Three and one half

My sweet little baby boy is not so little any longer.  He is growing out of toddler stage right into what we call "little man" stage.  I often miss my littler man, but this stage is pretty fun and I am enjoying every minute of it.  

No doubt about it, Berkeley is a quirky kid; but mostly he is sweet, lovable, happy and silly.

(This is one of those posts that just talks about how adorable my kid is, so feel free to skip over if you hate this type of thing.)

 Favorite Toys:

 B is loving the summer, he loves to run and play outside.  While outside he is ALWAYS collecting sticks and rocks, this kid is obsessed.  We have a rule that he cannot take them inside, so our porch, yard and next to our stairs are filled with these treasures.  He has many uses for his sticks, from dancing accessories, to "shooting gums", light sabers, drum sticks, to a conducting stick.  Rocks are always fun to collect and mostly used for throwing.  While at the ocean or a lake this exercise could be executed for hours on end, there is simply no end to the fun and entertainment this activity provides.

Berke LOVES Lightning McQueen and all the CARS gang.  We have been collecting all the little cars from the movie and he loves them.  He plays with these little cars everyday and knows all their names.  They are his most prized possessions at this time.

He is still obsessed with his musical instruments, which we have A LOT of.  He plays with them everyday as well.  He loves anything he can drum on.  His favorite instrument (besides the drum, the drum is always the best) is his toy violin and saxophone that he got for Easter.  He informed me that this year Santa was going to bring him a Bass Guitar and a Drum set with cymbals.  This kid has BIG dreams for our small apartment.  We often play family band and it never sounds good, but we sure have fun making "sounds" together.

The iPad is another favorite but has to be limited as he would be on it all day if he could be.  He has to do educational games before he gets to play fun games which he is perfectly content with.  This "toy" has come in handy for road trips in keeping the kid entertained and for that, I am grateful.  

 My little man is a picky eater, but recently has been enjoying a few more foods.  We have had to incorporate a rule where he has to eat what we are having for dinner.  It has been a VERY painful process for everyone involved, but has resulted him liking a few more things.  He will finally eat mac n' cheese and cheese pizza, which we couldn't be more excited about.  He has discovered that he loves grapes.  He doesn't love veggies, but is at least eating them now. He is finally eating cake and ice cream like a normal kid.

Favorite foods:

Raisin Toast, craisins, apples, grapes, spaghettios, CHOCOLATE, string cheese, pancakes and fruit snacks

Favorite Places:

If you ask Berkeley where he'd like to go on any given day he will tell you the "Z of Science."  He would go to the Museum of Science every day if he could.  Luckily for this kid, we have a season pass and his daddy takes him at least 2-3 times a month.

B also loves the donut store, aka Dunkin' Donuts.  Clearly he goes there a bit too much with his daddy.

B loves going to the park, specifically the "dog park" which is where we take McDuff to do his daily business.  It isn't really a park, it is more like a green space to sit, but we always have races there and he loves it.  This kid will run in circles for hours at this park.

Berke loves to eat at "The Hot Dog Place", SPIKES, where they have great veggie dogs!


Favorite Books:
Pieces
The Grouchy Little Ladybug
Ah Music!
The Night You Were Born

Favorite Shows/Movies:
Yo Gabba Gabba
Dora the Explorer
Mickey Mouse Club House (Minnie is his favorite character)
Finding Nemo
Cars
Curious George
Blues Clues
The Incredibles

 Favorite People:

Mommy and Daddy

Auntie G and Aunt Stefy

Charlotte (big and small)

Agnes

Bob

Soren

Q

Jonas

Sophie
Noah and Rami

Megan and Christopher

Nikki and Ryry

Judi 

Berke loves to be around people but does better when he is not in a big crowd.  He really loves our sweet neighbors who are so good to him.  He adores his little friends and talks about them all the time.

SLEEP

Berke is a great sleeper but still wakes up in the middle of the night singing and talking.  His favorite songs to sing in the middle of the night include: I Want Candy, Bruno Mars' Marry You, ABC's, Old McDonald and Twinkle Twinkle.  This odd behavior is fine when we are at home, as we can shut the door and drown him out (as he is fine, he just likes to sing), but when we travel it is NOT fun.  We have invested in a box of ear plugs that travel with us anywhere we go.

He is still taking a 2 hour nap every day and if he doesn't get it, it is not pretty! 

Berke is such a happy kid!  He wakes up every morning with a smile on his face and always greets me with a big hug.  He is always making us laugh with the things he says. 

He recently became obsessed with the Avengers and tells anyone that he sees, "I'm gonna be Captain America soon." Not sure when that is going to be.
Lately, when he wants to do something he will say, "Hey Mom/Dad, I have a big idea!"  Then he proceeds to tell us what his big idea is, such as, "My big idea is to get chocolate ice cream. Is that a big idea?"
B has become very independent and doesn't want to use his stroller any more.  While walking up our hill on a hot day he said, "This is really hard and hot." He's already learning how hard it is being a grown up.

We love this kid!