RANDOM TERRIBLE 2 (and other) UPDATES:
You know I'm a fan of random cute photos so here's a couple. Right on time, Griffin is not quite the same sweet, snuggly baby now that he is 2. "Terrible" would be an exaggeration but he has definitely developed an emotional and demanding side and does not like to be told "no." He has also started coming home from school, planting himself in front of the TV and saying "mommy, Ma-keen now!" meaning - I want to watch the Lightning McQueen movie NOW! We're working on the "magic word" which he knows but doesn't use as proactively as he should. He still can be reasoned with but doesn't say "O-tay" quite as easily when we are talking him off a ledge (he previously would say a tearful "o-tay" to pretty much any promise you made him in terms of doing what he wants "after" whatever needs to happen first - cookies after dinner, etc). He is learning tons of new words every day and is starting to use sentences and phrases like "Take Cal ball happy" meaning, I will take Cal his soccer ball because I know it makes him happy. We're certain he understands virtually everything we say and unless he is playing keepaway, can follow all of our instructions. He has a HUGE sweet-tooth, proactively asks for candy (which Cal still doesn't do), and loves macaroni & cheese, pancakes, sausage, and fruit - but that's about it. He still is a lot more huggy & kissy than his brother which mommy loves. When I strap him in the car on days daddy is driving to school, he says "I'll miss you mommy" which makes me cry. He also recently decided he is done with his crib and won't sleep in it. He's currently sleeping on his Tigger couch on the floor until we come up with a more permanent plan. After 4 solid weeks of him crying his eyes out at night, the paci fairy miraculously returned with his paci. It stays in his bed and he only uses it at night and we're all happy with that since you can put him in bed, walk out and shut the door without a peep. We'll try again later with the paci fairy. He's a very happy, joyful child who takes great delight in almost every new experience. I never thought I would call a 2 year old optimistic, but he is. He can pretty much sing the alphabetic and count to 10 (except for 4 & 5 which get left out). He loves to sing - Wheels on the Bus is a favorite. Of course Cal sings constantly which helps. We can understand almost all of what he says now unless the word has an L or an R in it - still struggling with those. He's still an easy baby and we're still very thankful for that.
Cal, on the other hand, is more of a realist. He's more serious than his brother and is quite a rule follower. He enjoys reminding Griffin of all the rules and keeping him on the straight and narrow. He's easily upset when Griffin protests ("Mommy, Giffin skeemed at me!" meaning - mom, I don't like it when Griffin screams in my face) and will break into tears quickly when things don't go his way. He's as skinny as ever and seems tall to us but is still the shortest in his class (but also the youngest by a few months). He doesn't seem bothered by it in the least. He loves sports and really enjoyed watching the Winter olympics. He spends a lot of time on our walks to school pretending to downhill ski and actively bumping other skiiers off the course. :) He likes to be the leader and always wants to be "first." His teachers decided he was ready to move up to the next class after the holiday break. He took a few weeks to fully adjust but now really loves it there with new friends and a new teacher. He informed us in February that he is going to get married to Charlotte, one of his friends from class, because she asked. It will be in 4 weeks and they will invite us. They don't know where they are having it yet. We're just glad to be included. He is fascinated with emergency vehicles of all kinds and demands that we tell him action-packed stories every night involving firetrucks, police cars or both and friends from school. One day a car accidentally ran into the dentist office next to his school while he was on the playground and it was the best day of his life. He knows all of his letters and is starting to ask about signs & words so we are slowing working our way into reading. Scary. He is quoting movie lines and starting to have a long-term memory about things we promised him or said we would do. Uh oh.
Of course, we're biased, but we think they are both geniuses. They are very close, love playing with each other and have a great time wrestling, building with legos, playing in the bath and pretty much everything else they can do together. Griffin usually wakes up first in the morning and one of his first words is always "Cal?" asking where he is and if we can wake him up. We hope that continues and are really glad to see Cal taking a protective big brother attitude with Griff.
In early February, we made the trek to Fort Worth for cousin Russell's 4th birthday party. It was in a very cool old church sanctuary that has been converted into the ultimate indoor playground for kids. It has a costume section (Cal's current favorite), bouncy house, playscapes, a ball pit, trucks/cars, and a grocery store section (among other things). The kids had a blast and loved playing with Russell and his Rains family cousins at the house the night before the party. They also liked helping Russell open his gifts which he was very generous about allowing. Griffin was particularly interest in the grocery cart and pretending to eat all the food at the "store." Very cool place - wish we had one in Austin.
