Twenty-Three Months

September 08, 2013

Seth,

Just like you, life never seems to stop. Our house is quiet only between the hours of 1:30 and 4, and after 8 PM. Still, it’s way too much fun being your parents. Once again you’re defeating all attempts to protect you this month. From getting the “baby-proof” cap off a bottle to learning how to unlock and lock doors (thanks for locking Daddy in the bathroom!), you’re way too fast. It’s quite clear that you’ve been upgraded to at least a platoon of guardian angels from the previous squad deployment. As you race around the upstairs hallway in your sleep sack, I’m treated to visions of you tripping and putting your head through the drywall. That’s scary for more than one reason, since we’re moving out in a few weeks and we’d have to teach you how to patch drywall at 2 years old.

As convenient as it is to have two adults around who will jump at your requests, it’s still easier to get your cups of water out of Molly’s dish. “Immune system” we keep telling ourselves. I hope it’s true. As you do when Papa is visiting, you were constantly asking to drink out of his glass of juice. We were all sitting around, you with your sippy cup and Papa with his glass. He told you “no” to your request. Two minutes later as we were talking, we noticed that Papa now had the sippy cup and you had his juice glass, and we’re all completely unaware of when the switch happened. Good times – that’s why it’s fun to be your parents, but it’s fun to be your grandparents, too.

For the first time, we’re really seeing you pick up on the emotions of people around you this month. “Happy” and “sad” are the top two, but more complex things register, too. When we ask “how are you doing?” the answer is always “Feeling better.” That’s good. After a stressful day packing and planning and running around doing errands (and realizing how fast you’re growing up), Mommy said that “Mommy’s kinda sad, buddy.” You considered this for a few seconds, and then suggested that “Mommy watch fireworks?” Great thought, Seth. Fireworks pretty much always make things better.

Close encounters with wildlife this month, too. We’ve been walking by lizards for months as we walk in the neighborhood, Daddy managed to catch one and you asked to touch it, as you do. I tried to pass it off to you to hold, and it jumped out of my hand, into the stroller, and promptly crawled into your shorts. Fortunately, Daddy and Mommy were laughing, so you thought it was pretty hilarious. We had to unbuckle you and dig the lizard out of your shorts, where it was holding on for dear life. All boy, you now ask to hold every lizard we walk by.

We went to Legoland, just you and Daddy at the end of the month. You just hit 34 inches, which means you’re tall enough for a lot of the rides now. Helicopters, boats, cars, airplanes, you were all over it. Between that and the splash park, you could go to Legoland every day, I think. An hour spent running and climbing on the huge playground, too. You’re a dedicated little climber and slider, too.

You bring everything you have to everything you do. Even just watching you sit and play with Legos or blocks by yourself, you’re always intent on what you’re doing. Of course, our favorite manifestation of that is your hugs. You run over with arms wide open, with wild abandon and throw yourself in our arms. It’s the best way in the world to be greeted, even if we just walked around the corner for a moment. Love you more and more every day, even as you so quickly grow into a little boy.