Nikita at 2 years, 10 months

Nikita has recently been throwing serious temper tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. Two days ago, it was for wanting to play more with the snow (after two hours); yesterday, it was for wanting Igor to remove his boots after music class. I'm hoping it's because he was tired/hungry and didn't want to admit it. Or maybe he wasn't feeling well. Igor hopes it's just a phase. I'm afraid it will get worse when the baby arrives, but I refuse to dwell upon it.

Otherwise, Nikita has been thoroughly happy with the books I recently got from the library. We've been slowly going through the list in the Read Aloud Handbook (this is the one we have; there's a more recent edition), and Nikita currently loves listening to the CD that comes with Mouse Cookies & More (as well as Disney's Children's Favorite Songs, Vol. 1).

I think I went a bit overboard, however, by getting three huge storybooks on Thomas the Tank Engine (he loves singing the theme song from the PBS series, but omits half the words). I wanted to compare the books before buying; I didn't count on Nikita lugging them all over the house. As for what to buy, I can't decide between Thomas the Tank Engine: the Complete Collection (with a map!) and the Railway Series Boxed Set. The question is of size: the former is a behemoth, while the latter consists of the original small books, i.e. small enough for Nikita's hands. I might end up buying the Complete Collection because despite its size, Nikita likes carrying it around, and thankfully does not ask me to read it from cover to cover.