Two years old

Colin turned two on Saturday. We celebrated the day in style, first meeting Nicole's cousin Brittany and her husband Matt at the aquarium. Colin and Lydia both wore shirts from Grandpa: Colin's has glow-in-the-dark marine life. After the aquarium, Brittany and Matt rode home with us and we all walked to the 5 Spot diner down the street for lunch. The kids all had the grand slam breakfast plate. I had a black bean sandwich (they didn't bother calling it a "burger") that was really tasty.

After lunch we walked home and played Carcassonne (about which see a future post) while Colin napped. Rachel won. Nicole took Brittany and Matt back to the ferry, and then we did some party prep before heading to Heidelberg Haus for dinner. We decided Colin would like to have sausages for his birthday, since he didn't express a preference himself. He ate two bratwursts, the girls had Wienerschnitzel, and Nicole and I had Jägerschnitzel and Rinderrouladen, respectively. It was pretty good. The kids were quite well behaved for both meals.

Colin has undergone a major improvement in communication ability over the last few months, though he still lags behind his sisters, especially in articulation, at the same age. He's in the early stages of learning the alphabet and counting, and has begun to sing parts of songs. His favorite, inexplicably, is "Let It Go".Inexplicably, because we stopped watching Frozen in our household when we left Pittsburgh. But one of Lydia's friends had a Frozen birthday party in early December, and that seemed to trigger something in Colin. There I've gone and explained the inexplicable. He sings the words "let it go" repeatedly, then occasionally babbles something that ends with a mostly recognizable "anymore". For those familiar with the song, it passes for "can't hold it back anymore". He also sings parts of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", and the alphabet song, which currently sounds like "A B C D energy". Rachel's school song is an adaptation of Queen's "We Will Rock You", and Colin sings and claps along, as "we will rock and roll". Colin's favorite show is Diego, which he recently has referred to primarily as "vamos a digo".

Colin was the easiest sleeper of the three children for all but the last week or so of his first two years. Of late, though, he has started to refuse naps and even bedtime except when especially tired. We still make him go to sleep, of course, but it has become something of an ordeal.

He tries to keep up with his sisters both on the playground and in the playroom. He runs, climbs, and hangs well ahead of his cohort. He plays surprisingly well with toys meant for older children, likes to scribble and color alongside the girls, and can manipulate magnets, legos, and other such toys.

Colin is quite good-natured and helpful. He likes to throw away trash, though he doesn't always distinguish landfill from recycling correctly. He has also started taking an interest in using the toilet, and on a couple of occasions has alerted us in advance of bowel movements. He still cleans up toys with enthusiasm, and has long been helpful putting away silverware from the dishwasher. He'll also pull the soap tablets out from under the sink and put them in the dishwasher. He often confuses clean and dirty dishes.

Colin can put his own rubber boots on. For a long time he would choose the wrong feet, but the last few times he has gotten it right, so perhaps he has learned. He will often express extreme enthusiasm for going along by getting himself ready in this way. The boots sometimes go on without pants and socks first. It's especially moving when he wants to go to work with me. He frequently volunteers to go on errands with whichever parent is leaving.

To the best of our recollection, the girls started the "terrible twos" early, whereas for Colin they have not set in yet. But I expect the changes at naptime are a glimpse of what's to come as he grows more interested and willful about the world around him.