Months Twenty-Five and Twenty-Six

December 11, 2021

Titus,

How can you be two already? With 2020 basically a lost year, it seems like you’re so old, so quickly. That, and it seems like we’ve been in Virginia much longer than just 5 months. We still expect you to be 18 months old, but you’re running, playing, talking, and asserting your little joyful nature with us and everyone you meet.

With a couple of colds that have been passed around the friends and school, you’ve learned how to blow your nose. Nothing makes you feel more accomplished as a parent than that. You declare that you need to “Blow nose!” and off we go. I think we can pretty much declare that we’ve successfully prepared you for the world and focus on your brothers.

You can even bring us the tissue or toilet paper to blow the nose, walking right up to daddy with the end of the toilet paper to blow. Unfortunately, the end was still connected to the roll. Three rooms away. The most impressive part is that you managed to go that far without a tear.

You’ve also figured out what the potty is for. On multiple occasions, you have informed Mommy that you’d like to sit on the potty, and successfully executed on that once. Not sure that we’re quite ready for you to go down that road, especially since you can’t actually get up there by yourself yet, but we’ll be there sooner than later.

One of our favorite family activities since the fall time change is hide and seek in the dark. You kick it off more often than not with “Count! Count!” and trying to turn off the lights. Counting to twenty in the dark as you run around that house is the best part of the game for you. We’ve got 18 of the 20 numbers on lock, just missing a few of the -teens sometimes. Nothing is more fun than hiding (in a not too hard spot) and having you joyfully squeal when you find us. Your brothers love to have you in the game, and are more than happy to play.

These months brought family visits and Thanksgiving with family and friends. Nana and Papa were here early in October, and Grandpa and Grandma came to visit for Thanksgiving. You just love to be able to run downstairs and give out hugs when people are visiting us. We also got to celebrate Thanksgiving with new friends! We have a lot to be thankful for, including you!

We’ve had quite a bit of time outside enjoying the fall colors and cool weather. A number of hiking days means trips in the backpack watching your brothers run around. You enjoy those rides with Daddy, at least for a little while, and then it’s time to chase the brothers and explore yourself.

We’re getting ever closer to retiring the crib. We’ve found you pulling out the baby plug covers behind the crib, to climbing out. The sleep sack has become more of a straight jacket, with the zipper in the back. The zipper in the front means you can get right out, and hand us your wet diaper when we come in after nap time. Seth stuck you in your crib, and you climbed right out. It’s looking like we’re close to time for a big boy bed.

You’ve had little problems negotiating staircases since moving into our new house, where we left off the baby gates. However, a head cold contributed to a rapid trip down the stairs and an ER visit. Fortunately the CT scan was clear, but how about that bruise! A few days later, we got a book in which a monkey bumps his head (and you, the reader, participate in “Clean it, kiss it, put a bandage on it, all better” with bandage stickers). Each and every time we read the book, you point to your head and the monkey’s head and say “Titus head. Fall down!”.

The secondary effect of the same book is that any time you get a bump or fall down, it’s a simple “clean it, kiss it, all better” and you’re off and running. That’s sunk in so much that we’re almost removed from the equation as parents. Mommy heard you running down the hall, trip, fall, and start crying. Next thing she heard was “Clean it, kiss it, all better!” and off you went.

The round knobs on all the doors in the house have been a good baby-proofing measure right up until a few weeks ago. With two hands and some twisting, you’ve figured out how to work them. We’re going to need more baby handles, and the bathroom is no longer a place for a few minutes of quiet.

This month’s secondary mission was to destroy the house. You often play(ed) with Playdough in the pantry on the lower shelves. You’d get it all out and leave it, and then come out when you were done. One day, you came out after playing for a while. When we went into the pantry, we found…no Playdough. When asked, you lifted the heater vent, reached in, and pulled out the lid. That’s right. 14 cans of Playdough down the heater vent. The next weekend, you filled up the toilet with toilet paper and a cleaning cloth. When Mommy found you in the bathroom, you informed her “Wet!” That’s correct. The floor covered in water is indeed wet.

We decorated the Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving this year. This is really the first year you’ve been involved, and you took right to the ornaments. You selected one glass ball full of sand and sea decorations and declared it “Titus ball!” It was carried around for the whole unpacking and decorating process, until we hung it out of reach on the tree. Each and every time you see the the tree you point out that ornament. Coming downstairs, you have to make sure the tree is turned on and all the garlands are plugged in around the house.

Just like every month for the last year, it seems, your vocabulary and sentences just keep getting longer and better. From describing your whole day to Mommy at bedtime, to telling your friends grandma “Meet you!” (nice to meet you), you’re just getting more and more interactive, and bring so much joy to everyone you talk with.

We love to hear your little voice all around the house. No matter the circumstance, you always bring a smile to our faces.

Love,

Daddy and Mommy