Snapshot: Bradley at Two and a Half

Bradley is a fun-loving kid who loves to laugh. When he thinks he's being funny, sometimes he will say, "Nice Cheez-it Bag!" over and over again. This is repetition of something he heard Mommy say when she saw an empty Cheez-it bag in our driveway. We laughed really hard when he started saying that ... the first time. Bradley has not come to understand yet that jokes can lose their luster when told over and over again.

Bradley is equal parts Mommy and Daddy's boy. He loves both of us and wants us for different things. If one of us is trailing behind when we are going out, he will call for the one that is dragging behind and say, "Want Mommy" or "Want Daddy." He calls out for Daddy sometimes at night, but wants Mommy to come upstairs with him for bedtime some nights and says "Bye Daddy." He will give "Monster Kisses" and "Monster Hugs" if we offer something in exchange. He wants to be close to us, but doesn't necessarily want to be smothered by us or to smother us. He says, "Please" and "Thank You" some of the time, but just about always says it when prompted. He usually does not want to play by himself, preferring to play with us. He will say, "Daddy, you be the blue truck" and he will be the green and yellow truck. Then we will play crashing cars or racing cars or have his stuffed Chick-Fil-A cows ride on trucks together.

Bradley is starting to notice that there are other kids in the world. He walks right up to them and says, "Hi," then he stands right in their path. Sometimes they are delighted, sometimes they are annoyed. He has gotten used to directing play with us and his nannies, so he tells the other kids what he wants them to do or he will put their finger on a button he wants them to push. He also tries to take their hands to lead him around. Bigger kids usually pull their hands away. That's what he does with the older kids. The other day at the playground, he helped an 18 month old around the playground, holding his hand, etc. He also played with a little girl a few doors down who is four months older than him. He was good with her, racing on ride-on toys in the backyard. He often follows, but also directs play. If one kid runs, Bradley usually gets excited and runs after them. He loves, loves, loves, the "Merry-Go-Round" at the park (the spinny thing). All the kids go crazy spinning around and Bradley repeats a lot of what they are saying. He repeats a lot, and has unfortunately become particularly fond of a line in one of his favorite songs - Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap - "what the hell?" We can't act like it's a big deal or he'll start saying it more and more.

Bradley is getting more coordinated, although we'd probably have to admit that this is not one of his stronger points. He can shoot baskets, and is starting to master a backspin on the ball to make it go up instead of straight ahead. He can ride ride-on toys, and move the pedals on pedal-powered toys, but he usually moves the pedals backwards. He throws the ball, usually lining up to throw it to (at) you at point blank range. He also catches it.

Bradley is excited for his new baby sister, although he probably doesn't know what that entails. He says, "hi, baby" to babies, but really doesn't play with them a bunch. He says his new sister's name is Dot, and we think that's from the dots on the ultrasound he saw. We have resorted to calling her that, too.

Bradley's gift with reading is well documented on his blog. The other day, he read, "Carrabba's - Happy Birthday Jean" on a blackboard at Carrabba's Italian Grill. The ladies on their way in were amazed, saying, "no way," and commenting to the hostess about how crazy that was. He reads words he's never read before, sometimes getting them slightly off, like saying "Adventure" when the word is "Avenue" or "Home Pot" for "Home Depot." he read the word mexican the other day, and we swear we did not teach him that...

We could not count the words he knows, but it appears to be in the thousands. It's not just little words like cat and dog. He reads big words, too. He does not have the attention span to sit and read for himself a whole book, and he insists we read to him, but if pressed with incentives (such as, we'll go to Chuck E Cheese if you read me this whole book), he knows every word in most of his books. We don't know what exactly this gift will turn into, or what we can really do with it yet, but we'll see.

Recently, he has taken to Daddy playing guitar for him at night. Daddy suckered him into liking this after refrains of "No guitar, no guitar," by singing songs about Chuck E. Cheese. Every night, Bradley makes up his own words to songs. His songs are about Chuck E. Cheese, the park, the Tellus Museum with Ms. Brittany (his nanny) and other kids' stuff. He just says the words then Daddy sings them. Once Daddy has sung what he asks for, he says something else. One of these days, we'll get around to recording one of these sessions.

Bradley does some goofy things. For some unknown reason, he loves the bottle of Parmesan cheese. He begs for us to get it from the fridge and give it to him at dinner. He will eat extra nuggets if we give it to him. He wants us to open it so he can look through the holes, at which time, he says "There's Parmesan cheese in there!" - over and over. He will laugh diabolically as if he's just taken over the world and say "Parm-e-san Chee-eese...." - again, over and over.

He often carries around a Diego Easy-Up trainer pull-up. He sometimes wants Daddy or Mommy to hold one, too, so his easy ups can talk to each other. He has gotten over his obsession with Chuck E Cheese, but this seems to have replaced it.

Bradley also likes cold water in the bath. He begs to have his Avent bottle cup that we keep in the bath to pour cold water on him. He acts shocked when it pours on him, but he loves it. He keeps asking for it again and again - "More cold water! More cold water!" He will pour it on his own head, too.