Twenty two months
October 25, 2006
We are quickly approaching your second birthday and as cliche as it sounds your father and I frequently look at each other and say, “Wow, where did these two years go?”
I have been trying to teach you to answer “two” when asked your age. But you just laugh and say, “Fwee. My fwee.” And then you laugh and hold up all five fingers on your hand. Clearly you are genius material or else telling me your suggested retail value. Hard to tell.
This past month you have begun forming sentences. Mostly they relate to your ownership of things around you, whether or not they actually belong to you is a completely different matter. Your speech isn’t that clear to anyone who isn’t familiar with toddlerese.
“My do!”
“Mine”
“My wan DAT.”
COCK-ees (cookies, or crackers)
BAH-poes (apples)
Haaaaaaaaaht (hot)
choo-choo-wain (choo-choo train)
side (out side)
bar (granola bars)
vee-vee (tv)
joejoe (water)
shhhhhh (stop talking right now)
These are some that immediately come to mind. You also love to shout an enthusiastic “whoa” and “wow” whenever you think it is appropriate. You sit in the first row of the van in the center so you have a perfect view of the road and my driving. Sometimes we will drive around a corner and you will scream, “whoa” and as I look at you in the rear view mirror you are very dramatically clutching onto the arm rests of your carseat. It cracks me up every single time.
You adore your sister and follow her around everywhere she goes. She is kind to you, but mostly tolerates your adoration the way a movie star does a stalking fan. I told her how much I thought you loved her and she said, “I love my Mini-mini-moo-moo. But I love chocolate better.” Don’t be offended, that is quite a compliment. I feel confident that should we dip you in chocolate you would move to the top of the list.
The other day I walked into the pantry to discover that someone had dropped the marker to the whiteboard on the floor and left it there. At which point I can only surmise you came along, saw it there, and thought it was your lucky day. Every surface under 36″ was colored with black swirls. You even opened the cabinet doors and colored on the inside of them.
I stood there and shouted, “WHO DID THIS!?!” (meaning who dropped the damn marker, I was pretty sure I knew who did the drawing) It was mostly a rhetorical question that I like to shout right before my head spins around on my shoulders.
Everyone came running to see what had happened and who was in trouble. You were at the front of the pack, running with your arm in the air, shouting, “Meeeee. My do it!”
When you stopped in front of me, I looked down and said, “Who did this?” You waved your raised hand and shouted, “Meeee!” then you clapped for yourself. Everyone laughed.
In the past couple of weeks you have decided that you do not to sleep. Oh how you cry when I say it is bedtime, even though most of the time you fall asleep before I even leave the room. Your newest thing is to wake up in the middle of the night and scream. two nights ago Rob got up to comfort you and tuck you back in. You humored him with you silence for a few minutes before you began shouting, “ma-MA. ma-MA”
It was also a lesson for me to allow your father to comfort you and not immediately jump up and tend to you myself or shout directives at him. In the end you got your way and ended up in bed with us where you proceeded to lay all 28 lbs of your body mass on my chest and fall fast asleep. I, on the other hand, tried to continue breathing. I should have this parenting thing mastered by the time I am a grandparent.
You love music and anytime a commercial with music comes on tv you get so excited and scream, “DAN! DAN!” And then you will stand in front of the tv and dance your heart out. The fact that you come from a long line of helplessly white rythmn challenged people doesn’t deter you.
Last night we were sitting together on the couch watching tv right before your bedtime. It is our nightly ritual to snuggle together while you drink your bottle of rice milk. I know you are old enough to drop the bottle, but, well, you are my baby and I see no need to rush things. Rob was away on a business trip so I had control of the remote and took the opportunity to watch all the HGTV shows I could stand. As I flipped through the channels we caught a glimpse of a baseball game. You began shouting, “BAY-ball. BAY-ball” with such furor that I imagine you were convinced I hadn’t seen it. Afterall, who in their right mind would pass up the opportunity to watch baseball. When I didn’t turn the channel back you sulked for a few minutes, muttering, “ma-MA BAY-ball”
You are getting so big and yet in the grand scheme of things you are still so very small.
