Today my eldest son is two. It's shocking and amazing and wonderful. I can't believe two years have gone by already. I can't believe it's only been two years.
To celebrate Tall, I thought I'd tell a few stories about him.
Helping Hands
When Tall wants something done but he finds himself unable to do it, he's always got a plan. He might grab a chair and climb higher. He might dig a bit deeper. Often however, he realizes that he needs help to get it done.
That's when he reaches out for a helping hand. For over a year now, he's grabbed my hand and put it on a book he wants read. Or put the book back in my left hand if he wants to hear it again. He puts a shovel in my hand if the ground is too hard for him. He takes my hand to climb higher, to walk on curbs, to get down stairs, to work the computer, to use the television (in such times, the hands may not accomplish that which is desired), to get things opened, to get things closed. He sometimes uses my finger to point to things to learn what they are. "Car!" Pig!" "Lemur!" In essence, he uses my hands as an extension of himself. It's nice to be so trusted and needed.
One day whilst eating yogurt for dessert, he started eating with his fingers. Upon being reprimanded, he grabbed my hand dipped my finger in the yogurt and quick as a flash ate it. *Sigh* There are many things for which to have a helping hand, but eating yogurt is not one of them.
Want to go for a Walk?
Walking with my two year (oh goodness, he's two!) is always an adventure. I've had to train myself to not get frustrated with all of the stopping and exploring. Exploring is good and a ten minute walk taking 40 is fantastic. He's the kind of kid with energy to burn - the kind who siphons it off unsuspecting parents and would prefer to use it outside please.
He tries to walk off the path, though the thick grass. He points out trees and foliage, animals and trucks. He knows exactly where in town all his favourite things are and when you are steering him away from them. He will trudge along acting exhausted, wanting to be carried until he realizes he's headed to a park and then he tears off, running as fast as his boots can carry (which by the way, is slower. If you're trying to slow down your kid, let him wear rubber boots.).
These walks are great though. He sees so many things that I just don't notice. Any sound is a reason to stop. A bird. A plane. I'm sure he would stop for Superman, but we're just so far from Metropolis City. We study trucks and flowers. We pick up sticks and put them through fences and try to put chocolate milk containers in mailboxes (and no, I'm not sure why he thought was a good idea). We know the location of every dog in a four block radius.
Good Boy?
Somedays Tall does things he shouldn't. We don't want him playing with the split system heater/cooler, so when he climbed on top of something he shouldn't have to open a drawer he shouldn't have to play with a remote that he shouldn't have, I took the remote away and put it somewhere I thought was safe. Later that day, I saw him playing in that same drawer and went from reprimand to confusion when I saw the remote back in the drawer. I asked Adrian if he had moved it. No. Tall had found it and was putting it back where it belonged when I caught him. I then tried to commend him. Ah, all that can happen in the space of a minute.
We're trying to teach him to put his drink on a coaster on the table. Not that we care as much about rings on the table, but he tends to put drinks on the edge of the table and we have the coaster much further in-land. I caught Tall wandering with his milk the other day (a definite no no) and saw it stop on the couch. I went over the rescue and noted that he had found a coaster, put it on the couch cushion and put his cup on it.
And the digging! Oh, the time we spend outside. And I want to be out with him because I don't like bugs and there are like 8569 kinds of bugs in Australia and 9342 of those want to kill you. Yeah, I know there are more that want to kill you than exist. That's how serious they are about the whole thing. So I just don't think he's ready to be outside by himself for long right now and so we dig and play with balls and all sorts.
Oh, the last two years have been the most frustrating, exciting, worrisome, tiring, amazing, incredible, beautiful, full on, best years of my life. That little boy is a blessing, whether he's trying to help his brother play or playing on my last nerve. Thank you God, for Tall. And help me be a better mother to my wonderful fellows.
