The Not So Terrible Twos

I know two year old kids have a bad reputation, but I've got to say ours is pretty cute!  Don't get me wrong - Josh is definitely a handful, but he makes us laugh every day and brings a lot of joy into our home (mingled with frustration.) I've decided to document a few things about our boy and his two-year-old phase that I want to always remember.

Josh doesn't walk anywhere.  He always runs.  To put it more accurately, he prances.  He runs with his back straight, his hands down by his side, and his knees raised high.  Come to think of it, he looks a little bit like The Lord Of The Dance.  There's just a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the way he runs around.

He is the PERFECT sleeper.  Always has been.  He never fights going to bed.  Sometimes he even says to me, "Mom, my ready bed."  (meaning I'm ready for bed)  He never comes out of bed.  He never wakes up in the night.  He's amazing!  We just tuck him in with his six stuffed animals (no joke - sometimes, I have to kiss each one) and close his door.  He talks for a few minutes, then goes right to sleep.  In the morning, he always ALWAYS wakes up happy.  He plays with his animals on his bed until we are ready to come get him. Sometimes, he plays for an hour.  It's not that he can't get out of bed.  He just doesn't.  When we go in his room in the morning, he smiles, says something cute like "Morning!" and climbs out of bed.  Even if he was a total terror in every other way, Josh's sleep habits make him a super star in my book!

Joshua is our first boy, and it sometimes amazes us just how boy-ish he is.  Ever since he was born, he has been very different than his sisters.  He's a jumper and climber and thrower, and builder.  He loves cars and "scary rahs" (aka dinosaurs) and trains.  That's not to say that he doesn't feel keenly the injustice of girls getting to wear nail polish or the joy of a well-placed hair bow.  What can I say, he's being raised with two sisters, but he is fundamentally different.  Even his choice of movies is all boy.  He's just started being interested in the TV, but only if he can watch Cars, Monsters Inc., Kung Fu Panda or Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.  It has been a real testimony to me that gender is inherent and in place long before we come to Earth.

One of the things I have to learn to get used to with this inherent gender difference is how much food a boy can eat.  Josh eats more than I do on most days.  He eats all the time!  And when he's not eating, he wants to be.  One of his first words was "candy."  David tells me that I've got a lot to learn about how much boys eat and to "just wait until he's a teenager."  As long as he's eating mostly healthy foods like fruits and veggies, I let him eat.  But wow!  All I can say is wow!  He's not very picky either.  I mean, I often catch him garbage digging, and I can NOT get him to understand that cat food is for cats ONLY!!!

Josh carries about five cars, a couple of dinos, and a train or two in a little green box about the size of a shoebox.  He takes them with him everywhere he goes.  I just figured out the reason why his does this.  It's so that he can follow me around the house while I'm doing my daily chores.  He just takes his little portable toy box everywhere he goes and sets up shop where ever he is. When I'm feeding the baby, he plays in my room.  When I'm cooking, the kitchen floor is his playground. While I shower, he plays right outside on the tile. When I'm rocking the baby, he's on the wooden chest by our front window.  He even brings his box in the van with us when we go to pick up Nicki from kindergarten.  I like to have him close by.  It's fun to hear his little imagination work as he plays with his toys. Also, let's be honest.  It means less surprise artwork on the wall, less cat food consumed, and less clogged toilets to fix. 

Lately, Josh has become a little chatterbox.  Unlike his sisters, who seem to be practicing to become auctioneers, he speaks slowly and pauses between many of his words.  I love his voice.  Even if most of what he says is cranky, just the way he says it makes me laugh.  Yesterday he said, "Mom.  Bonsun zuka me!" (Mom Bronson looked at me.) I asked him if he wanted to kiss the baby and Josh said, "No!  Mine no..kissa..baby...evah!  Mine mad!"  I asked why he was mad and he non-chalantly stated, "Cause," and walked out of the room.  I'd probably be offended if it wasn't so funny.  I just hope his nursery leaders still can't understand him because he probably chewed them out all afternoon.

Speaking of nursery, Josh finally likes it.  We thought we'd never be able to go to grown-up church again, but a couple of months ago its like he flipped a switch and he loves it now.  He asks to go to church all week long.  I am the nursery music time person, so I get to spend 15 minutes per week watching him.  He so cute.  At two years old, he's one of the oldest, by far the biggest, and most talkative ones in there.  He is very helpful to his leaders and happy the whole time he's there.  When I come in, he cheers and jumps around.  Most of the other kids just stare at me while I put on a little song-and-dance routine, but Josh always sings along.  His favorite song is "Snowman."  He raises his arms high above his head before we even start singing and midway through the second line, before we've even said "tall,tall, tall," Josh jump-belly-flops onto the ground and melts into a puddle.  It's very dramatic.

For these, and many more reasons, we all love our funny, sassy, busy little Joshua.