Teddy is growing up

As the pictures below indicate, Teddy has been getting pretty shaggy lately. In contrast to some other toddler boys that we've known, it's unlikely that anyone would ever confuse him for a girl, but he has definitely developed a sloppy, long-haired, Beatlesque look. As a result, despite having a nasty cold and fussy temperament, he headed out today for his first haircut. Now, we don't have any pics of the actual event, nor do we have any post haircut pics for purposes of comparison, but it apparently was a great success. While Margaret and I went to the hardware store, Abby took Teddy to a barbershop in the neighborhood where Teddy sat happily while getting sheared. So, after $10 and 10 minutes in the barber chair, Teddy looks much more presentable. (Margaret, in contrast, did not want to get her hair cut today. It's unclear whether her aversion to a haircut was genuine or whether it reflected her current tendency to randomly resist certain activities proposed by her parents. Regardless, the result is that Margaret still has not had a haircut despite being almost three years old.)

The haircut reflects other developments that suggest that Teddy is starting to move out of the baby realm into the big kid category (such categories being very important to Margaret so that she can classify the kids that she knows and sees.) Although his verbal skills aren't too impressive despite significant effort on his part, he does exhibit clear interest in books. He likes to gather board books, stating (or sometimes yelling) "bu, bu", until someone reads one to him. When we do read one, he settles down and pays close attention. His favorite book at this point is "Hand, Hand, Finger, Thumb" - he starts bobbing and grooving along with the text and has certain canned responses, such as "Hand picks an"... "Apple", that he contributes.

When I think about Margaret's mileposts, a clear one involved her attentiveness to books. At some point, books became an important part of Margaret's bedtime routine - we now must read multiple books before bed each night. And we have shelves and boxes of books to provide some variety to both her and us. Teddy clearly isn't as sophisticated as Margaret in his taste for books, although Margaret will loiter around to hear books read to him. But his increased interest is a clear achievement.

In addition, he has, for better or worse, begun to voice his opinion about things. Specifically, he howls whenever he's put down, or picked up, or moved, in a way that he doesn't like. In addition, he's extremely possessive. When he gets something, like our box of sidewalk chalk, he bellows if someone tries to take it away. To some extent, this is understandable as his sister often appropriates things that he has (and a cynical observer might think that she does so to get a reaction from him.) Trying to protect his territory is a natural reaction, and I'm sure that this reflects sibling rivalry that we'll be dealing with for years. Still, he often takes it too far. He yells "Noooo, noooo" and thrashes his arms when I try to take him out of the truck at a local playground. More problematic is his tendency to do the same thing when a random kid intrudes on his territory. Although I'll mumble apologies about how he's really responding to his sister, I don't want to have one of "those kids" who cause problems at the playground, especially when his sister is the person who eggs him on.