2. Pediatricians and parents alike say that a large majority of kids "turn two" around the time they're about eighteen-months-old. I would have totally agreed with this after Kolbe. He went through his bull headed, strong willed, test of wills year from around eighteen months to around two-and-a-half. Keep in mind, he also added a new brother when he was just fifteen months old so some of it had to have been that fight for attention and relevance amidst all the other shenanigans going on at the time. Reagan has been a totally different case. Pleasant tempered, relatively mild, we wondered if he was ever going to "turn two" or if we were just blessed with a very compliant, happy, do-whatever-brother-agrees-to-do little guy.
Oh no. "The phase" has officially arrived. Strangely enough, it was as if he had it marked down on his personal calendar! One day he was fine, the next day he had a mind of his own. I'm still thinking it may be due, in part, to all of the changes going on. No longer living in the house he always knew as home, living with grandparents who travel quite a bit and are sometimes here sometimes not, all this talk about moving into his new house, not to mention the obvious new baby that lurks in the shadows! But a lot of it is just Rudy trying to understand the way the world works. It's as if he somehow thinks that since he can now clearly communicate with us using words, we should be willing to oblige to whatever it is he's demanding:
Reagan: Mama, bike ride.
Me: Rudy, we can't go on bike ride right now. We just finished breakfast.
Reagan: Bike Ride!
Me: You can ride your bike right here on the back patio while Mama cleans off the breakfast dishes.
Reagan: No! Bike riiide!
Me: Ru, I don't even have on my clothes yet! Look! Mama is still in her pajamas!
Reagan: Bike! Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiddddeeee! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
(That "whaaa" can further be translated as: I know you know what "bike ride" means, lady! Quit acting like you don't. Why are you trying to act like it's so hard to understand what I'm saying!?! When I say "bike ride," I mean NOW!)
Poor creature. How disappointing to learn that the world doesn't do exactly what you want it to do when you want it to do it. And a mama of three boys certainly isn't going to be able to jump at your every request the second you ask. Or at all, if it's for some of the more ridiculous things you're requesting. (such as the king-size Butterfinger in the check-out lane at the store...though you know I'd love to help you take that one down...) You'll learn, little guy. Just may be an interesting few months up ahead.
3. I've been fortunate not to have to deal with death much in my life. A beloved grandmother when I was ten, a grand father I didn't know well right after Kolbe was born, my most special Popo just two years ago. My grandparents that have died all died in typical ways- aging, disease, illness- and with the typical scenarios of having lived a full life and been through the traditional trials and triumphs of any grown adult. But this week another special soul left my extended family. A most unique and beautiful person whose life and death are unlike any of the others that passed before. My sweet Aunt Kathy passed away on Saturday. She is my dad's little sister. Number three of seven kids. The beloved jewel of a large family. Kathy was born with Downs Syndrome in 1958, a time when many children with this condition were placed in homes and treated completely differently. Kathy, instead, was raised as any other child in their family and led an exceptional life. She went to school, competed in the Special Olympics, and even held down a job at The Olive Garden for twenty years. Kathy always did her best to be as anyone else would be, though her disease provided her with one special blessing. How often do we wish, especially during the difficult times, that we could go back to being a kid? When nothing seemed wrong with the world, we didn't have to worry about bad things happening, and we weren't responsible for all that life really entails. Because Kathy's mental capacity never exceeded that of an adolescent, she got to live that life for her entire existence. Even as she lay dying from Alzheimer's disease, she was still able to maintain the innocence I see in my own little boys. The freedom from major temptations, ugly habits, having to choose between right and wrong. The ability to just be beautiful and child-like for her entire fifty-two years of life. What a gift. As so in her passing this week, I found it so unique to look at a grown, adult person who had just died and not feel like I should "pray that she goes to heaven," so to say. Just as when a child dies, there's just that certainty that, still innocent, she ever so gracefully joined the choirs of heaven the moment her heart stopped beating. Her life will continue to impact us all and she will greatly be missed.
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| Aunt Kathy and my dad...life is good! |
Lara, your story of your aunt is so touching. I teared up!!!!! As for Reagan, I thought the same thing about Nalani. Fortunately for me her "terrible twos" didn't hit until she was almost 3 and it simply manifested itself into her desire to do all things for herself, namely bathe and clothe herself. I tried being the stern mother, but in the end, I decided it was an expression of her personality and creativity. So, she wore a princess costume to daycare for about 3 months and looked like punky brewster for almost a year, but she was the happiest toddler you ever met. Congrats on the new house and the new baby!!!!
ReplyDeleteNaomia