Newsletter 2.6

Dear Rory -

Well, son, you are now officially two and a half, although sometimes I think you are more like a teenager in a toddler's body! You are so full of defiance and attitude, and it is obvious that you enjoy pushing your boundaries just to see how far you can get. I am constantly saying "No hitting, no spitting, no biting and no kicking!" to the point where you have caught on and you now think its funny to chant it and then fall down on the floor laughing. LAUGHING. AT YOUR MOTHER. Oh , the humanity! But even though you find it amusing to come up with new ways to test my patience, at least I can say that you are one creative little bugger!

The other day I was eating a diet bar for breakfast, and you, the King of Curiosity, were right in my face like you ALWAYS are when I'm eating, asking, "Whatcha eatin', Mama? Can I have some? Can I have a little bite? A little, tiny, tiny bite?" (You can now see why I find it hard to eat breakfast in the morning!) So I told you, "No, you wouldn't like this. It's grown up food. Trust me, it's yucky." (And really, kid, those diet bars, they truly ARE yucky!) A few minutes later, I went to the bathroom and left the bar on the counter. When I came back, there you were, with chocolate all over your face and your hands on your hips, and you looked at me in total defiance and said, "Mama, I TRIED it and I LIKED IT!" Every fiber of your being screamed, "Take THAT, woman!" and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud. HARD.

Speaking of laughing, have I mentioned how much I love listening to you laugh? We never know exactly what you're going to find amusing, and then all of a sudden, you'll erupt into a fit of adorable giggles. You recently started an infatuation with the t.v. show "America's Funniest Videos," and I've decided that watching you and your father sit on the couch together laughing your heads off is the perfect way to end the day.

It's rare that you are are ever sitting for more than a few minutes though, and it usually isn't long before you're either running off to the park to show off your newly acquired Big Wheel riding skills, talking someone into making you a fort or cave out of blankets, or grabbing your ever-present guitar and belting out a tune.

Add in starting preschool two days a week, attending your beloved Gymboree classes, going to Sunday School and playing with all your friends in the neighborhood and you, my friend, are one busy little dude! But I know that you love all the buzz of activity - you're so much happier when you are out socializing and keeping busy - and so far it never feels like we've taken on too much. Rambunctious children like you need ways to channel their energy without driving their mommies crazy, and trust me, nobody wants to see this mama go crazy.

But in the midst of all this running around and staying busy, I still try and find time to slow down with you and just savor the little things. Like your newfound love of brushing my hair in the morning for hours while saying, "Nice and gentle, Mama! I'm being very, very, very gentle!" Or how you run around with your camera pretending to take pictures, making me pose my hands or my feet in certain ways and then saying very seriously, "Yeah, that's a good one!" Or how you still reach out to hold my hand when I'm sitting with you in the car, which I secretly hope you'll never stop wanting to do.

We're halfway through those terrible twos which maybe aren't so terrible after all...

Love,
Mama