First choices

In the past few weeks, River has shown some preferences in his
clothing. He gets very excited by the underwear a friend of mine
passed down, with images of Thomas the train engine and construction
vehicles. Offering to put his train underwear on will distract him
from just about any preoccupation. I’m hoping it will also help with
leaving the diapers behind, as I tell him that he doesn’t want to pee
on the train, but in the potty.

He gets excited about characters and shapes on his clothing and
recently, has started to request certain items. Last night, just
before bed, he wanted red socks. OK, I thought, why not. I took off
his green socks and put on the red ones before putting him in the
crib. He seemed to want an additional pair to go on top of the red
ones, but I was able to distract him from that idea.

It’s fun to see that he has preferences and to see him happy about
something he wears. I imagine we could also enter situations in which
he wants to wear some ridiculous things (Ie. Multiple pairs of socks
or underwear).

I think for now, my strategy is to let him make choices when
feasible. But when it’s really not feasible (ie. Wanting to wear
shorts or pyjamas outside), to insist on something that makes more
sense. So far, River has been a pretty amenable guy, so I’m not
foreseeing major battles. But just in case, does anyone have tips to
offer on toddlers who like to make clothing choices themselves?