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Awww Chris…he’s getting so big. What a sweet post.
October 25th, 2006 at 2:51 pmKaren
xo
What a sweet, sweet little guy. Thanks for making me feel extra guilty that not one of my 4 has a completed baby book…and they are 20, 18, 11 and 7.
Your blog inspires me Chris. And amuses. Thanks.
October 25th, 2006 at 3:03 pmI loved this post. PS: don’t believe all that “terrible” crap — trying as they may be, the twos are hysterical, and totally fun.
October 25th, 2006 at 3:03 pmI loved this, post too. My daughter is a couple of weeks older and it always amazes me how the little ones at this age are so different and yet so similar. The not going to bed, the “me do it,” the sentences that make complete sense to me and no one else and of course the adorable cuteness.
October 25th, 2006 at 3:13 pmoh! this was so sweet!
October 25th, 2006 at 3:13 pmWhat a beautiful post. The end of babyhood is such a fleeting, poignant time - my youngest is 18 months old, and she’s already such a girl.
October 25th, 2006 at 3:25 pmMmm, chocolate covered Miles. I’ll have some of that.
And that last picture made my ovaries hurt.
October 25th, 2006 at 3:43 pmhe is utterly adorable. makes me want one! what a great way to remember these days (and let him read about them in the future).
October 25th, 2006 at 3:44 pmAwww! what a cute little guy. Don’t you wish he would just stay like this forever? Except the drawing on the cabinets thing. That could pass.
October 25th, 2006 at 4:18 pmThe cabooseling is adorable.
October 25th, 2006 at 4:20 pmWonderful pictures, but I still love the one in the purple t-shirt the best.
October 25th, 2006 at 4:25 pmYou kill me with these touching posts you write to your children! Makes me want to keep having babies forever.
I literally laughed outloud picturing him holding onto his carseat armrests while yelling, “Whoa!”
October 25th, 2006 at 4:28 pmYou are an awesome Mom for doing this…
October 25th, 2006 at 4:33 pmLucky Chris to have Miles for loving. Lucky Miles to have Chris for loving him! Whoa!
October 25th, 2006 at 4:43 pmhe is so fucking cute, i can’t stand it. box him up and send him to me!
October 25th, 2006 at 4:46 pmHe did it! Yay!!
Still laughing over that….
October 25th, 2006 at 4:50 pmAwww! He is such a cutie! Can’t believe he is so grown up already.
October 25th, 2006 at 5:05 pmUgh, SO in love with that last picture and statement. Well-said as always, Chris.
October 25th, 2006 at 5:10 pmOfficially verklempt over how loving you are, how silly he is, and how beautiful your whole family is.
October 25th, 2006 at 5:14 pmAwww! Dip him in chocolate! Then he’ll be perfect!
October 25th, 2006 at 5:40 pmAdorable little man
You write beautifully!
October 25th, 2006 at 6:29 pmLOL! My baby will be two next month, so this all totally resonates with me. (For the most part I understand all the toddlerese, especially “MY do it”, but I’m curious about the “joejoe” — how did that one develop?) Beautiful post, beautiful child! Thanks for sharing your family with the rest of us.
October 25th, 2006 at 8:05 pmaw as the mom of a almost 27 month old and 6 month old girls, I can so relate!
October 25th, 2006 at 8:12 pmMy 2 year old has quite the vocab and is utterly cracking me up everyday. She has taken quite the likeing to the wonder pets on Noggin. She sings the songs ALL THE TIME
i think they do it to torture us, (the tv ppl not our kids..lol)
Beautifully written as usual
Your post made me cry. Our sons are the same age and sound so much alike. I am so excited about him turning two, and yet I am sad to watch him turn into a little man. You sound like a wonderful mom.
October 25th, 2006 at 8:29 pmLord, I love two year olds. Now I will go lock myself in the closet and pet my favorite shoes and wait for the baby craving to pass.
October 25th, 2006 at 10:57 pmGorgeous post.
