Ode to Amos

My son is 20 months. He is beginning to assert himself more and more and he and his sister are beginning to...ummmm....interact more.  Yes, interact. The other day I found myself at Fred Meyer talking on the phone planning a get together with a friend from out of town while my children fought in the shopping cart.  Hair pulling included. I ignored them.  Hoped it would go away. It didn't. Yes, we created a scene. And no, I did not really care.  I just wanted out of the store.

Oh, but wait, this was going to be a post about my sweet, lovable boy.  And yes, he is sweet.  He has started beckoning us to him by saying "c'mere" (come here). His favorite word is NO.  We like to test him to see if he knows what he is really saying.  Do you want ice cream? NO. Do you want to go to the park to play. NO.

He makes the cutest animal sounds. He especially likes to roar like a lion or a tiger or a bear. And he has recently taken to cars and trains.  It's so fun to watch him sit and line up the trains or park the cars. I have really tried not to push gender specific toys on my kids, but it's interesting to watch them engage in very different things. He has also recently discovered the sandbox at cohousing.  Montana played in it alot when she was his age and he loves it.  Buckets, shovels, trucks.  Who could ask for more? He hands me a bucket and asks me for "wa" so he can make the sand wet.

Oh I love my little guy.  He is long and lean and loves "Goodnight Moon". He can be snuggly and will often lay his head on my shoulder when we meet new people. But when he is comfortable with someone, he will flash a smile and say "hi"!

I have a love/hate relationship with this toddler stage.  It is so fun to watch him learn something new everyday.  He is so funny and energetic.  But I dislike this stage because it is so frustrating when he is trying to communicate and I just don't know what he wants. Or he gets frustrated and bites his sister. He is impossible to use logic with and likes to run away.  But he is still my baby.  Wears pajamas with feet in them.  Drinks a bottle while we rock him. And sleeps in a crib.

Here's to Amos. My adorable son.  My baby who will soon be driving his own car.  Did I mention how much he LOVES to sit in the driver's seat of our car?  It takes us longer to load and unload now because he wants to sit for a few behind the steering wheel. I try to take the time to indulge him and have often thought about locking him in there while I go do a load of laundry. Is that bad?