X, Why, Z

Here are a few ways that my boy is different from my girls (so far).

1. Eating. The girls ate pretty much everything as babies and toddlers. They got pickier, but even so, they ate. Now when they don’t want something, they will make their own sandwich or fry an egg. I’m fine with that.

I have to chase M down sometimes to get him to eat. He will pick at breakfast and dinner, but inhale lunch (or pick at breakfast and lunch and inhale dinner). He’ll eat pasta and tofu one day, but not the next. Thank goodness he eats fruit and drinks milk, because I’m pretty sure those are the only consistent healthy calories he gets in him.

Except for candy. My boy — much like his daddy — has a definite sweet tooth.

2. Books. My girls picked different books almost every night as toddlers. M prefers the same few books: Baby Cakes; Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?; Good Boy, Fergus; Peas and Thank You. Maybe one more… Where Is Baby’s Belly Button?. He tells me what book he wants, and he’s already taking them to bed with him (although I think he just cuddles them along with his stuffie).

3. The “why” stage. This maybe is hard to believe, but the girls did not go through a “why” stage. Flora asks questions (her first sentence was, “Wat dat?”), but she never said, “Why? Why? Why?” Neither did Kate.

M has just entered the “Why?” stage. You know the one. “Let’s put shoes on, Michael!” “Why?” “We’re going outside!” “Why?” “It’s nice out!” “Why?” “Because it’s summer!” “Why?”

After a while, you get to a “why” that has no easy toddler answer. So that’s fun. At least Flora’s questions I can google.

4. Vehicle spotting. M will tell you about every truck and motorcycle he spots whether from his carseat or in a parking lot or when we’re at the park. Every. Single. One. It’s cute. I don’t think my girls noticed anything that much when they were 2. (Maybe dogs.)

5. He is a hitter *and* a biter (for when hitting’s just not good enough). He will lose this habit before he goes back to daycare, so help me. (Firm “no”s and timeouts are the strategy. Googling toddler boarding school is not out of the realm of possibility.)

Are these boy things? Or M things? Or a little bit of both?