Hellobee

I can’t believe Charlie turned 2 this past weekend. It was a big year for Charlie transitioning from a nanny to full-time daycare, and then adjusting to life with a new baby sister. But I’m so proud of my little boy for handling everything so well. He’s a big boy now!

Life with a sibling

Charlie loves Olive. He gives her hugs and kisses and pounds, and has never shown any overt jealousy towards her. But after she came home, he did start acting out with more frequent tantrums. The biggest battle we’ve been having with him is getting him dressed. Then once we come home from being out, he doesn’t want to take his clothes off! I think he associates putting his clothes on with going to daycare (leaving me to play with Olive), and taking his clothes off with taking a bath and going to bed. Charlie is very opinionated and everything is a negotiation lately, but I’ve gotten really good at tricking him. For instance I’ll put his socks on his favorite doll, Muno, and tell him that Muno is wearing socks, doesn’t Charlie want to wear socks too? It requires getting creative every day, but I think I know how his little mind works!

It’s only been two months since Olive was born though, and an adjustment period is naturally expected. We implemented time outs in the past week and I don’t know if it’s because they’ve been super effective or it’s just coincidence, but Charlie has been much better behaved. We know he understands when he’s doing something wrong because he’ll get a mischievous grin on his face and look you in the eye for your reaction. Now when we even mention the words “time out,” Charlie usually stops whatever mischief he’s making right away.

Charlie picked out his own clothes. Having Sesame Street shirts (we have 3) definitely makes it easier to convince Charlie to get dressed!

Mama’s Boy

The main change in Charlie post-Olive has been that he’s become super duper attached to me. He’s been through mommy phases in the past, but never like this. Charlie wouldn’t let Mr. Bee do the simplest things for him like give him a bath, push him on a swing or read him a book. He’d say, “No Daddy (while waving his hand no for emphasis). Mommy do it.” I think it’s because he sees me with Olive, and he’s showing his jealousy by being more possessive with me. He knows that I had a baby in my stomach, and I think he understands that that baby is Olive. He’s also obsessed with my milk because he knows it’s for Olive, and has added “Mommy’s boobs” and “pump” to his vocabulary. He even drank two bottles of my milk that Olive didn’t finish!

Taking care of Olive is a breeze compared to taking care of Charlie. All Olive does is eat and sleep — it really is so much easier the second time around. Charlie on the other hand requires that I actively engage him. He wants more and more of my time, when I have less and less of it. Our time together is quality time — reading books, going to the playground, playing with his trains and play kitchen — but his desire for wanting to play with me can never be satiated. How can I possibly be mad at him for that? These years are so fleeting and in the blink of an eye, I’m not going to be cool enough to play with him anymore.

Sleep

I think Charlie had a growth spurt recently because for most of the past month he was sleeping 13-14 hours a night, and taking a 2-3 hour nap. We had to wake him up every morning to get to daycare on time. It was pretty glorious getting to sleep in until 9:30 on the weekends. But that also meant later bedtimes, and Mr. Bee and I get a lot of our work done after Charlie goes to bed. As much as I’m not a morning person, I’m glad to be back on Charlie’s regular sleep schedule of 7:30pm – 7:30am.

Talking

Charlie had another language explosion the past month. Months 22 and 23 were plateaus. He continued to add new words to his vocabulary, but it was more about stringing together the words he already knew. This past month, however, was a big one verbally. Charlie regularly speaks in 6 word sentences, and he says so many new things everyday (many learned at daycare), that Mr. Bee and I are always saying, “Did you know he knew how to say that?” The things Charlie says are only interesting and funny to us because we’re the only ones who know exactly what words he already knows. It’s exciting to see him not only increase his vocabulary, but also see his personality emerge as he’s better able to express himself. Just yesterday he was wearing an animal mask and said to his rocking horse, “Oh hi horsey! I’m a cow!”

Charlie’s signature dance moves

Play

The way Charlie plays has changed a lot in the past month as well. He used to want us to play with him at all times. Now he’s much better at entertaining himself. He engages in much more imaginative play, like cooking in his kitchen or playing with his cars and trains. In the past month he became obsessed with his kitchen again and would “cook” every day. So for his birthday we gave him a pot and pan set, and he absolutely loves it. He cooks us soup and thinks it’s hilarious when we tell him that it’s hot, warm, cold, spicy, sour or delicious.

Charlie has always liked reading, but now a book is the first “toy” he grabs in the morning. His favorite books are still Llama Llama Red Pajama and anything Sesame Street. I love not only reading to Charlie, but also pointing out things in the book and asking him to identify them. It really is a special time and one of my favorite things to do together.

Potty Training

Charlie is definitely ready for potty training. When we first bought a potty at 18 months, Charlie went on it every morning for a couple of weeks. Then he started hating the potty and we didn’t want to push it, especially with a new baby on the way. But the past month Charlie will often tell us when he needs to poop, when he’s pooping, and when he’s already pooped. He’s peed in his mini potty twice (when previously he only went on his toilet potty), and he loves his potty books. We just have to find a week to really commit to it and get it done.

Birthday

Charlie’s daycare celebrates all the children’s birthdays, and since we weren’t having a party for him ourselves, I tried to make his daycare party a little extra special. I made gift bags with this stacking cup bath toy (on sale!), 4 pieces of sidewalk chalk, Annie’s organic gummies, freeze dried pear crisps, and an animal mask. I also took cupcakes and a mylar balloon for each kid. The balloons were the biggest hit — one kid even brought hers back to school on Monday!

Since Charlie really understands possessions now (and is going through a “mine” phase… hopefully it’s a phase), we rarely buy him toys. If we had a birthday party, Charlie would just get a lot of gifts, and we’re very worried about not spoiling him. He already had a nice party at daycare, so we just had a very simple birthday cake at home. The only gifts he received were the pot and pan set from us, and some books from his babysitter. Our babysitter got him a card that sings Happy Birthday when you open it, and Charlie loved it so much I’m going to give one to every two year old from now on.

I’m so proud of my happy little man. There have definitely been times when he’s tried my patience the past month, but he is so funny, sweet, and charming that I usually end up laughing instead of being mad. His smiles and laughs light up my life. I know I often talk about how hard it is being a parent, but it really is worth it. I can’t wait to see Charlie’s relationship develop with Olive in the coming year. I think he will be a great big brother.

Happy 2nd birthday Charlie!