Always be my Baby

My baby is two years old. This birthday hit a lot harder than his first. I’m sure because it is his last as an only child. And because he’s just grown so much in the last six months. And every day he gets a little bigger. And a little smarter. And sassier. He is, after all, my child.

He seems to be learning new words every day. And has developed a tiny sense of humor. And although we’re not so fond of the sleep regression, we know that this too shall pass.

I started this post on his actual birthday, but I had not anticipated just how tired this pregnancy would make me. So here we are, a month later. I’m learning to give myself grace and not worry about doing things in a specific timeline just because I feel like I “should”. Actually, that’s probably my favorite piece of advice that I got from one of my therapists. She said, “Don’t should yourself. There is no should.” I think about that a lot.

Shortly after I started at my new job, Everett got Covid. He was a little out of sorts for a while. We were seeing tantrums at a level we had never seen them. I made a comment to my coworker that I hope this behavior was Covid-related and not the terrible twos. She suggested I keep a list of all the things we are loving right now—all the things he’s doing that we don’t want to forget. So here is a running list those things, posted here for posterity’s sake. 

*Claps and says “yay, woohoo” when something favorable happens. This includes when he won’t nap and we go into the room to get him

 *Checks on tiptoe to see if there is food left on mamas’ dinner plates, because he knows that we need to be finished eating before we will play

*Says “eat eat” when he sees something he would like to eat 

*Says “oh mo” (oh no)

*Looks at himself in reflections and says “hey me” or “hey Rett”

*When sitting at traffic lights, will say, “Red” then, “Green, go go” when the light turns

*Says “excuse me” after he burps, except his sound for that is “mi mi”. We know this because he also says it when standing behind us on the couch and pushing us off so he can get through. At least he’s polite about it! But he also uses it to ask someone to move (without pushing them!)

*One of my favorite things he says is “Thank

you, mama”

*He loves driving through tunnels, which he calls “Nuh-nahl”

*He says “happy” when he is feeling happy. It sounds more like “heh-ppy” and it’s just too darn cute.

*He calls any kind of sauce or dip “bup-bup”

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

I will forever be adding to this list. Although I know that everything is about to change, I’m really enjoying this season of motherhood. It has its challenges, but the rest is so so beautiful!