Hank's 2nd Year Update

I was not prepared for how much more quickly time passes with your second child than with your first.  Here we are, though, and Hank is already two years old.

At Hank’s two year check-up, he weighed in at 32 lbs 12.8 oz. (92nd percentile) and is 36.5 inches tall (95th percentile).  He gets comments pretty often on how big of a kid he is for being so young.  This is odd for me, because I feel like he’s still such a little guy (the complete opposite of how I felt about Lyla at this age - maybe I’ll always think he’s little just because he’s the younger brother).  I was much more relieved than Hank when I found out there were no shots this time around.  In the words of Hank “Yay! Hooray!”.  It was a  really low-key doctor’s visit, and he was so compliant that the doctor asked me if he was always this laid back and mellow.  I wish, Doc, I wish.

Hank and Lyla are so different, and they both grow in different areas at different rates.  It’s amazing to think how much of their upbringing has been pretty identical, but at the end of the day they are both pretty unique kids.  Here’s an update on what Hank’s been up to:

• Hank’s love for songs is something he definitely shares with his sister.  I find that when songs come on the radio, he instantly recognizes quite a few and even sings along a little bit!

• He can count from one to six.  Beyond that, he does pretty well up to 10 but we do seem to skip a number or two so we’ll just be safe and say he goes to 6 on his own.

• He’s just started potty training.  I really like the idea of starting around two, but I definitely wanted to wait until the holidays were over and we were back from Disneyland.  Can you imagine how much time would be spent in the bathroom instead of on rides with a newly potty-trained child?!  Not to mention all the potential accidents… I think we made a wise decision.  Here’s hoping the process goes smoothly!

• He is a jumping and skipping crazy man.  His favorite thing to do is skip and trot around in wide, open spaces.  He’s a pretty good climber, which I find both awesome and frightening. 

• Hank is talking so much more from one week to the next.  He’s so much better able to express his feelings, and he’s even started putting himself in a time-out when he starts getting upset and let’s me know when he’s ready to rejoin the situation.  That’s been amazing.  That being said, the tantrums and fits still come, but they are much shorter in duration and we can almost always end things with a hug and kiss.  My personal favorite things Hank has been saying lately include “Darn it!”, “My fault.  All Hankie’s fault.” “Yay! Hooray!”  and “Love you too, Mommy; really sweet.”  We do need to be extra careful of what we say as you never know when Hank’s going to repeat it and what context it will be said in!

• He is one independent cat.  He ALWAYS would prefer to do things for himself, so it’s always a balancing act on whether to let him try something out for himself, or force him to go my way.  I think (for now), we’ve reached an okay balance of letting him do things like quick little tasks for Mom by himself, going up and downstairs without me, and getting in the car by himself.  We do have to check him occasionally when his opinions get to be  a bit too much though.

• We gave up pacifiers.  We  kept prepping him that we were throwing them away when we got back from Disneyland.  He eventually came around and threw them away when the day came.  He’s had a bit of a rough go with naps, but (fingers crossed) has been sleeping well at night.  The first of many “big boy transitions”.

• Hank is a selectively good eater.  When there is something he likes (which is happening more and more often), he will pound down food like no other.  I thought Lyla had a good appetite, but this kid eats so much that at times I take the food away because I’m afraid he’s going to puke!  We have fought a long and hard battle to get him to eat fruits and vegetables and all the hard work is paying off.  He’s much more accepting of new foods than he used to be (although we still have work to do).  His favorite foods include:  pizza, mac and cheese, pancakes, noodles of pretty much any kind, chicken nuggets, grapes, pears, apples, broccoli, peas, and corn.

• Hank is starting to show a sweeter side.  There’s a lot more “love you” and “really sweet”, along with lots of hugs and kisses.  I love that Hank is showing more appreciation for his family and wants us to know that he cares about us too.  He’s still not at all cuddly, but I have noticed over the past few months that he allows us to comfort him when he’s upset more easily.  That makes me feel like I’m doing something right as a mom.  I still think the times I can hold a sleeping Hank in my arms is THE. BEST. EVER.

• Hank is a pretty good sleeper.  We still have to transition him into a bed and into a new room, but as of now he’s been sleeping through the night from about 7:45pm until 7am or later and will take one nap in the day.  The naps were much longer when he could use a pacifier, but I’ll take what I can get these days in the nap department.  I’m anticipating longer naps again once he’s fully used to not having the pacis. We have come a LONG WAY from where we were a year or so ago.

• Hank loves superheroes, pirates, cars, and Toy Story.  He’s a good sport and plays along with most things his sister wants to play too.  He and Lyla are such good friends, and I’m so grateful that they get along so well.  I give most of the credit to Lyla, but Hank deserves some of the credit as well.  It takes two, right?

This isn’t the half of Hank’s true essence at this point and time, but this is a good start.  I am so excited to see how much more Hank grows and explodes with new knowledge from month to month.  One thing that will probably not change - Hank’s ability to keep me running around!