The In's and Out's of Being Two

Henry has, hands down, the best stage fall I have ever seen in my life.  He could go pro in the toddler stage fall.  The smallest touch from Cici will bring on this body crumple, then a look up from the ground with eyes that say 'Did you SEE THAT?? Did you SEE what she has DONE to me!  She should be PUNISHED!'

But oh how he is fun to play with right now.  He gets games, he gets hide and seek.  When Nick comes in from work he will look at me and say, "Oh no Mama, HIDE ME!!" as he lunges under the desk.  As Nick walks into the room he will hear little giggles coming from under my feet as he says "Where is Henry?? Where is my BOY?"  At which point Henry will jump out and yell something along the lines of "RAWR!!"  And jump into Nick's arms.

He refuses to eat.  I do what I swore I would never do and will make him multiple dinner options just to attempt to get SOMETHING in him.  Begging him to just take ONE bite!  Just TRY IT!  Which is met with a definitive "NO.  ALL DONE."  It is maddening.

But then sometimes, when I ask what he wants to eat he will put his finger on his chin and tilt his head to the side and say "Hmmmmm..... peanutBUTter and BooNANA??" and then he will actually pump his fist in the air and nod his head as he takes bites of his favorite snack.

When he is playing and he doesn't want me to make him stop for lunch or nap or whatever it is that is now required of him, he will look at me and say "Mama, go away.".  And I can't lie, every time it breaks my heart a little.  We have discussed that it isn't nice to tell Mama (or Papa or anybody else, because this isn't only a Mama command) to go away, so he has now altered it to "Mama, read book." or "Mama, go change laundry".  Or, if all else fails, "FIVE MINUTES!! Mama, MAMA, FIVE MORE MINUTES!... TWO....TWO MINUTES!  PLLLEEEAASSE!  TWO MINUTES!!"   And sometimes he gets two  minutes.  Because damn, this kid is good at negotiating.

We are working on sharing.  Sometimes he is amazing about it, and other times... well, other times he is not so amazing.

We are working on being polite.  Telling everyone hello and goodbye, giving kisses, answering questions.  Giving hugs.  Sometimes he is amazing about it, and other times.... well, other times he is not so amazing.

We are working on consequences and punishments.  Sometimes I think I am never going to get through to him, that he has no concept of what is happening.  Then I tell him to stop throwing his Angry Birds toy at the blinds and he will take his bird, point his finger at him and say "No Angry Bird!  You need time out!" Then he sets him in his chair for a minute,  then picks him up and hugs him and they run off to play again.  Him and Angry Bird both staying clear of the window and any more trouble.   

He is two.  And sometimes I feel like I only talk about the easy stuff with Henry.  About the sweet and the good and I make him sound like a super two year old.  Like he is never hard, like he is never a challenge.  He is sometimes hard.  He is sometimes a challenge.  There are nights where Nick and I fall into bed and ask ourselves "Why was today so HARD?"  But most nights we lay in bed and think of how lucky we are.  Because he is here and he is perfectly normal and, at the same time, completely extraordinary.  He is two, and two is sometimes hard. But he is ours.