Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Will, almost two and a half



Hey Will.

You have a lot going on these days.

You've grown so much over just the past month. I look back at last year, when you were only sixteen months old, just beginning to walk, and slowly growing your limited vocabulary, and I can hardly fathom how much you've changed.

Let's see what you've been up to.

You've got a bit of a stubborn streak that's starting to emerge. The other day I said, "Will, come see me," and you looked at me and very casually, almost plaintively, said, "No." You are also growing a bit bossy, not just to Bo and Barrett, but to your dad, too! Last night I heard the two of you playing with toys, and you were saying, "No, daddy. Daddy, not for you!" Finally I stepped in. "William, don't talk to your dad that way!" What do you think your Daddy was doing? Laughing, of course. In the process of the day, you'll say, "Mommy, let ME do it." I think it's so wonderful that you're wanting to do things on your own, but I'm trying to teach you how to ask nicely.

You are learning how to ask very nicely for things! It's been about two weeks that I've been correcting you after you yell, "Mommy, have my tractor!" (Or whatever you want at the moment!) I remind you, "Will, say, 'Mommy, may I please have my tractor?'" I still usually need to have you ask me again, the right way, but over the past day or two you've been asking nicely the first time, all on your own. (Then you usually respond FOR me, too, saying, "Sure!")

You are engaged more than ever in reading. You'll have me read the same book to you over and over. I recently bought these Bible stories (I highly recommend buying them used at Thriftbooks.com) and we've been reading one story each night. You love them! It's so wonderful to have you excited to read a Bible story. After each one, you ask, "Read again?"

You make me laugh every day. Yesterday you were walking around the house, asking me to help you find your chainsaw and earplugs. (What?!) And I posted this on Facebook yesterday morning:

Me: "Will, what fruit do you want with your eggs: apple or banana?"
"I want SAUSAGE."
"Right, but what fruit do you want with it?"
"I want SAUSAGE."
"YES, you're getting sausage with your eggs, but do you want an apple or a banana as your fruit?"
"Oh. I want... want.... want... want... want... want... CAKE." 


Again... what?! We're certainly not clean eaters around here all the time, but you haven't had cake in months and to my recollection you didn't even like it!

You are obsessed with Bob the Builder. When Daddy was gone, I borrowed "Bob's White Christmas" from the library, and because Bob's wearing a brown winter coat, you quickly began calling him "Brown Bob". We must have watched it at least seven to ten times. You were very sad to send "Brown Bob" back to the library. I tried to explain that another little boy or girl was going to be able to watch "Brown Bob" now, and you got so excited to go watch it at someone else's house! I gave up that route and told you that when we set up the Christmas tree, in another month or so, we can borrow Brown Bob again. Now, every day, you remind me that when we set up the Christmas tree, we'll get to watch Brown Bob.

Bob the Builder was a natural choice at the library because you love big equipment! Construction equipment, farm equipment, whatever. You thrill to excavators and bulldozers and cherry pickers and of course, all things tractors. I never realized how many of these big machines I used to pass on the highway without noticing them. 

You love when I nurse Barrett "in the chair" at bedtime or naptime. After our Bible story, you get excited to go lay down while I nurse Barrett in the chair. Every time I shift in the chair and it creaks, you sit up in bed to make sure I'm not getting up. When I finally do lay Barrett down, I hear you calling in a loud whisper, "Mommy, nurse Barrett in the chair!" I walk over to you and tell you that Barrett's all done, and then you usually ask, holding up one finger, to sit in the the chair with me for "one song" - "Sit chair one song?" If the answer's no, you then ask, "Try to go potty?" When I say no to that, too, you take it well and settle in.

Last night I came up to tuck you both in one more time before I went to bed, and you were still awake, an hour after putting you down! You were just holding your 'yellow blanket' and staring around the room listening to your 'silver CD'. I picked you up and rocked you in the rocking chair for a while, soaking in the rare opportunity to cuddle with you. Those moments are growing less frequent - chalk it up to having two and to you always being on the go.

I'm enjoying you so much these days. You are my big helper, my little buddy. You want to hold my hand wherever we go. You want me to play toys with you and read you books. You prefer me over anyone in the world, and when you wanted me to put you to bed instead of even Grandma the other night, I felt a thrill of joy. I love you too, Will. You may never know how much!

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