Updates, part 3

Peter

Peter is a little over 1.5 years old now, but he thinks he’s closer to 3! He is a riot. He works hard to keep up with his bigger brothers, and wants to be included in whatever they’re doing, whether it’s toddler-friendly or not. When I announce that it’s time for school, Peter excitedly shouts “’cool!” and toddles toward the dining room table. His version of school is getting to scribble with crayons (while tasting a few along the way), coloring with markers (which can include skin as well as paper), and then being done with it after 10 minutes, begging to get down from his high chair, and then 10 minutes later begging to get back up in his high chair. What he really wants is to sit at the big kid table next to Jack and Thomas, and do big kid stuff like cutting and gluing. If we leave a chair slightly pulled out from the table, he races over to climb onto it and start getting into Jack’s school supplies.

One of Peter’s favorite things lately is to pick out a book, plop himself into a lap, and ask “Boo? Boo?” until someone reads him the book. Now, he doesn’t really want to sit and listen to a story – he would rather you point out all the interesting things in the picture so he can learn their names. It’s one of the few times that Peter sits calmly in our laps, so I relish this time with him. He also asks to have a book in bed with him, so I’ve been letting him take a board book to bed, and it’s pretty cute to see him lying in his crib flipping through the pages just like he’s sees his brothers do.

Peter had a checkup for his broken ankle last week, and it has healed perfectly. He also had a blood test to detect a possible allergy to nuts and peanuts, and his test came up negative (so did Thomas’s, by the way). So the doctor said we could try giving him nut products (and watch him carefully the first few times to make sure there wasn’t a reaction), but the chances are very good that neither he nor Thomas are allergic to nuts. Peter is walking very well, and at times breaks into a very quick walk which borders on running. He can’t jump yet, but he tries really, really hard (bends really low at the knees and pops up as high as he can), which is pretty cute.

Slowly but surely, Peter seems more tolerant of the cold weather and snow. He loves being pulled around in a sled (he calls it “wheee!”), and he’s getting confident enough in his snow boots that he’ll toddle around the sidewalks and even attempt walking through some snowy patches. The deeper snow he still struggles with, because it basically comes up to his midsection and there’s no way for him to walk through it, but at least he seems more willing to be outside and have fun.

Peter just adores Jack and Thomas. They are a constant source of entertainment and amusement for him. Sometimes he rushes over to them and gives them a kiss or a hug out of the blue, which both Jack and Thomas think is hilarious.

Peter is a particular toddler – he has a certain perception of the way things should go, and he doesn’t like things to deviate from his plan. Personality-wise, he seems closer to Jack’s intensity so far, but we’ll see. He also has a very silly, funny side, and I love watching his sense of humor unfold. I’m really enjoying his toddlerness – he brings so much joy and wonder to our family!