Matthew is 2!

His 2nd birthday is a very hot day here in San Mateo. His best friend’s family was supposed to join us for dinner, but Grandma Penny’s plane from the east coast where she was visiting is late and it is too hot for a big crowd. So Anneke sent him a Wiggles e-card and he screamed with delight.

Matthew is still the busiest toddler I’ve ever met. Except now he’ll watch Wiggles. In fact, he’s watching now so I have time to wrtie this! His birthday present from Jared is 2 Wiggles videos we picked up used. Ethan painted him a picture. We get lots of Wiggles videos from the libraries.

He is a pain in the neck in the library, unless he’s asleep. We can’t go to the library that’s walking distance from our house because it is too small. We need a library where the children’s area is a separate room because Matthew SCREAMS and SQUEALS and runs around like a maniac. I pull out board books to read to him, but mostly he immediately says, “The End!” and waits for me to close them (or slams them shut himself!). He likes the Tana Hoban shape books and he likes his book Busy Doggies that is photos of doggies and rhymes. There are few other books he’ll tolerate.

Anneke and her mom noticed this yesterday when he was there for a loooooong playdate. I was working at the camp at Jared’s nursery school so that Ethan and Jared could have a day of camp for free from 9 – 1. Matt was too young to come so Ruth babysat him for me twice. He did great both times! But he’s always happy when he’s with Anneke. Whenever you say her name he squeals in delight. Apparently they were so excited yesterday that they spent the first half hour of their playdate running around and then stopping and screaming with each other. Anneke will be 3 in November and, as the youngest of 3 siblings, it is good for her to have Matthew to look up to her. Matthew encourages her to be a little more daring than she might otherwise, while she shows Matthew about quieter play. They play together like no 2 year olds I’ve ever seen. At this age they’re supposed to co-play – play near each other. While they have occasional trouble taking turns, overall us moms seldom have to intervene as they play and they are very much playing together. They get along so well!

Like his brothers, Matthew is strong and developing well, ahead of his age (except for his size – he’s still on the small side). Matthew is saying sentences now. The other morning he identified his family as “This is Daddy” and “This is Mommy” instead of just “Daddy” and “Mommy” as he used to do. This morning, out of the blue, he sang the first half of Amazing Grace. On the playground other mothers think I’m criminally lax as I let him toddle around the structures unaccompanied. But even though he’s this tiny little boy, he is sure-footed and agile. He has great body awareness and balance. Besides that, his tolerance for pain is high: he seldom cries when he falls. He has to really be hurt to cry.

Matthew has a great personality. He has never cried very much, and gets over tears very quickly. He is so happy and excited so much of the time. When he answers in the affirmative, he bends his knees and then jumps in the air shouting, “YYYYYYYYYYES!” If he doesn’t want to do something, like have his diaper changed, you can usually coax him into an agreeable state with a few games of silliness and he will start laughing with you.

However, he is 2 now and definitely has more opinions about how he wants things done. He wants to sit at the table on a Stokke chair like his brothers, NOT in the high chair! He wants to climb into the car himself. “I can do it, I can do it, I can do it!” he will say adamantly. And he has no doubts. Neither do I!