Emily and Kolby: Beckett at 2 1/4 Years

Oh our sweet, smart, social Beckett boy… where do I even start on these last few months?!?

It seems like just about everything about him has changed since his second birthday. I have a vivid picture of what stage he was in at his birthday party… his hair was short, he wore diapers, his only obsession was with tractors, and maybe most of all—he was an only child. But that’s all changed now!

He’s a great big brother. He isn’t into being helpful and really isn’t all that interested in Samuel in general, but every week or so there will be a moment where I see a flash of their relationship building. Beckett will do something that makes Samuel smile or laugh and he’ll catch on and keep doing it. Or he’ll show Samuel something he built or hold his hand (and always tell me, “I hold baby Samuel’s hand.”). Or asks about him when he hears him wake up in the morning and wants to be the one to go check on him. Or once we had someone new in our house and I was about to walk out the door with the boys and the lady was oohing and ahhing over Samuel in his carseat and getting right up in his face and Beckett walked over and grabbed the carseat handle and told her emphatically, “Samuel is toming (coming) with us.” Maybe a glimpse of a protective big brother?!? He’s gentle with Samuel and not seemingly jealous of him, and that’s about all I can ask for at this point! I’m so excited to see their relationship grow.

As far as interests, Beckett is still very much into tractors but not as much so for just tractor toys or books—his interest is mainly in the actual tractor at my parents’ ranch and getting to ride it with Pops. Nothing makes him happier than when he hears the answer “yes” to getting to go ride it with my dad. He’s developed some other interests as well now. He loves loves loves to build with his MegaBlocks set (think huge toddler-sized Legos) and that’s definitely his favorite toy. He builds houses for his toy animals then knocks it down and starts over. I could watch him play with blocks for hours. I love seeing him think and work and be creative. His baseball obsession abated during the off season but is back in full swing. His favorite activity is playing baseball with us, and he’s very specific about it. “You be the batter and I’ll be the pitcher.” or “You be the pitcher and I’ll be the catcher.” etc. We have a tee that we got him last year but he now insists on us pitching it to him and he is shockingly good at hitting. He’ll hit it far more often than he misses, and he’s hit some really hard. Just picture the America’s Funniest Home Video montage of the dad pitching the ball and the kid whacking it straight at his crotch. That’s a common scene these days. He looks so old and skilled to be able to hit it the way he does, but then he flips the bat and takes off running the “bases” with his goofy little toddler run and he’s right back to looking like a wee little kid :). He loves to be read to, and he and Kolby go to the library a couple times a week to get a new round of books. His favorites are construction books and he’s also into a book called Trashy Town about a garbage man named Mr. Gilly. We hear A LOT about Mr. Gilly. He likes to build Mr. Gilly with blocks or talk about him or watch for our trash man who he calls Mr. Gilly too.

Probably the biggest change these last few months is Beckett is now potty trained! We took the plunge over a weekend in early February right before my maternity leave ended. He’s so communicative that we figured might as well try and if it didn’t work we’d try again over the summer. We used the 3-Day Potty Training Method and followed it to the letter and I’m telling you—it worked like a charm! I was so impressed. With the method, with Beckett, with having a BOY potty trained at barely two years old, with everything. By day 3 he only had one little accident then went several WEEKS with no accidents or just one or so a week. He went through a spell of #2 accidents and Kolby and I reached a breaking point (you can only clean a poop mess out of so many pairs of underwear…) and decided to get serious about pulling him through it. We found a song on YouTube and learned it and put some dances with it and bribed him with a toy and lo and behold he snapped out of it. Nighttime potty training was a struggle and we tried all the tips in the method but after several weeks decided to just put him in a pull up at night and it was definitely the right call and we’re all sleeping much better! Then he had a big regression after about a month where I think the novelty wore off and he just stopped telling us when he had to go, but he came through it on his own a couple weeks later (I know this is a lot of detail but it’s for my own sake when we go to potty train Samuel!). Overall potty training was a big success and I can proudly say I now only have one kid in diapers! At first it seemed overwhelming to have a baby AND a newly potty trained kid (always having to know where a potty is anywhere we went, the logistics of car rides, keeping track of when he went last, reminding him, etc.) but that all was just for the first month or so and now he’s great about going before we go places then telling us on his own when it’s time so it’s seriously no big deal anymore and SO much better than having two kids in diapers.

Beckett had his adenoids removed in early February. He has always been a mouth breather and we were referred to an ENT at his two year checkup and he determined that his adenoids were very enlarged and likely blocking some air passage through his nose and recommended an adenoidectomy. Beckett also had an ear infection (only his second one) and it wasn’t clearing, so he also recommended tubes. Beckett was so brave and did great during and after the procedure!

Also on the health front, Beckett has had some eczema on his chin and cheeks since his first birthday and the doctor suspected it was a food allergy but we couldn’t determine what was causing it and they typically wait to do allergy testing until kids are at least two years old. We had that testing done in January and it showed that Beckett has a mild allergy to milk and eggs. We totally cut both from his diet and his skin cleared up within a week. We took him to an allergist a couple months later to get more info and they did some skin testing and the doctor recommended that we reintroduce milk and eggs to his diet so long as they are cooked. We did that and Beckett’s skin has stayed pretty clear and it’s a much more manageable diet restriction than totally avoiding both. He made the switch from cow’s milk to almond milk without really even noticing. He can’t have cheese or yogurt which is definitely a bummer because he loves both, but he understands that “they make me a little bit sick” and is fine not having them as long as he gets something else he likes if he sees us or other kids eating things he can’t have. Other than that, most milk/eggs are cooked and not a problem—like hard-boiled eggs, pancakes, or packaged snacks.

