23 Months, or "Our Little Walty is Changing"

The title of this post is a direct quote from Walt's teacher at school.  Given that her previous comments had always been about how sweet and easygoing he is, and how she wants her next child to be just like him, this particular assertion definitely got my attention. 

"Uh oh, what did he do?"

She went on to tell me that it wasn't anything in particular -- he just seemed to be a little more "rambunctious" than he used to be. 

Getting rambunctious with Evie.

And truth be told, we've been noticing a bit of that ourselves.  It's as if he's finally realized that he has the power to exert his little will on the world.  And although he's not too sure what his will is, he's pretty certain that it's not the same as ours.

"Walty, would you like a hot fudge sundae?"

"Mo."  (His version of "no", always accompanied by much head shaking.)

"How about a basketful of cuddly kittens?"

"Mo."

"Perhaps I could interest you in a shopping spree at Toys 'R Us?"

"Mo."

"Then maybe an all-expenses paid tour of every theme park in America?"

"Cark?"

Okay, so he's still agreeable to some things, like outings to the park, eating cookies, watching contruction equipment, and playing with balls.  Any kind of ball.  We currently have floating around our living/dining room three footballs ("fuh-bah!") of varying sizes, two soccer balls ("hawker-gaw"), a basketball ("tah-kee-go" -- yeah, I don't get it either), a baseball and a four square ball (neither of which are ever referred to by name).

These two pictures were taken approximately one second apart.  I'm not sure what exactly happened, but one second he was standing there posing for the camera, and the next he was flat on his back and the ball was bouncing perilously close to the Christmas tree. 

And he is always up for a pick-up game.  However, consistent with the aforementioned contrariness, you can never be quite sure of the rules of the game despite his attempts to coach you by pushing at your knees to move you into proper position.  Even if you think you're starting to catch on, the game can change with no notice and you will be unable to please the coach, prompting a dramatic face-down flinging of the toddler body to the floor.  There are rarely hysterics associated with the flinging.  He seems to feel that, in those instances, actions speak louder than words.  Sheesh.

But speaking of words, Walt is using a lot of them these days, even speaking in short sentences with increasing frequency (though you need a fairly good command of "Waltese" to understand them).  Everyday he surprises me with the things that come out of his mouth.  Things like,

"Dat hut Wah." (Translation: That hurt Walt.  Exclaimed in response to my apparently too-vigorous cleaning of his peanut-butter covered hands.)

"Puh [un-transcribable gutteral sound] in Mommy cot?" (Translation:  Put shoes in Mommy's closet?  Asked as he picked up the shoes I'd left in the middle of the bedroom floor and transported them to my closet.  Yes, I am a bit embarassed that my not-quite-two-year old is picking up after me.)

"Dat bah bee-haver." (Translation:  That's bad behavior.  Phrase I make him repeat after each of his many transgressions throughout the day.  I'm not sure my repitition technique is having much effect.)

Despite the new challenges of his rapidly approaching two-ness, we're still having tons of fun with Walt and feel like the luckiest parents in the world to have such a great kid. 

Since you and I both know that this will be the last post until after we return from our holiday journeys, please accept our most sincere wishes for a very Merry Christmas for you and yours.  (I'll save the "Happy New Year" for the next post!)