I let both of my boys take a bottle to bed with them until their 3rd birthdays. Then I starting giving them a smaller and smaller amount in the bottle until it was down to just 2 ounces and I knew they really didn’t need it any more. So don’t feel bad that your almost 2 year old still has a bottle. My daughter, luckily, has absolutely no interest at all in bottles, but weaning her without having that backup has been REALLY difficult! And I refuse to nurse until she’s old enough to climb into my lap, lift up my shirt, and undo my bra all by herself!
October 25th, 2006 at 11:16 pmAh, this makes me want to go back and have another baby just so I can write such beautiful, poignant notes to him.
Almost.
October 25th, 2006 at 11:26 pmThat was so beautiful! As the momma of a little 14 mo. old, ball-obsessed little man, I love reading about your darling guy. And the marker story–hilarious!
October 25th, 2006 at 11:34 pmI can not believe he is going to be 2. I started reading right before he was born! Wow time flies~
October 25th, 2006 at 11:45 pmHe is a sweetheart. I love reading these and seeing what I have to look forward to. My baby is just four months behind yours.
October 26th, 2006 at 5:40 amWhen I take a sharp curve while driving, my 23-month-old princess occasionally says (of course, only I can understand her) “Take it easy!” Imagine having both little back-seat drivers!
October 26th, 2006 at 7:41 amBeautiful post, Chris. Sometimes I think that every household should either have a toddler or a puppy in it. Their exuberance and enthusiasm for life is something that we all should emulate.
October 26th, 2006 at 8:07 amDont hold your breath about getting it all together by the time you are a grandmother, I’m afraid it did’nt work for me.
October 26th, 2006 at 8:22 amWhat a beautiful post. I love the first image (and the marker story). He’s so darn adorable!
October 26th, 2006 at 9:26 amWhat a handsome little boy.
October 26th, 2006 at 10:06 amChris, your children are so lucky to grow up guided by a loving soul like you, and surrounded by the love of one another. How awesome that M was so proud of his marker work!
October 26th, 2006 at 10:25 amGreat post.
Dang it, Chris, this made me cry!!! Big hugs to my future son-in-law…
October 26th, 2006 at 10:39 amBeautiful, and so nice. THanks!
October 26th, 2006 at 11:57 amThis brought tears to my eyes. He reminds me of my son. My son also said “My do”.
October 26th, 2006 at 12:44 pmI. Love. That. Post.
You make me want to have more babies.
October 26th, 2006 at 2:19 pmChris
October 26th, 2006 at 3:24 pmSweet post, I do enjoy reading your blog. It reminds me so of my youth. FYI there is a pen style cleaner that removes white board marker on the market these days. I don’t remember what the name of it is but I know from experiance it works well. I think we bought it at staples.
MAK
Oh, Chris, just beautiful.
He is so precious, and I can’t believe he is turning 2 already.
Time sure goes by….dammit!
October 26th, 2006 at 5:31 pmAwww!
And your comment about him coming from a “long line of helplessly white rhythm-challenged people” made me think of the beginning of that Steve Martin movie, “The Jerk.”
I sure hope your baby boy has better moves that that. ^_^
Man, he’s a cute little boy!
October 26th, 2006 at 6:36 pmHe is so very gorgeous with those eyelashes.
I will take a happy two year old any day over a THREE YR OLD. Two year olds get a bad rap, I LOVE the twos…funny and cute.
October 26th, 2006 at 7:08 pmThrees=hell.
I wouldn’t count on the “parenting thing down by the time you are a grandma” thing - I am a Grandma and I still wind up with all 28 or 19 or 30 lbs on sleeping on my chest - every chance possible. And I still love to put my head down close and smell the sweet little smell and know that this child loves and trusts me to do her (or him - as the case may be) no harm. The sweetest thing in the world. . .
October 26th, 2006 at 9:24 pmYou just must write a book! You are hysterical! I was seriously LOL!! I about fell off my chair at the “rhetorical question right before my head spins around” LOL. I HAVE DONE THAT!! LOL I just wanted to you to know how much I enjoyed reading your blog.
Angie,
October 27th, 2006 at 5:38 pmMOM of 10
Your letters always get me. I cracked up at the image of him excitedly ratting himself out. SO cute!
Beautiful, as always!
October 27th, 2006 at 11:18 pm