Things I Must Remember

Be forewarned: this post is not remarkable in any way except in the way that I find my son's achievements, idiosyncrasies and view on life to be fascinating and remarkable. So this little list is for me and for my family...a feeble attempt to cut a swatch from the fabric of time and tuck it in my pocket.

* Bennett is talking up a storm the past few months. He's been using longer and more complex sentences. A month or so ago he scolded me for standing on a chair: "Get down mommy! That not a wadder!"

* Since having his hair washed in the bathtub elicits more drama than we are willing to endure on a nightly basis we often toss Bennett in the shower to achieve a tear-free cleaning. Sometimes he isn't keen on taking a shower until we ask if he'd like to "wash his cars". Bennett LOVES to wash his cars in the shower. And fill cups and containers with water, shoot his cars in them like mini basketballs and then dump the water out. Fun times.

* As is typical of two year old development Bennett is insistent on doing everything (every.thing.) by himself these days. From opening the car door to pouring milk to turning off the tv, he can do it! And he lets us know we need to back off and give him a chance by insisting "dat MY job!"

* Reading is a favorite activity lately. We try to go to the library weekly and he loves finding new books. He likes to us to read to him but also enjoys reading by himself. Sometimes he will bring two books over, hand one to me and say "You read dat book. Dis my book." For a the past couple of days I've taken advantage of the opportunity to do some of my own reading (I'm jumping on the Harry Potter band wagon about a decade late) and we've settled on the couch each morning for a little side by side reading time. I love it!

* Our dear son is a bit OCD. Especially when it comes to bedtime. Recently he needs his blanket, his Bible and his water bottle...with ice pwease. Fan on. Night light on. And sheet on, but not "too tight" (we're not sure what this means exactly). A new development is the requirement that Bible and waterbottle be tucked into his sheet as well. There will be shrill calls for mom or dad to come rectify the situation if one or the other is out.

* Speaking of the Bible, his children's story Bible is his FAVORITE book by far. He usually calls it "God". As in, "I wan read God" or "where my God?" or "I wan take God bye bye". And then there was the time I had to follow through on my threat to not read any bedtime stories if he didn't obey and I left him in bed crying and shrieking "Mommy! I WAN GOD! I WAN READ GOD!" But I stood firm and refused to read the Bible to my weeping child. You can send my Christian Mommy of the Year awards to Stacey "No Bible Tonight" Parker.

* B learned to ride his tricycle last week. He was frustrated for a day or two as he tried to figure out the peddling but stuck with it and I was proud of him for persevering. Now he speeds in all over the house begging for me to "watch dis, Mommy!" When I call him to come to the table for dinner or to the bedroom to get dressed he often insists on "driving" to his destination.

* This child can turn almost anything into a sports type game. He helps switch out laundry by wadding wet clothes into balls and tossing them in the dryer, cheering himself ("yes!") with each successful throw. He likes to see how far back he can stand from the toy bucket or block box and still get items in when it's time to clean up. Once he kicked a toy and yelled "score!" when it rolled under the entertainment armoire.

* We've recently started to hear "I wuff you" unprompted. It is the best.