Even though Ethan thinks he’s man enough to decide that he doesn’t need to take naps anymore (a decision due in large part to the loss of his pacifier, I have no doubt), and we deal with tantrums and breakdowns multiple times a day, two years old is still pretty cool, thanks to his newfound ability to TALK. Take, for example, a conversation between Ethan and I yesterday while I was driving and he was in the backseat:
Ethan: Mommy, off head?
Me: Huh?
Ethan: Off head?
Me: Um, no, I can’t take my head off. It’s attached to me. (I didn’t find this all that weird a request, since he often asks me to take my hair out of its ponytail or to stop looking at him; the weirdest little things bother him sometimes, and I just figured my head was doing something to offend him. Or something.)
Ethan: Noooo. Mommy, OFF. HEAD. (He said it slower this time for his obviously dim-witted mother’s benefit.)
Me (glancing back at him, and seeing his hands on his jaws, gently pulling): OH! You want to take your head off! Is that it?
Ethan (again, spoken slowly for his stupid mother): Yeeeeees. Duh. (He didn’t actually say “duh,” but it was clear that he was thinking it.)
Me: No, you can’t take your head off. You need it. You’d look silly without it. And besides, it’s attached to you.
Ethan (sighing, and accepting defeat): Duck.
(He still can’t say s’s. Duck means ’stuck.’)
sniff, sniff…I miss those years when you and your sister and brother said such cute things. And now I am “missing” Ethan in those cute years. Can’t they find Jeff a job up here ?
That is so fricken cute!