enthusiast).

A. His Schedule – He gets up when we get him up, which is whenever his younger brother gets up. He is not a morning person. He practically never takes a nap at home. We usually try to put him to bed around 8:15 p.m. but he can easily stay up until 9 p.m. (he might be a night owl). He loves it when we let him sleep in our bed, though we don’t do it every night.

B. His Size – He seems average for his age.

C. His Personality – He is very loving, but also somewhat stubborn and kind of bossy. I think he gets his desire to lead others from my husband (and his stubbornness from both of us). He loves doing quiet activities like playing with Legos, reading a book, or watching a movie. He has very good attention span. He struggles to make friends with children his own age – I hope this improves with time, but I think making friends at any age can be intimidating and tricky, so I empathize with him.

D. His Favorite Things

• Chocolate (e.g. Chocolate milk)
• Candy (e.g. Pez)
• Chocolate candy
• Sweets (do you see a pattern?)
• Grape soda and Sunkist
• Art
• All of the colors (he used to prefer red so this whole not having a favorite color thing is new to me)
• Batman is his favorite superhero, although he likes other ones like Captain American, Iron Man, and the Hulk
• Legos, especially if you get to “build the guy” (build Lego figures)
• Puzzles (especially if the puzzle involves superheroes)
• Watching YouTube
• Lunchables
• Hanging out on the couch
• Our cat
• Grilled cheese sandwiches, especially if it is served on a blue plate (he likes eating bread, so if you’re not willing to make him a grilled cheese sandwich, he’ll happily eat a piece of plain bread)

E. Things He Does Not Like

• Plates that are not blue
• When his younger brother destroys something he is building, or wants to play with the same toy he does
• Baths and showers

3 years 8.5 months old

F. What He’s Thinking About

• He is looking forward to a kids’ cooking class that he will take in the fall – this was his choice; he chose cooking class over soccer, tennis, and gymnastics
• Even though his birthday is not until October, he is already looking forward to it, and adding things to his Amazon Wish List

G. Surprises – Sometimes I am surprised at how old he looks to me in comparison to his brother. I am also surprised at how much his personality seems to tend towards my mother’s and my own personality, and not towards my husband’s. I think this makes it difficult for my husband to understand Serious Kiddo and vice versa (although, Bear seems to take much more after my husband than me, so I have similar challenges with Bear).

H. The Best Things – Developing a close relationship to #SeriousKid: talking about what’s important to him and doing the things he likes to do together, even if it is as simple as watching a show we both like and talking about it together.

I. Family and Friends – I hope that he will make friends at the new daycare, but right now, it sounds like he either plays alone or gets bullied most of the time (he tells his teachers about the name-calling he receives, in case you’re wondering). I could switch him into another daycare, but I fear that it would just happen again (I think he got bullied at the old daycare too, but he had a friend who was his ally which I don’t think he’s been able to replace at the new daycare).

J. Parenting – It is challenging to balance the needs of both kids, and try to have a strong personal relationship with each kid, not just the child that more closely resembles one’s own personality, which in my case is #SeriousKid.

3 years 8 months old

Two-and-Half Years Old Kiddo Update

Eating a chocolate-chip cookie

A. His Schedule – He is not a morning person, and is frequently very drowsy and cranky when we wake him. If he’s good about getting ready in the morning, then he gets to watch one TV show on Amazon Prime before “school” (daycare). He only takes one nap per day. His bedtime is around 8:30 p.m.

B. His Size – Although he used to be a larger kid for his age, currently he’s smaller than average. His height is 35.25” (37^th percentile) and his weight is 29 lbs. 1 oz. (42nd percentile). He’s currently wearing size “3T” – shirts in that size fit him but pants in that same size are a little bit long.

C. His Personality – He’s bossy, stubborn, opinionated, and he thinks he’s funny. Sometimes he’s quite the tiny tyrant. However, he also has a sweet side. I can’t tell you how thoughtfully he asked me the other day “Mom, [are] you happy?”

D. His Favorite Things

Activities – He likes coloring, playing with Play-Doh, reading (either being read to, or pretending to read himself), and running. He also loves sticks and trying to use them like swords.

Animal – He still loves cats (domestic, cheetahs, tigers, etc.).

Book – I don't think he has a favorite book right now. He was very into “Green Eggs and Ham” for a while.

Food – He likes chocolate milk and cookies best (when we let him have those things). Other things he likes (which unfortunately are also sweet) are Pop Tarts, muffins, and candy.

Security Item – He still loves his green, fuzzy blanket.

Toy – He loves a set of gel pens that we got him, although I know that is not a toy per se. He also likes building with blocks (wood ones or MegaBloks) and coloring on his Doodle Pad (magnetic drawing board, similar).

