Who Told?

I'm just wondering who told Ethan that being a 2 year old means declaring independence from your parents! The words that I hear most often now are, "no, I do it!" and "no, mine" (which actually means, "no, I WANT to do it MYSELF!")

Part of his declaration of independence includes trying to escape and outrun his parents any chance he can! My only control that I had left when we were out and about was buckling him into his stroller. Well last week while I was at my doctor's appointment Ethan all of the sudden figured out that un-buckling the stroller is easy! Within seconds he was standing on the doctor's stool reaching for her things on the counter. The next day I had a few errands to run at the mall and my escape artist was out of his stroller within seconds and running with glee (way faster than his pregnant momma can run)! I was desperate! I put him back in, took a roll of masking tape from my purse and wrapped the buckle so many times he couldn't break out! I was feeling a little sheepish and hoping no one was watching me, there's nothing wrong with taping a child to a stroller, right?

I used to think these kid leashes were ridiculous and pretty much a form of child abuse...but now I am thinking they are GENIUS!

I am amazed at the loud and sudden tantrums that occur when Ethan's parents stifle his quest for independence, and am really amazed at how quickly they end with just the slightest distraction. I love that when he has to sit on the time out chair for one minute (when he does something deliberately wrong) that he gets excited and starts counting down waiting to hear the "beep" from the timer. Sometimes he tries to make the "beep" sound himself to trick me that his time is up before it really is.

I'm also wondering who told Ethan that being a 2 year old also means being full of personality and fun! He is always up for "pay, pay, pay." (play) He is really into his abc's right now. From a puzzle and books he has pretty much taught himself the letters. He LOVES to sing the "abc" song! Clark and I each have to sing it with him at least once before bed every night. He still mixes up the order of the letters, but no matter what the "p" is always sung correctly and with great gusto! He used to include "B..Y..U.." in the middle of the song, sometimes more than once. Whenever he sees letters on a sign or an object, he points at them and yells, "BYU." I think Clark is pretty proud.

I love the way he LOVES books right now! He loves to have them read to him, read them himself, and is fascinated with pictures. I love that he knows now when books are supposed to be funny and giggles at the right parts. I thought it was fun this morning while Clark was making us pancakes that Ethan pulled out his book, "If Your Give a Pig a Pancake," and was so excited to have me read it to him knowing he was having pancakes too.

I think it is so fun how he tries so hard to sing along with us now. One of his favorite songs is "Old McDonald's Farm." I love that at our library story time a few weeks ago when we sang that song he was the only kid singing, "EIEIO cha, cha, cha," because we always add the "cha, cha, cha" at home.

I also love that at the little mall playground the other day Ethan was the only kid yelling "YEE-HAW" everytime he went down the slides!

So whoever told Ethan he is officially a 2 year old, just know that he listened to you! And even though the last few weeks I have felt that my parenting skills to guide and direct a 2 year old with a determined personality and boundless energy are more than a little under par - I'm sure happy for the chance to learn!

I'm loving my little Eee-eee (as he calls himself) at age 2!