The Fast Track to Two Years Old

About a month or two ago we got one of those picture day notices sent home with Adam's things. I remember looking at it and forgetting it, and we never spoke of it. Since I'm never at the school anymore, I didn't think about it again, and quite frankly we have had a lot on our mind that have ranked higher in priority than a school picture day. Plus, I think Shannon's mission lately is just surviving the day... not looking for special fliers around the school (they just tell you there's MORE you need to do).

However, just because you forget about picture day doesn't mean it doesn't happen. So about two weeks ago we also got some pictures sent home with Adam's things. Apparently Shannon chose well that day and dressed Adam in his Baylor shirt. It helps that Adam was his normal Ham self and smiled perfectly. In fact, these impromptu school pictures turned out better than others for which I actually prepared.

Shannon is bothered by Adam's hair in the pictures, but I think he looks adorable.

It's hard to believe Adam turns two in exactly two weeks. He is the perfect enigma of big boy habits (washing hands, brushing teeth, eating with a spoon and fork, and talking like a two and a half year old), mixed with some pretty opinionated ideas about getting diaper changes, whether to get dressed or undressed, or whether the "no" he just heard was quite possibly the worst possible thing in the world.

Root Beer Float (he yelled at me to give it to him the whole way home after I ordered it).

He is also starting to understand that things are changing around here with two babies on the way (Hell, one baby would turn his world upside down so I can imagine this is pretty tough for him). There are baby things appearing around the house that he knows and tells us are "for the baby," he's noticing Mom's growing belly and likes to look at it, poke at it, and lift my shirt and his shirt and bump bellies. I tell him there are babies in there, but I really just think he understands that it's BIG and he's not supposed to be rough. He gives kisses and hugs and is incredibly protective of me.

The other day he had a juice box, and when he was finished we asked him to throw it away. He loves to throw things away... even things he shouldn't. But he dangled this over the trash can thoughfully, looked at us out of the corner of his eye, and ran off with it. It was a small battle - I don't move very well anyway and Shannon is... well, just plain exhausted... so we let him go and forgot about it. When I was walking through the playroom later, I found it:

Either the juice box deserved a nap or he was saving some for his baby sister.

But I think the worst change of all is that he sees me very little lately, as I'm mostly banished to bed. We spend some time together cuddling before bed time if he's calm enough (and not in a jumping/climbing/wrestling kind of mood), but it's just not the same, and I can tell he's feeling the effects of less Mommy time. He desperately wants me to pick him up, and I so badly wish I could... and regret it immediately when I cheat and do it anyway.

"Sharing" mom's drink.

I thought I'd record some of Adam's most entertaining phrases/behaviors before his birthday comes and goes, I forget, and we're even more caught up in our hectic lives. Some of my favorites are:

"Come on!" (complete with hand motions to wave you over.)
"Bye Outside!" (When he comes inside from playing he remembers to say good bye to the backyard).
"Where did he/she/it go?"
"Where we gonna go??"
"What did you do?"
"It's for the baby."
"I'll fix it."
"Help, please!"
"There you are!"
"Here you go."
"Eli, you get down now!" (Eli likes to be on the night stand and sometimes Adam's picnic table. Adam tells him to get down and Eli is about as responsive to that command as Adam is).

Also, if anyone has seen Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, in the show they put their hand to their mouths and call out, "Oh, Toodles!" Well, Adam adjusted it and now it's a great game in our house to constantly be calling all the family members into the same room (hand at his mouth, head tilted back and all):
"Oh, Daddy!"
"Oh, Mama!"
"Oh, Caley!"
"Oh, Gus!"
"Oh, CAT!" (Eli)
and just yesterday he added: "Oh, Robin!" (well, it sounds more like "Oh, Raw Raw!")

Mickey Mouse still isn't a big favorite around here (other than "oh, Toodles!"). We basically jumped from Little Einsteins to Jake and the Neverland Pirates (they play songs that are irresistible and he just can't help but dance/jump around).

This morning he climbed onto his picnic table, stood up, grinned at us and waited for the inevitable.
Me: "Get down, please."
Adam continues to grin.
Shannon: "Adam, get down."
Adam grins some more and doesn't move.
Then he says (wagging his finger at us and grinning big): "Get down, or you'll fall!!"

Explaining the consequences of inappropriate behavior to get the correct behavior out of your child doesn't really work when a) your kid is athletic enough not to fall, b) smart enough to know that he's athletic enough, c) well aware of the concept of "free will," and d) ornery as Hell.

Using the picnic table appropriately: having a banana and coloring a picture.

Adam is the ultimate bossy toddler. Everyone has a spot - Dad's chair, Mom's chair... if I lie down with him in his bed before he goes to sleep, he tells me on which side I'm supposed to lie (and it changes from day to day). If Robin picks up my phone to play with it, he says, "No, no, no. Mama's phone," and takes it from her to hand to me (my own personal bodyguard). I'm not allowed to play with Dad's phone either. When he comes to lie with me in Shannon and my bed some nights, I am forced to move from "my" side of the bed to the other side because Adam prefers the left and will not give up until he gets "his spot". (Basically, he wants to watch TV AND have me facing in his direction). When he gets comfortable, he waves at Shannon and says, "Bye, Dad." (real subtle)

The King.