Bennett has so many facets to his personality it just blows my mind. Like how can one kid be so loving, caring and empathetic, but then so silly and goofy, then sassy and smart, and also active and adventurous? It's like he's figuring out who's he going to be. And I do think he watches us carefully to figure out how to be a big kid. He's started saying little things like, "Let me think about it..." while tapping his chin like he's thinking so hard. Or "Actually, mom...." But then the next minute he's crying or whining, reminding me that he is indeed still two. He tries to compliment me, too, saying something like, "You're a good girl, Mommy" while patting my back, which is pretty cute.
Eating continues to be a bit of an uphill battle at this point. We normally get him to eat some of our dinner by "helping" him (feeding it to him). But sometimes he eats well and other times it's a long process. Breakfast he normally does okay with and lunch is usually fine, too, because it's kid-friendly food. His favorite foods include: fruit, juice, mini pancakes, tacos, peanut butter and jelly, "snacks" (goldfish, pretzels, fruit snacks, applesauce pouches, granola bars...), and anything sweet (like cookies, ice cream, etc). He hates veggies and most meats, although we've had some success with grilled chicken.
Bennett is on a pretty regular sleep schedule which is nice. He goes to bed around 7:30/8pm each night and wakes up around 6/6:30am. He takes one nap around 12:30/1pm and it's usually 1.5 hours, but can be up to 2-3 hours. He is still in his crib! I know 100% he is not ready for a regular bed but I think he's getting closer. At this point I know he would just get out a million times or really early in the morning. :) He also still sleeps with white noise on.
Bennett is getting to be pretty good with Eleanor. He loves to help feed her, and if he's watching a TV show and she gets in the way, he will "help" by picking her up and carrying her to me lately. Yikes. He talks to her just like we do, saying things like, "Hey sweetie girl!" He likes to try and hold her, but she's not too into that anymore. "She's squirmy Mommy!" he'll say as she crawls away. He definitely gets upset if she gets into what he's playing with and will scream, "Help Mommy!" But he also loves giving her hugs and bringing her toys, and loves to make her laugh. You should see these two at the dinner table - they yell and laugh back and forth most of the time, which I just have to try and capture on video soon.
Bennett's favorite things include puzzles, reading books (he has quite a few memorized and can read them to us - Dear Zoo, Gideon and Otto, The Very Hungry Caterpillar...), singing and dancing (he LOVES Toddler Time at the library), and being outside ("Mommy, let's go 'sploring!"). Admittedly, he also loves TV (Daniel Tiger, Wonder Pets, and Curious George are the ones we watch). He gets to watch TV usually 2 times per day, when I nurse Eleanor and put her down for her nap. Some of his favorite places to go are the zoo, open play time at gymnastics, the library, the park, and friends' houses. Some of his closest friends are Mason (2 years) and Ethan (3.5 years). We see them pretty regularly because their mommies are in MOPS and Coffee Break with me, so Bennett hangs out with them in the church nursery every week. But he has lots of other friends too, mostly kids of my friends from church. :) Bennett also loves to help me. Cooper had a stage where he was getting on the counter a lot, and we'd get home and stuff would be everywhere. Bennett would run to get his little broom and help me clean it up. So now when we walk in the house, Bennett will exclaim, "Oh no Cooper! What did you do?!" Haha, poor Cooper.
One thing that's crazy lately is how much Bennett is learning. At this age they are serious sponges! Bennett can count objects up to 10 usually accurately, he knows all his colors (sometimes mixes up purple and red still), can recognize about 85% of the capital letters of the alphabet, and can write a lower case t and a 1. :) He can tell you how to spell his name with some help, and if you ask him his full name he will say "Bennett James Gabrielse!" and where does he live, "Arbor Drive!" He's crazy good at puzzles (I'm told Brad loved puzzles at a young age!) and loves analyzing the pictures in books lately. He will furrow his little eyebrows as I read and then when I finish a page, point to a character and say, "What is he doing?" Something we are working on is undressing/dressing himself. He's pretty good with pants but shirts are hard, and don't even get my started on socks! He is still not potty trained, although he knows all about the toilet and is just a tad bit resistant. :-p I haven't been forcing it because with two little ones at home I just don't need an extra battle right now. Bennett is also very into feelings lately, and if I'm frustrated will say, "Are you happy mom?" He often mimics the feelings of characters in the books we're reading, too. Our newest adventure is playing games. We bought Hi Ho Cherry-O for something to do when he was sick one weekend, and it's taken a while for him to understand how to play, but now we play almost every day (Eleanor goes to bed about a half hour before him, so we often do puzzles and games at that time).
At Bennett's 30 month doctor appointment she was really impressed with him! Besides a little ear wax build up he looks great!! He weighs 30 pounds (53%), is 36.25 inches tall (61%), and his head is 49.9 centimeters in diameter. He sat so nice when she checked his eyes and ears, and he took nice deep breaths so she could hear his lungs. He had to get a flu shot which was really sad and he told everyone about it for the next week, "I got a shot. It was ouchy!" We don't go back again until he's three!
This little guy is so fun! I love watching him learn and grow. Don't get me wrong, not every minute is fun. He throws quite a few tantrums throughout the day (everything is so dramatic when you're two!?!!). But he is a curious, loving, sweet boy and I am so blessed to be able to spend every day at home with him!
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