Another new thing lately is Beckett and I started a Mommy (and Sammy) and Me gymnastics class. Ashley and Liam joined too. It’s run by our city and at a brand new gymnastics center they just built and it’s been awesome. I don’t know what I was expecting really, but I was taken by surprise by how legit this class is. It’s not some sing little songs and let the kids bounce on the trampolines type class. It starts with the kids (who are all just two!) running a couple laps around the floor mat to warm up, then really stretching, then doing some warm up exercises (walk to the cone and back on your tip toes, for example) and then they rotate through the actual gymnastics equipment and learn all sorts of gymnastics moves. Beckett LOVES it! And I am so impressed with how great he is at following instructions (thank you, preschool!). I have loved doing the class with him and seeing him learn new skills over time and conquer fears (the balance beam isn’t his favorite) and gain confidence and probably most of all—see him “stick it and finish” like they taught him, with his arms out like a real gymnast and it’s the cutest thing in the world.

Beckett is very verbal and understands absolutely anything we say to him and vice versa. He’ll now tell us about his day when we ask or has lots of opinions when we ask him what he wants to do or eat or where he wants to go, etc. I love hearing what’s going on in his little mind. I have a couple favorite things he says. First, when he hears something that he’s excited about—whether he asks if he can go play outside or if we tell him that first we’re going to get dressed then we’re going to play baseball—he’ll say “OKAY!” but he says it “OTAY!” and with the sweetest little voice. And second, I’m usually feeding Samuel in the evenings when it’s time for Beckett to go to bed so Kolby lifts him up and walks over to where I’m sitting and swoops him down for a kiss and hug—and Beckett always asks me, “You need swoop-es, Mommy?” Just one of those things I don’t want to forget.

And last I want to write a little about his personality so I can remember. He’s just the neatest little kid. Kolby and I talk all the time about how great he is (biased parent alert) and how much fun he is to be around. I’d say the word that may describe him best is social. And I don’t mean friendly and I don’t mean chatty, although he is both of those things. He’s social in the dictionary definition kind of way: “relating to or involving activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other” or “liking to be with and talk to people : happy to be with people.” He gets that life is better when it’s a shared experience. If he does something fun or sees something cool, he wants to make sure that anyone nearby gets to experience it too. An exaggerated example is at the zoo he sets up shop at the elephant exhibit (his favorite) and ANYONE who passes by he yells and points, “Look! An elephant!” and waits on them to acknowledge it and if they respond he gets the biggest look of satisfaction. But in everyday life it’s just little things like always wanting to make new friends at the park so they can play together or work on something in the sandbox together, or at church wanting to sit with us for a while but then also wanting to stand and sing with his older kid friends or be held by his adult friends, or how at preschool his best friends are his teachers, I think because they are able to talk with him the most.

He’s good about playing by himself for longer periods of time now (15 mins?) but of course much prefers when we play with him. He generally doesn’t get into mischief (he’s not the kid I worry walking in on him painting the walls with mascara or anything) and is pretty easy, but he of course has his moments and moods where it’s very obvious he’s a stubborn and moody two-year-old. And the worst is when he won’t make up his mind about something and freaks out about both options. But overall he’s great and makes it easy to enjoy his company, and we do!

Another thing that is worth mentioning is that Beckett is a PHENOMENAL eater. Which is definitely not always the case for toddlers. The kid will eat absolutely anything we put in front of him with very few exceptions (like white potatoes…but does like french fries, ha). And he eats a ton. I’m so thankful he’s such a good eater because it makes life so much easier on us to not have to fight a battle at every mean. He also really loves to help in the kitchen and always insists on cooking dinner with us. He’s a pretty good little sous chef and usually eats a meal’s worth of ingredients before all is said and done.

We’re in an interesting phase of playing with friends where he’s old enough to know better but not really ready to do better, ha. He likes to tackle for some reason and sometimes randomly tackles his friends and they don’t always love it so we’re working on that. He’s okay at sharing but it usually requires me telling him it can be his turn for one more minute then when the timer goes off he needs to hand it over. If he does something that makes a friend mad he’ll for sure keep it up to illicit the reaction as much as possible. It can be disheartening as a parent but I know it’s just normal toddler stuff as he learns social skills. And of course there are bright spots where he’s happy to share and everyone plays great together. I’ll give him credit for his honesty, too. He and a friend (usually his second cousin Liam who lives down the street so we get together most days) will be playing and Liam will cry and I’ll ask Beckett what happened and here’s just a peek at things I’ve heard recently:
“I tackled Liam.”

“I pushed Liam.”

“I took that from Liam.”

And my personal favorite… “I hit Liam with the bat.” Where? “In the face.”

This is such a great phase and he just gets more fun every day! There are some "terrible two" lows but the highs are high and he's an absolute blast to be around.

And of course, some pictures...

Giant baby pushing a baby (and a peek at what our life looks like at home...)

I think Beckett may have had his first date?!? He saw this (older) girl reading at the library and RAN to go get some books so he could join her. He couldn't get up on the couch by himself so she helped him, and after he didn't let go of her hand and it was hilariously awkward. He slowly won her over and she ended up following him everywhere and playing with him and trying to pick him up.