Monday, October 15, 2012

Dear Graham, 25 and 26 Months

Dear Graham,

Yes, I am combining two months. It’s the only way it seems I can catch up on your monthly letters in what is an increasingly busy life. Speaking of busy, you are. All the time. You want to “go, go, go” (and tell us so frequently) and you point to “that, that, that” when you don’t know what something is called. Most times, you do know the names of items, so your “that” pointing is getting less and less. I value the time when you want to read a book or snuggle while watching Cars because it seems like our quiet time is becoming squeezed between all of this going and doing. You’ll come up to me and say “Mama, lap.” And I stop whatever it is I’m doing to have you climb aboard. 




 
I feel like every month I tell you that you vocabulary has taken off, but it is such a big part of your development these days. You know so many words, including important things like Florida State’s coach’s name (Jimbo), Florida State’s horse’s name (Renegade) and what we say when the Gators come out (booooo!). But you also know how to read parts of your books to me and your daddy. My current favorite to hear you read is a new book you got for your birthday called “Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late,” during which a pigeon gives every excuse under the sun not to go to bed. We get to a page where the pigeon, after yawning, yells “I’m not tired!” Each time we get to this page you try to yell as fast as you can “I’m not tired!” except, in your speed to get it out, you tell “I tired!” and I just smile when looking down at your beaming face. 


 



 
Your daddy and I understand most of your words, but there is one mystery word that has been escaping us for about a month. You say it at different times and in different locations that share no common connection, so it’s been especially hard to figure it out. Your daddy and I have affectionately named the word baba ganoush, although we are pretty sure you aren’t asking for a Middle Eastern eggplant dip. It’s just that the mystery word sounds just like baba ganoush, and it gives us a good laugh. You, however, do not appreciate being laughed at when saying baba ganoush, so we have to hide our pleasure at your cute words. 



We spent nearly every weekend in August going to our community pool and you have no fear of the water. I have visions of us, a year ago, with you floating along in your baby float at the pool. I was torn from this daydream as we trample back and forth from the pool to the baby pool to the splash pad. Repeated over and over and over again. You know, because when we’re enjoying one of the three there might be something so!incredibly!exciting! that you’re missing out on in the other two. I always have to give you plenty of “five more minutes until we leave” warnings, not because you understand the concept of time, but rather so that you know that leaving the pool is something you actually must eventually do. And even with a plethora of warnings, leaving normally involves tears because you want to stay and play more. 




As the weather has started to cool (a bit), I have been trying to run more while pushing you in the jogging stroller. In doing so, I’ve learned pushing a 32 pound boy isn’t the hard part of this scenario. Rather, it’s the fact that you now know where the park is and that it’s along our jogging route and you ask to go from the moment we leave our driveway. (See the “go, go, go” reference above, except it’s “park, park, park, park.”) So, we’ve adjusted my run a bit to include a stop at the park halfway through my run. While leaving the park often evokes similar emotions as leaving the pool, I find people only look at me a little bit strangely when I’m pushing a crying baby around the running track.


Another new recent trick is your learned ability to stall your bedtime routine. While you’ve always wanted us to read just one more book, your latest tactics are when you are actually in your crib. First, you say “back”, which means you want for us to rub your back. After we’ve done so for a minute and then get ready to leave, you say “water.” So we’ve learned to have  sippy cup of water already in your crib. With your two “go-to” tactics easily sidestepped by me and your daddy, you now want a hug and kiss and hold both arms up in the air while lying on your back for a hug. Clearly you know you’re not going to be denied hugs and kisses. Finally, we prepare to walk out of the room and we say “love you” to which you yell back “LOVE YOU.” Except you don’t just want to say it once. You want multiple exchanges of “LOVE YOU” going back and forth between you and either me or your daddy through the closed door. Eventually we have to end it with a “love you, now go to bed, Graham” or I think you would do it all night.

While it adds time to your bedtime routine, hearing you yell “love you” each night over and over as you get ready to go to sleep never gets old.

Love,
Mommy

PS…while you don’t know it now, we’ve started your bedtime routine earlier to make up for all of your stall tactics. LOVE YOU! 

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