On Turning Two

I've recently had a communication breakthrough with Simon.  I managed to successfully bribe him motivate him with delayed gratification for the first time.  Specifically, I got him to go wipe his nose by telling him that afterward he could listen to "the Muppet song" ("Life's a Happy Song" from the recent Muppets movie).

Simon has suddenly started requesting more specific things, such as for me to sing a particular song instead of just "song," or to have a drink in the red cup.  It seems as if he has developed an opinion about everything all at once.  I find it quite delightful, not only because I take pleasure in his discovery of some of the options life has to offer, but also because I figure it's probably good for Asher to have somebody else around with an opinion.

Simon loves babies in general and Ivy in particular.  He frequently asks to hold her, is fond of pointing out all of her various body parts, and will hover over her saying, "hi, eye-fee!" over, and over, and over.  At bedtime, rather than saying goodnight to each of us in turn like he used to, he simply says goodnight to Ivy and ignores the rest of us.

Simon is very physically tough, but a little emotionally sensitive.  He can take quite a beating from Asher, laughing the whole time, if he thinks that Asher's intention is to play with him.  If he feels like Asher is trying to hurt him, he gets upset over things that can't possibly hurt much.

Simon is playful and likes to be funny.  Recently, he pointed out a picture of a cow to Grandma, said "oink," and then laughed.

Simon is decidedly two, with all of the tantrums and hitting and repetitions of "no" that entails, but his version of two is so bursting with personality that I don't mind much.  I think I'll keep him around for at least another year.