Today is the one-month countdown to Gus' second birthday. I'm completely perplexed that it's been that long and yet I'm amazed by all the things he can already grasp, do, decide and dislike, as he is "barely" done being a baby... at least in my mind.
He loves his train set, it comes out as a trusty companion on rainy days. He descends into his own world and cannot be bothered when he goes there. I can't bare to use the flash, when his lips go slack like that... this is happiness in learning...
He also loves, loves books. So much so that I HATE books by now. I have to remember that he benefits whenever I read "Red Truck" (Thanks, Andy, I murmur "Red Truck is a work truck, not a show truck" in my sleep) for the two dozenths time in two hours. He has a tight rotation of about 10 favorites and we try to make it more varied (for Mom and Daddy's sake) with library books. I'm convinced that if Gus could run the world, we would all spend about 6 hours a day sitting on the step to the kitchen to read. We would sit close together and touch at the knees. And we would smile at each other in knowing anticipation of what the next page brings... new books make him equal parts anxious and curious, I love it and see myself in that...
He is curious without regards for his limitations... and I'm slowly learning to respect that. Here we are making banana bread together... well, I tried to get some into the baking pans, while Gus "cleaned up". He also is a connaisseur of anything sugary... this kid loves sweet....
Case in point. Our afternoon ritual of a "pop please" is equally cherished and pursued by Gus. He never lets me forget that there is always time for a treat and a lazy ten minutes of lolligaging on the back stoop, while we share and get sticky together...watching the clouds and talking about planes, helicopters, tractors, trucks and the barn...
Oh yeah... and there is potty training... I might be demented trying to train a two year old, but there is a part of me that knows he can do it, if he only aims to.... so far he peepees for candy and likes to wear train undies and - in theory - understands that poopoos should go into the potty (we talk endlessly about this). That is where we are. Most more experienced moms counsel me to be patient for another 6 months or so. I have a good washing machine...
1 comment:
Interesting glimpse into his mind! Our kids are opposites in a lot of ways. QQ will not spend hours doing anything that is not physically-demanding. She's an athlete to the core. She is not very interested in books at all (this was hard for me because I was SUCH a book addict as a kid). When she does wear herself out enough to focus on books, she is very independent about it, and wants to take the book off into her bed or corner of the couch and study it on her own. She can recognize certain words in print (not by any effort on our part) - which impresses our therapist no end, but which is not a point of pride for QQ. It's just another thing she can do - another part of her photographic matching ability (she has a mind like a steel trap).
Q is proud only when she makes an athletic or sportive breakthrough.It's interesting how much of this is pure "nature" rather than "nurture" for her...since neither M nor I are team-sport oriented at all. She's clearly hardwired this way.
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