When do we stop calling him Baby Will, you ask?
I don't know, but Little Baby Billy in The Righteous Gemstones makes it work into middle-agedhood, so I'm in no hurry to cut it out.
This baby is two. Two!
...Baby Will: 2 years.
Toddlers
10 Baby and Preschool Books for Quarantine
9 Kid Items for Mealtime
Oh hey, Monday.
Will is going through a very funny picky eating stage (it is not funny, I have zero time for it), and we're patiently waiting it out because what else can we do. Commence beatings?
...Baby Gear: Lily Jade Diaper Bag
I feel like I say this about all baby gear that we like, but this is DEFINITELY my favorite thing. Maybe because it's a product for grownups too! Finally.
When I had Will, I knew I was going to need some kind of new diaper bag situation. Beck has all but gotten to the point where she requires very little out in public (can drink and eat without kid stuff at a restaurant, doesn't often get super dirty, etc), but I knew that having a new baby would bring new things to haul around that I'd completely forgotten about.
...Toddler Feeding Strategies + Favorite Foods
It's a kid food day! Feeding Beck is something I get in a rut with every once in awhile, and it kind of goes one of two ways. One, she eats a few healthy things so that's all I give her because then she's getting produce and protein and things that I'm cool with BUT not trying lots/any new things. Then we have part two where we have a ton of fun things or busy things and she eats pizza for five days straight because it's quick and her favorite food.
Obviously one of those items is prooooobably preferable, but pizza is also a winner on an emotional level, there's no denying that. We've been working with Beck more on eating all at once (she's the queen of saying she needs to color in between bites or other silly but cute things), eating produce first, and trying new things even if she's pretty sure she won't like them.
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Baby Gear: Dockatot
FIRST AND FOREMOST we heart Dockatot for real no sponsorship just love them a lot.
When I had Beck and was up all night obsessively looking at baby gear, I came across a minimalist nursery gear list with some thoughts on new parents, and an economist had labeled us (at the time) Motivated Overspenders. I think about that all the time, and really believe it's true. Something that might help our kid sleep better? I'll take two, whether it works or not, no matter the cost.
Now that we're on Kid 2, though, I've pared down the things we need and revised some "this is dumb" and "must have no matter what" categories. I'm working on a list of things that we still love/are over/have recently started using with Will, so stand by for that!
...About a Beck! 3 years.
The birthdays are always the most nostalgic and the most fun all at the same time, I think. I wonder, were my parents ever sad or weepy on our birthdays? I don't remember them talking about it, but maybe they just didn't tell us. All day on Beck's birthday (and the day before at her party) I felt so nostalgic for the present and the last three years. HOW is she so big! Jay was talking to her about her vocabulary the other day and asked her how many she knew, and I was thinking....all of them. She can't really talk about engineering with much finesse, but she's fluent in English, which is strange and obviously a good thing.
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Siblings So Far
Beck's First School Days
We are preparing for our first school conference next week. 
What! That means the year is flying, all of that, but it also puts us in a whole new world of things we know nothing about.
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About a Beck! Big Girl Bed.
Of course, God Forbid I actually have an image of said bed, because I'm no longer allowed to take photos of Beck, per her, this week.
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2 1/2 Year Toddler Favorites
About a Beck! Two and a Half.
Two and a half plus a month because time is escaping me, so rounding the bases toward three faster than I'd like to admit. Also messing with my mind, Beck will be a big sister at her next birthday in five seconds. 
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About a Beck! Two and a Half
Time slow down time slow down time slow down. 
Today, in honor of Maternal Mental Health week, I decided to share how things are going with this moody threenager we are raising. Beck these days, that sort of thing. Beck these days is trying and wonderful and confusing and maddening and adorable and HITTING, so that's cute. ...
Beck's Favorite Cheese Toast
aka slightly-fancy-yet-somehow-redneck cheese toast, and by that I mean YOU'RE WELCOME. 
This definitely isn't an innovative recipe by any stretch of the imagination, and it takes all of 5 minutes to create. BUT, it's one that Beck has recently started loving, more day-in-the-boring-life type of stuff. What is it, though, about emotionally needing lots of carbs on weeks where you're feeling particularly bad about your shape/size? This could be just me, and I'm choosing to ignore it with cheese and bread.
