That's my boy...

We went for a walk around the neighborhood a few weeks ago...back when the weather was still nice, before it decided to snow again. William rode his tricycle, and John walked Dipper. We followed William's lead and he took us to the park about a block away. First, we had to go down the slide, many, many, many times. You always know when it's William's turn on the slide, not matter where you are, because he says "Wheeeeeee!!" all the way down. It's particularly funny at a McDonald's playland, where all the slides are covered. Anyway, after I stopped him from trying to eat playground sand, he saw the swings. We spent almost an hour on the swings. Daddy pushed him. I pushed him; William smiled the whole time. He didn't want to leave went it was time to go home for dinner. He didn't have a tantrum, or cry, but instead tried to be sneaky. Have you ever seen a two year old try to be sneaky? We knew everytime he tried to turn around - he would start tiptoeing and saying "Shhh," in between giggles.

After he went to bed that night, I started looking through the pictures I took, trying to decide which ones I wanted to keep. I saw this picture, and was amazed. Normally, I think William looks alot like his Daddy, except for the eyes, but in this picture, he is the spitting image of my little brother when he ws this age. I sent it to my parents and siblings for confirmation, and they were all amazed too. I guess that explains his charm...Augie has charm and charisma oozing out of every pore.

Meanwhile, as his personality develops, he is beginning to behave like me. What do I mean by this? Well, he is loud. Very loud. And is always talking. Always. Even before he could talk, he would constantly babble and make noise. Awake, or asleep, he doesn't stop talking. He very much enjoys food... and when he is hungry, everything stops so that he can eat -usually. And when he is hungry, he gets very, very grumpy until he eats.

Also, William is always humming, or singing. Sometimes songs we all know - ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider; sometimes songs he made up on his own. Ask my parents, or my siblings...these are all hallmarks of me as a young child. Actually, this still describes me. Of course, he spends all day with me. Hmm... So... nature or nurture? Nature or nurture? Who knows? Who cares? I love him. He's happy. We're happy. I'll just enjoy it while I can...it all goes by too fast anyway. I blink my eyes and suddenly he is two. TWO!! When did that happen? Whew...

Pranks

I am the best wife in the world... I bought the following bumper sticker (actually, it's a magnet) because it reminded me of John. I shouldn't tell you why it reminds me of John, it might make him angry, but it does. Anyway, I bought it about a month ago, and the evening I bought it, I snuck out to the garage and put it on his car while he was giving William a bath. He drove around with it an entire day before finally noticing it. I figured he had to notice it eventually since it was right above the door to his gas tank, but apparently I had poor planning. He just filled his tank the Friday before I bought it. So, I had to tell him about it so he would find it. Yes, I had to tell him. If you know me well, you know it is nearly impossible to for me to keep something a secret if I am really excited about it. Honestly, I am amazed I didn't tell John about his surprise party last fall. That was a huge feat of will power for me. But, I know my husband well, and he thought it was funny. As I knew he would. Not nearly as funny as I found it, but he was definitely amused.

The one true way to prove you have lost your inner child is if you
don't laugh when you hear the word poop

The energizer bunny

I swear, sometimes I wish my son came with an off switch. I think he has spring fever or something, because ever since the weather has gotten warmer, he has been out of control! He has been so crazy and stubborn, we even had to have a timeout in the middle of Kindermusik on Tuesday. We have NEVER had to leave class before. Just the threat of leaving has always curbed the behavior. And I usually don't even have to resort to that. Maybe it's not spring fever... could be a stage. Maybe we have reached the hyperactive two and a halfs, since we never experienced the terrible twos. He is like the freaking Energizer bunny. He can run, and run, and run, even past the point of exhaustion. You'll be watching him run, and he can't even really run anymore. He is running at half speed, walking speed really, but he will keep on going. I have to make him sit down in my lap and drink some water for him to stop. Sigh...I do know I have been exhausted and ready for a nap by the afternoon. Unfortunately, Mr.-nap-in-the-morning-because-I-am-not-sleeping-long-enough-at-night, has been awake in the afternoon. No nap for mommy :( At least he's not waking me up at 6 am anymore with "Mommy, want to play MarioKart?" I will forever be grateful to my husband to that addiction! Not that I should really complain about him, since he gives me however much time for myself that I ask for, and doesn't complain about it.
The stubborn streak has also extended to the potty. He has decided he wants to wear underwear every morning...but he doesn't want to stop playing, ever, to go to the bathroom. He can. He did a great job for about 2 weeks in January, and last month he picked out his own underwear, Thomas the tank engine underwear. Then, he decided he was afraid of the toilet water. Not the toilet, not the flushing (no not that, we could flush the toilet all day long), but the toilet water itself. "I'm scared mommy." "What are you afraid of baby?" "I'm scared of the cold toilet water!" Never mind that he doesn't use the toilet, he has his own potty, without water, but he still is afraid of the water. Whatever. He started wanting to sit on the potty on his own way earlier than I expected, without any prompting from me, so, if he wants to wait, no problem. Not that I could really do anything about it if I felt differently. I think he is going to be one of those kids who doesn't potty train until he is going to start school...