TV Show – Thundercats is his current favorite, but he still likes Daniel Tiger’sNeighborhood.

E. His Development

Speaking – He can speak quite a lot now. His teachers are concerned that sometimes the words he says are hard to hear, but so far I haven’t been concerned myself. He’s using four- and five-word sentences, so I think he’s doing just fine.

Drawing – He recently learned how to draw a circle – his circles look more like ovals, but it’s a big step forward from just drawing lines.

Music – He’s starting to be able to sing the ABCs song – he makes a lot of mistakes of course.

Potty Training – Although we’ve been trying to train him for about a year, he is finally starting to really get it, and to choose wearing underwear and using the toilet regularly over wearing Pull-Ups or diapers.

Bros

F. Surprises – It’s still amazing to me how fond he is of his younger brother. You’d think he’d be jealous of the attention that Ted gets, but he’s not.

G. The Best Things – Sometimes the best thing is just the way he smiles. Other times, it’s seeing him get interested in something that I’m interested in (like drawing).

Two Year Kiddo Update

His Schedule:  On the weekdays he gets up at 6:45 a.m.; on the weekends it’s 8:30 a.m. On the weekdays, he naps from 11:30 a.m. until about 1:00 p.m.; on the weekends it’s from about noon until 2:00 p.m., or longer if we let him. His bed time is currently 8:45 p.m.

His Size:  At his 2-year-old wellness visit, he was 2 ft. 10.5 inches tall (0.87 m), which is in the 54th percentile for height. He was 29 lbs. 11 oz. (about 13.5 kg), which is in the 70th percentile for weight.

His Personality:  He’s not quite the cheerful kiddo he used to be. Maybe it’s that he’s entering the terrible twos? He’s very insistent when it comes to getting his way – someday his persistence will be an asset to him, but right now it can be annoying to his caregivers. I think he’s a very independent kid – he’s willing to go off by himself if you’re not watching him, and he’s willing to entertain himself by reading a book or playing with blocks.

His Favorite Things:

• Activity:  Spending time with his daddy, even if it’s just going to the grocery store together... He still loves coloring with his crayons (which he pronounces “cran”)... Yesterday, I noticed him shading with his crayons for the first time, not just drawing curvy lines
• Animal: His favorite animal seems to be cats (because of our cat, "Cat-Cat," and/or Daniel Tiger)... He is fonder of our cat than our dog, though he loves them both (and hugs them frequently to prove it)
• Book:  The Beginner’s Bible for Toddlers
• Color: He still really likes the color orange... Because he’s now old enough to pick out his own clothes, we’ve noticed that he seems to like wearing the color green... Honestly, he seems to like most colors, but with a preference towards orange, green, red, and yellow
• Security Item:  He went through a phase when he wanted "Cat-Cat" (a black-and-white leopard stuffed animal wearing a white t-shirt) to be with him everywhere... He is still quite attached to his fuzzy green lion blanket... When he’s sleepy or hurt, then he sucks his "binky" (pacifier) – if I had to do it over again, I probably wouldn’t have given the kiddo a pacifier quite as much when he was younger since it's become kind of a crutch
• Toys:  He still likes Mega Bloks, but now he also likes Duplos... He can build a tall tower with Mega Bloks, or a short tower with Duplos
• TV Show:  Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is his favorite right now, but he still sometimes watches FraggleRock

Words:  He can say a lot of words now – too many to count. Some of the more unusual words he knows (for a toddler) are owl, key, and belt.

Major Life Events, Age 18 Months to 2 Years:

• The biggest thing to happen to the kiddo recently was the additionof his baby brother to our family this summer. He seems to be quite fond of his brother. He is particularly affectionate with baby Bear. He will do everything from pet Bear, to kiss him, to give him a bottle.
• In August we transitioned the kiddo to his toddler bed!
• Travel - we went on a few short vacations this summer that were a lot of fun, and we went to a wedding this fall.

Family and Friends:  I’m surprised at how well the kiddo plays with our friends’ children despite the age gap (the kiddo is a couple of years younger than some of our friends’ children). I had thought that because of the size and maturity gap, the kiddo wouldn’t be able to, but he really is able to hang out and play with the other kids.

Parenting:  I wish I could say that parenting the kiddo is just as easy now as it was when he was 6 to 18 months old. However, in the last month or so he has gotten quite defiant. It can be very annoying. And if he’s challenged (i.e. if I tell him “no” or “don’t”) and he’s prevented from doing what he wants, then he cries. Aside from the power struggle I just described, it’s also sometimes frustrating to interact with the kiddo because he’d rather watch TV than read a book with me, and he almost never wants to cuddle. Why does it hurt so much to be told “no” by a toddler when all you want to do is hug him? He can also say “go away,” complete with a shooing-off hand motion.