Well, well, well. Here we are one month past Remy’s 2nd birthday and those days when he was a tiny infant are fading into a fuzzy history. He’s a little boy with all sorts of wonderful characteristics that does brilliant things. He also has some traits that are absolutely nutty- the kind of nutty where as a parent you have to decide whether to laugh or cry about them. I choose to laugh, because I’m just that way. Hopefully, some day Remy will realize that his parents aren’t laughing with him, but at him, and maybe change his behavior as a result, but I know that’s a naive dream.
So what are some of these goofy Remyisms that he will some day claim he never did?
Hitting the Floor. This is a case of displaying behavior that is the opposite of the boot-strapping, determined to make it work ethic and is especially likely to occur when he’s a bit tired. Say, for example, he’s building a tower of blocks and they tip over. Or, say, he’s told no you can’t play with that serrated steak knife, it’s dangerous. Well, these sorts of things are call for the hit-the-floor-melt-down. It happens really fast. He goes from standing to prone, back arched and face scrunched into a picture of agony in the blink of an eye. Sometimes the gasping silent cry precedes the out loud cry, but often he’s just looking horribly pained and holding his arms up demanding Mommy pick him up. No, son, you got yourself down there yourself, you can get yourself back up. Then I laugh. He cries, “Mommy. (gasp) Pick. (gasp) Remy. (gasp) Up! (whine)” The drama that this child is capable of is impressive indeed.
Potty Training Regression. We were so pleased that potty training (at least for #1) went to well and earlier than expected. That is, until we travelled two weekends in a row and relied too much on pull-ups and diapers for that time period. Then we were back where we started. So we started over. I figure he learned once, he can learn again. Gary complained about the number of clothing changes, but oh well, he’s the one who used diapers instead of pull ups, which made it difficult to make potty trips. Fortunately, Remy’s a bright kid and re-potty trained fairly quickly.
Anti-Long Sleeves. I don’t know what the deal is here, but as the mornings have cooled, I’ve tried to put jackets or long sleeve shirts on Remy. It’s not been very successful. He immediately starts pulling on the long sleeves and working himself up into a lather demanding Mom or Dad to “Take! (gasp) It! (gasp) Off! (gasp & whine & repeat at higher and higher octaves)” Eventually, it’s going to be cold for real and he’s just going to have to deal with the sleeves. The only way we’ve managed to keep him in longer sleeves has been to first bring him outside where it’s cold, throw on the long-sleeved item, then immediately distract him with something else. The technique isn’t 100% but we’ll take what small successes we can get.
Saying it Doesn’t Make it So. With most toddlers, their spoken words are a clear reflection of what the adults in their lives say to them on a regular basis, and Remy is as adept a parrot as any 2 year old. This includes things like, “That’s off limits!” “That’s dangerous!” while continuing to play with said dangerous or off-limits object and, one of my favorites. “Use Carmex only on lips” while sticking half the tube into his mouth. Ew. Gross. (Remy giggling, “Eeew! Gross!”) Sigh…
Into the TV Now. For the longest, Remy had no interest in TV shows, even kiddie shows. That has now changed. For example, right now I’m hearing a familiar morning refrain “Din-oh-soar Train!” Also popular are “Curyus George!” and “Sid Science Kid!” In parental defense, at least they are all educational. Strangely, though, one of his favorite “shows” is the “Circle Show”, which is actually the Replay TV screen saver. He seems to enjoy predicting what color the circle will change to next as it floats around the screen. Sound boring? Not to Remy. Veeeeery exciting.
Amazing Memorization Skills. Remy is still in a torrid love affair with books. He knows his alphabet (or ACB’s as he calls them), even though he reliably skips K, but hey that’s pretty close. Obviously, he’s not able to read yet but he appears to at times by memorizing the words from a surprisingly high number of pages from the 20+ books we regularly read together. Often, he doesn’t even need to see the page to begin reciting story lines. He quotes them randomly throughout the day or even upon waking from a sound sleep. My favorite was when he woke up and said “Pink underpants”. (from Dr. Suess’ The Eye Book) A few days ago, he was quoting a nursery rhyme from a book we had checked out of the library and returned several weeks prior. I was trying to remember the 3rd verse and told Remy that I couldn’t remember a particular line. He immediately responded with the two words I was missing. I think my jaw hit the floor.
Showing off his Physical Agility for the Ladies. Lately, Gary comes back from the play ground with stories of Remy climbing to the very top of a rope-climb contraption. Yesterday, little R had an audience of all little girls, so demonstrated his climbing prowess post haste. Another physical skill he’s got down is jumping off of high objects, like a bed or high step, and landing without falling over. I still wince a little inside when he does that stuff, imagining what could happen if it went wrong, but he knows what he’s doing.
This child continues to amaze me. He’s a strange blend of amazingly advanced and regressive baby-like behaviors, but I guess that’s what you get when they are 2. I suppose that’s what you get when they’re 3 and 4, for that matter, but I’ll confirm that later. Right now, he’s on the couch looking over his Tonka truck book, hanging on to a toy truck and watching Dinosaur Train. Toddler nirvana.
Now I’m going to go hang out with him, but I leave you some pics so you can see what the big man is up to these days.
Digging around at the science museum.
Remy inspecting and finetuning his stick sculpture.
Wet sand, cups and buckets. ALL the buckets.
I notice that dirt plays a major role in all of these pictures, which isn’t much of a surprise.
Did Gary tell you what he repeated after hearing his papa respond to hitting his head on the bottom of the car when he and Gary were working on it? Luckily, your dad had enough presence of mind not to say his usual but said instead, dang-it, dang-it, dang-it. Your little parrot then repeated it. Whew!!!
Awesome! Zach is doing so many of the same things – unfortunately, even the drop to the floor tantrum. I just love some of the stuff they say at this phase, like “Oh, I farted!” (he got that from his dad who expressed enthusiasm when Zach farted on the toilet). And I bet Remy is a very early reader. The memorization thing is supposed to be one of the key steps in learning to read.