9 Things I like about my 2-year-old

Back a few months ago when my Teddy was mobile but not yet verbal, I loved the kid, but some days he was hard to like. With speech, his little personality has emerged, and it's time to enumerate some of the things I like about him.

1. He cleans up, sometimes without prompting. Give him a basket or bucket to fill with the toys that belong in it, and he will not stop until it's full. Today, I couldn't feed him lunch until he'd finished filling the train basket.
2. Perhaps an adjunct to number 1, he loves putting laundry down the laundry chute. He picks up giant piles of dirty clothes (relative to his 30-inch stature) and methodically throws them into the dark tunnel. This can be a problem when there's a garment that happens to be laying about that we don't want in the laundry.
3. He talks to strangers. Obviously, a trait that must be monitored, but what I mean is that, although he sometimes gets shy, his shyness doesn't cripple him. He'll make conversation with adults and other kids in situations that he considers safe.
4. He can throw. For someone not quite two and a half, he throws remarkably straight and hard. His 6-year-old brother, a gifted hitter, could never pitch to me. Teddy already can.
5. He can catch. It's going to be a long winter, and the nerf football in the living room will pass more father and son time because this son can catch a ball.
6. He makes marvelous faces. Those who chart human emotion should come to my house and bring a camera. From the eyebrows to the electric grin, Teddy lets the world know how he feels through his facial features.
7. Put him on the changing table and tell him to lay down for a diaper change, and he does it. Enough said.
8. He takes medicine like a champ. No whining. No spills.
9. When I sing to him before nap or bedtime, he nestles his head down on my shoulder and rests there until the song ends. Then he puckers up and gives me a kiss. He goes to sleep occasionally talking to himself and almost never crying.