Favourite Things... the two year old edition

At 2 years old, Zachary clearly knows his likes and dislikes. The boy knows what he wants, which makes things both easier and more complicated (when he can't have what he wants, or when he wants it!).
I always like hearing what other people's kiddos of a similar age are interested in. So here are some of our two year old's favourite things these days.... in terms of books, toys, foods, and activities....
Favourite Books:

• Zac loves interactive books like Tap the Magic Tree, Press Here, or Playtown
• Step Gently Out - a beautifully photographed book about bugs & nature
• You can go to the potty, Everyone Poops... because we're in the midst of potty training, and Zachary LOVES to read all about it (both when sitting on the potty and before bed).
• Amazing Airplanes - has been a longstanding favourite of Zac's. We take A LOT of plane trips because of our work in the north, and this book has made Zac adore all things plane & airport related. (We actually own 4 books from this series and Zac loves them all)
• Waiting for Baby... We've been reading this book to Zac since I became pregnant. I think (I hope) it has prepared him a little bit for what's to come. We'll see!
• Doggies and Go, Dog. Go!

Favourite Bedtime Lullaby:

• The "stay awake song" aka the lullaby from Mary Poppins. He requests it every night.

• Otherwise he still requests we sing Jingle Bells before bed.... which feels so wrong this far after Christmas ;)

Favourite Toys:

• Zachary LOVES his new Play Kitchen. And it's been really fun for us to watch him play so creatively, and to mimic our daily rituals in the most adorable ways... for example, he goes through all the steps to make us pretend cappuccinos and then says "Here, love" as he hands them to us (mimicking what we say to each other when we make each other morning coffees).
• Mega Blocks, naturally.
• Hape Scoot Bike - Zac was given this bike for his 1st birthday but still rides it all over the apartment all day long. We actually bought him this scooter for Christmas, which he loves to be pushed around on but hasn't quite mastered how to ride it independently yet.
• Brüder garbage/recycling truck. Any Brüder truck/tractor actually - they're incredibly realistic and have so many functioning parts that entertain Zac endlessly. The funniest part about having this truck is that whenever we have our friends over, the men will inevitably gather around it and admire how cool and realistic it is. And then Zac becomes possessive of his toy because everyone wants to play with it. It's hilarious actually.

Favourite Activities:

• Playing hide and seek... for hours and hours on end
• Vacuuming
• Helping cook/bake in the kitchen. Zachary loves mixing, measuring and anything involving shaping dough into balls or pancakes!
• Talking to his baby brother inside my belly and "showing him" how he can do things... which involves lifting my shirt and exposing my belly so that the baby can "watch" him do whatever it is that he's doing ;)
• Watering the house plants
• Listening to music... and by music I mean Raffi. (Anyone have any suggestions for other great, and more importantly - tolerable, kids music?)
• Getting a hold of our iPhones and taking toddler-selfies or looking at photos of himself.
• Procrastinating bedtime and nap time like his life depends on it. Seriously, this kid tricks me into delaying sleep all the time in the most mischievous (and frankly adorable) ways.

Favourite Foods:

• If carbs are on the table (bread, pasta, crackers, etc) you can pretty much forget him tasting anything else for the remainder of the meal. We try our best to circumvent this by offering veggies first... sometimes it works ;)
• Fruit - any fruit, and anything I can blend into a Smoothie.
• Veggie hot dogs
• Meat! This boy is such a carnivore! We eat mostly vegetarian but are having to seriously adjust our meal choices because this boy loves meat... and not just any meat, he has expensive taste. His favourites are rack of lamb (which he calls "meat on a stick") and filet mignon. Excusez-moi! At least he still loves tofu.
• Vegetables are a bit of a struggle... we have intermittent luck with asparagus, green beans, broccoli, cucumber, bell peppers, carrots, peas, mushrooms.... depending on his hunger level (and if I remember to serve it first before other options are available!).

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Well there you have it... our boy at two years old, in a nutshell. Do you have a toddler? If so, please share his or her favourite books/toys/foods if you feel so inclined. I am always looking for inspiration! oxo Vanessa.