20 things I love about you Tagen Train Maligro. 2 years old! 31 pounds of rock solid toddlerness…
1. The way you dance. Turn on some music and you just can’t help yourself. You love to copy daddy’s moves in your own awesome rendition.
2. How you have learned that if you come into our room in the morning and says “eat mama” it will get me out of bed. All you really want is for me to get up with you and you really don’t care about eating at all. Okay actually this drives me crazy but I will always remember it because it seems to happen every morning and every morning I fall for it because you’re too dang cute.
3. When I am cooking anything you wander around saying “shoe?” asking for your stool because you must stand and watch… ok stand and mess with whatever I’m trying to cook and take everything off the countertops.
4. You can now climb all the way up into your highchair and climb back down when you’re finished. I can’t imagine if I had to do this every time I sat down to eat. You’re such a monkey.
5. You have learned how to open the screen door to let yourself outside whenever you please. Some day we’ll teach you how to get back inside too.
6. You are one of the only ones who can actually make Aveda laugh. You show such concern when she cries and even though she’s been with us for six months and you know full well what her name is you still call her “baby”. Maybe you’ll call her this forever.
7. You are totally obsessed with any kind of ball – football, basketball, soccer ball, baseball - and you now say trow (throw) and katttch (catch) and talks story about baseball and football. I think you would throw and catch a ball with us the entire day if we would last that long.
8. shubel and beeech (shovels and the beach) two of your favorite things living in hawaii
9. the way you can’t not jump on me or daddy and attack hug us when we are lying on the ground
10. How much you love bath time… you’ve gotten to a point where you hate getting out because you’re having too much fun. You’ve fully mastered blowing bubbles and “floating” on your back and tummy.
11. All the words you now say. You copy so much of what we are saying and you are so proud to communicate. Funniest ever the ways you say “yeeesss mammmaa” or “yessss daaada” with eyes wide open and many overemphasized head nods. Another word I love to hear you say: “sorry” which you say like “soollly” (sounds like Japanese or something). Really makes the disciplining difficult when I’m on the verge of laughing.
12. The way you draw. Such detail. Such focus. Mostly you draw circles – big circles, little circles or some other rendition of a circle…but these aren’t your ordinary circle. Each one is some incredible piece of your imagination. A firetruck or fire”guy” (as you call a fireman). A lion. A gecko. A fish. You usually draws them very slowly and then will turn and tell me what you just drew. I am amazed at how detail oriented you are. Not only in drawing but also when we are reading a book – you notices things in the pictures that nobody would ever notice.
13. Finally, after 23 months of being attached to your binkie and blankie you call them their names… well not always… actually only on rare occasions. Usually they still are called that noise which I don’t know how to write as a word – but you make the same noise every time you want these. MmmMMMmmmMMMmmmMMMmmmm. Or something like that. It cracks me up when you do the noise and then say ppeeeezze (please) at the end of it. Like you’re mixing baby language and toddlerese or something.
14. You are such a “boy”… so into all kinds of balls – especially footballs. Your uncle got you a football for your birthday and you carry it around with you like it’s your new blankie or something. You can’t get enough motorcycles, trucks and the like and love to see the fire truck every time we pass the fire station.
15. How you are consistently grumpy (note: opposite of sister) when you wake up from a nap and that I am the only one you want. Daddy can get you as long as he mentions something super exciting – like that there’s a rooster outside or something. But it better be good or you’ll hear nothing of it and we’ll hear a lot of whines. Ok so we kind of look forward to the day this will end but as for now is such a part of you that we’ve gotta love you and all your weird quirks too!
16. You are so opinionated now. So sure of what you want and don’t want. If mommy or daddy asks if you want something your first response will usually be “no!” and then you turn around, turn back and ask for the very thing we just offered you. I guess it had to be your idea. Sometimes it’s hard not to laugh at how ridiculous this is.
17. You are so crazy cute with your big ol’ belly sticking out as you walk around, blonde hair getting blonder every day as we live in Hawaii now and your little tans lines. I noticed that you still have baby chub for which I am happy because that means there’s still some babiness in you and you’re really white inside the folds now. That’s how I can gauge how tan you are getting too. I love your Fred Flinstone feet and toes. Where these came from in the genes I don’t know but since birth you’ve had little square blocks down there and they still are.
18. The sweetest ever is the way you give kisses and hugs. Especially watching you hug a little person your size. You lean way forward and pat their little back as you lean your head on their shoulder. So sweet.
19. Sometimes you think you are so funny. You just crack yourself up! We’ll be driving somewhere and you tickle yourself and just laugh and laugh. I need to record your laugh. It makes me smile every time.
20. That you are mine.
