I feel like I have so much I want to blog about and yet no way to express it all in words all at the same time. So many wonderful things have been happening -- and many of them I will blog about, when the time is right. (NO, I'm not pregnant!) I'm overwhelmed and excited about all the things this summer has in store for us. And I love the pure excitement that is every single day with a toddler. Everything is a new discovery. Every second that ticks by is one we can't get back, so we're doing our best to soak in every moment. But as blissful as life with a toddler can be, sometimes it can be just plain old exhausting.
As we exit the baby stage and enter the "I'm determined to do it myself" phase, the giggles and smiles are on par with the tantrums and tears. Nick can go from zero to pissed in about .5 seconds. Put him down for a minute to do anything necessary (hell, just to go to the bathroom), and he's ticked. Homeboy wants to be held ALL.THE.TIME. these days. Last night Todd and I came to the conclusion that he wants to be held so he can see all the "exciting" things we're doing up high, on the counters or table. You know, like cooking dinner. Or cloroxing the latest mess. But try and hold him on your own accord, when he's not interested, and he squirms and writhes his way out of your arms faster than a snake.
Nick has perfected the "spaghetti arms" where he practically makes his arms pop out of socket and his whole body goes limp so that you are unable to pick him up. My favorite is when he does this in the morning. When we're already running late. And I have to get him out of the crib, diaper changed, dressed, face washed, teeth brushed, shoes on, and into the car without him noticing the dogs leash hanging by the front door, or lord-have-mercy we're gonna have another meltdown about the fact that we're not currently walking the dog.
Speaking of (was I?) changing his diaper, that is an activity all in itself. Not only does he think it's OH SO hilarious to kick his legs like a mule - nearly popping me in the face every time - but he also has found his penis. YUP. I said it. Can someone please explain to me how boys are just born with "hmmm, you should touch this body part!" ingrained in their brains? No sooner than his arms started working, he was able to grab his main man-part. At first it was sort of funny. Now? We spend most of our time trying to deflect the penis grab mid-diaper change, because we've become uber germ-a-phobic when it comes to things like pee-pee on the hands, or heaven for bid, pink-eye caused by rogue poo particles.
And oh the pee-pee. I'm pretty sure Nick is bordering on ready to potty train (ha, who am I kidding) because he is infatuated with the toilet. He loves to open the bathroom door, surprise me as I'm peeing (he's actually kissed my knee while sitting on the toilet once...that was both sweet and weird at the same time), peer into the toilet, listen as it's flushed, and watch Daddy pee. Like the time Todd was peeing and Nick pulled open the door (which was not fully shut), and literally stuck his hand into the pee stream. Pee went everywhere. It was gross. And freaking hilarious.
But heaven forbid we laugh at anything Nick does, because he currently takes any laughter by mommy and daddy as a sign that he should continue to do whatever naughty thing he is doing. Like rubbing food all over his head and face. Or grabbing hold of Whinnie to "go for a ride". Or sticking the broom in the dog's water bowl. Or pretending to go in for a kiss and then biting me out of excitement. The first time, it's all funny. But then it's not funny. And we don't want him to do it again. And by that point, we've already blown it by cracking up at the first instance and now he thinks it's vital to repeat said bad behavior as often as possible.
Good gracious, it's tough to be little. Poor little man just wants to help most of the time, but can't quite figure out what that entails exactly. The other night he had a complete and total meltdown while Todd was swiffering the bathroom floor. Nick wanted to push around the swiffer, but couldn't grasp the concept that the swiffer was not for use on the carpet. And as soon as I took him out of the room, away from the swiffer situation, he started crying...like huge tears, full red-faced, angry sobbing. Just pitiful. It took a lot of hugs, sips of water, and a bubble bath to forget about the swiffer incident. And that's just for me. But replace the word "water" with "wine".
But just as quickly as our defiant toddler can turn into The Hulk, he can also turn on the charm and melt us into a puddle of mush with one quick, dimpled, toothy, smile. Just last night, after being scolded for biting my knee unprompted, as he climbed the stairs at an alarmingly rapid rate (with daddy hot on his heels), he stopped mid-stairway, stuck his little face through the banister rails, and planted a kiss right on my lips. My heart ached, it was so cute.
He's independent, loud, naughty, sneaky, loving, adorable, charming, sweet-as-pie, and all around hilarious. At 16 months old, he's already giving us a run for our money. I'm just hopeful that the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde act slows down a bit, because if not, Lord help us with the terrible twos. Regardless, I wouldn't trade a single, perfect second of our toddler. Tantrums and all. ;)
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