This toast! Cheese toast was totally a thing in our house growing up. It's super quick and can vaguely present itself as part of a balanced meal with the addition of some fruit and veg, and kids like it which is kind of the main thing. I make this fully adult-friendly with good ingredients - bread that I love, fancy/sharp cheese, and some simple spices to boost the flavor. The key is to use a teensy bit more cheese than you think you need and broil juuuuuust until the cheese is about to burn for maximum browned cheese happiness.
That's why this is emotionally necessary. Browned cheese.
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2-Year Toddler Favorites
Two years and two months, but the doctor is two months behind and so are we, and that's fine, right? 
So! Beck had her two year appointment FINALLY yesterday, which resulted in good scores all over except in the "sitting still for shots" category, where she grabbed the needle (yes, I was holding her, tightly) and scratched it against herself. Baby's first accidental needle stick, I couldn't be more proud. She looked all kinds of baffled and then the nurse put the bubble machine on, and through just the most pitiful tears Beck was all "BUBBLES! Thank you for the bubbles!" So she survived, is my point. And yes, we still believe very strongly in vaccinating, which I assume is why Beck tried to do it herself. Because it's worth it.
Vaccine opinions aside, Beck has gained good weight, knows a gazillion words, and loves going to the doctor even though she doesn't actually like the doctor to touch her. She DOES like telling him how to spell her name and repeating his name back to him over.and.over.and.over, so all was well. It's so different once kids hit two, there are new growth charts and new things to look for and new foods to consider, it's so much fun and nostalgic all at the same time.
We've evolved in our gear a little bit too, mainly to the tune of every spare floor space being taken up by some kind of toddler item. We have very few rooms where kid stuff isn't present, which is just fine with me. I'm not trying to pretend like Beck only lives in one room any more than Jay and I do, and it means she's entertained in lots of spaces.
Here are some of our favorite things!
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About a Beck - 2 years old!
"So, time for a little sister!" is the phrase most associated with a child turning two, I've learned. 
yep, those are baby Jordan's up there.
How, why, HOW is she two. I know, passage of time and 24 months and all of that, but it just doesn't seem like it's been long enough. It went way too fast, and seems way too early to be thinking about siblings for this child, even though I know that it's not necessarily. ...
Beck's 2nd Birthday
....in very bad pictures. 
Beck turned two on Saturday! And Beck acted like she was two on Saturday.
There will be a separate About a Beck post with talk of development and how much I love her, but this is about the actual day. Beck actually spent the night before her birthday at my parents' house, so we had the morning to decorate and clean and cook for her party without her, which in fact makes for a much better party, honestly. We picked her up still in her jammies (it was a snow day), and she was SO excited to come home to "some new balloons!" I have no idea when we have had old balloons, but ok.
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Five for Friday
Holiday Gift Guide - Baby and Toddler Edition
I included the above picture not necessarily to talk about the toy (its a teeny cheap-o train set from TJ Maxx), but to demonstrate that mainly kids don't need much AND will enjoy playing with toys in an....unconventional way...before they get into what they are actually supposed to do. For example, Beck prefers to have an adult assemble the train track in this set, then lifts it up and yells NOOOOOOO while letting it crash all over the floor. Then she proclaims "do 'gain!" and the adult has to start over. The adult never gets to play with the actual trains.
But! Tis the season, and we definitely love this season around here because Beck's birthday AND Christmas are within 3 weeks of her. We still have a few methods for spreading out the love that I imagine we will keep for years to come (asking grandparents to do one present per event, or one thing one time and contribute to college the next, holding toys from her party to distribute throughout the year, etc) to keep this time of year from getting more out of control than it already is, but it definitely still is fun to shop for little people.
Here are my ideas for this year! Some of it we have, some of it we want, some of it we have loved and passed on. I tried to stay away from necessities, gear, etc, and move more toward gifty things. None of this is sponsored, just things we actually love or have heard great things about from friends with kids.
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Toddler Feeding Rules + Recipes
The rules are that THERE ARE NO RULES. 
Jk there kind of are.
First, I'd like to point your attention to the above picture: this is what getting a toddler to eat like a human is like. To the outside eye, it probably looks like I'm super pissed and borderline assaulting my child. Buttttt no, just holding her arm while patiently explaining that if we thrash around (one of my favorite phrases), we will very like fall off the bench and hurt ourselves and cry. ...