Toddler Times

I like this season. There are challenges that come with it, but so far, I am really enjoying toddlerhood. This morning, at breakfast, Greyson and Roque were fighting over his spoon. It was the usual situation of him wanting to do it himself, so he exerts the killer grip while Roque tries to help him. This time, in the midst of it all, Greyson said to Roque pointedly, "Let go!" Roq looked at me and said, "Did he just say, "let go"?"-- It is simply impossible to keep up with the changes that have taken place in our little guy over the last few months. He can sing songs now, not just short nursery rhymes, but songs of a good length, from start to finish. Of course, he loves accompaniment, and I am always the Mama Jukebox. Grey will say start a song, or hear me humming something and he'll say, "Mama, sing!" He even has requests now. One of his favorites is, "Mama sing, "Hap Buhday to You." He'll even request the Tagalog version, "Mama sing, "Maligayang Bati."

He is full of commentary. This morning Roque got him from bed, and I heard him say, "Mama Pee Pee Buh Bye Done." (which means that Mama's done peeing. We say "Pee Pee Bye Bye" when we flush) Roque replied, "Oh, Mama's pee pee bye bye is done?" to which Greyson answered, "That's right." He's learning about opposites, and his favorite is Huge/Tiny. He just loves the concept of contrast. I make him little pancakes for breakfast sometimes, and he sits on the counter and watches me going, "Tiny! TINY!" with a wrinkled up pained expression on his face, and then with big eyes he'll say, "HOOGE!" He continues to crack himself up with his own jokes. The other day, we were eating wontons, and Greyson wasn't liking them too much. I said, "Do you not like your wontons?" A minute later, as if it took him that long to formulate it, he said, "Mama....Wonton. TWO-TON...THREE-TON", and then exploded into giggles.

In addition to the constant entertainment, getting around is so much easier now. I carry a little backpack that has one diaper, a snack and some wipes. He walks everywhere, so there's no need for a stroller. He can now climb in and out of his car seat on his own, so I don't have to haul 35 lbs of human in and out of the car every time we make a stop. He's reasonable, I can tell him where we're going, and when we'll leave and to wait if necessary. Greyson has become an all-round companion.