Hello underoos

Okay, well, maybe not underoos (do they make them anymore?), but Sam fully potty trained over Thanksgiving break this year and now gets to wear his choice of colorful undergarments (Thomas the train is his favorite, with Percy and Lightning McQueen tying for second place). He also started tracing letters for the first time at Thanksgiving, so Mom is hoping to develop that a little more as his attention span for it increases.

Sam is starting to come out of his shell at school a little and has learned the songs and corresponding motions for circle time. He is learning other kids' names, definitely loves to follow the older boys around and has picked up on how to chase girls. Ah well, it's a path well-trodden.

We are practicing Christmas carols at the moment and he's learned Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer quite well, complete with hand motions. When he heard Jingle Bells on our preschool music CD he said, "Hey, the Wiggles sing this." (Yes, his music taste is still fully Wiggles-centric)

While he still naps most days, he is certainly all little boy now, no toddler left. Green Blankie still is important to him, but he happily trots off to Sunday School by himself. On the way in to the children's sermon, he picks up Andrew in the nursery and they walk in together, hand-in-hand to the alter for their sermon with Father Mike. He's blossoming into a wonderful older brother - playing patiently with Andrew and enjoying his company.

Andrew at age 2

Andrew celebrated his second birthday at the end of October. Way to go, Andrew!

He continues to be an active, engaging, friendly and mischievous little boy. He adores his older brother and enjoys playing with any wheeled object. He's fearless when it comes to leaping onto pillows on the floor and enjoys climbing ladders of any height.

He is incredibly verbal and has been speaking in full sentences since about 22 months of age. Some of my recent favorite sentences are: "Mommy, I don't like my pillow" (said grumpily at the end of a nap), "Look, you don't have your glasses on" (said as I put him to sleep, wearing contacts), "Mommy, you don't like the skin?" (said to me as I zested a lemon for cookies).

Andrew is extremely good-natured, and whether he's meeting new people, being knocked about by Sam or brought along on errands, he's generally quite happy. He has continued to enjoy the co-op preschool he attends with Sam and likes playing with the other 2 year old siblings. He participates in in free play and snack time with the 3 year olds, so I suspect he'll be staying for all of circle time by the end of the school year.

Over Thanksgiving break from school, Andrew became potty trained (woohoo!). Mom (or Dad) has to remember to take him to the bathroom frequently, but he goes without much fuss and remains dry in-between times. He particularly likes his underwear with the character Mater from the Cars movie. Mom just gets a kick out of the fact that his underwear is smaller than the size of one of her socks.

For Halloween this year, Sam was a road (his request) and Andrew was a street sign. We chose the sign "No Stopping Anytime" for him. That just about sums up Andrew at age 2.