TWO

Henry is two today. Two. 

 

He is so, so, so full of life.  So full of joy. So full of passion.  He gets excited over most things [Note: The term excitement can be positive or negative excitement.].  He is still attached to "teacher," and we have a constant rotation of clean teachers since he sleeps with teacher in his mouth.  He is a Mama's boy.  He ultimately prefers Gigi over everyone (including Mama). He rarely walks, and mostly runs. Sometimes he substitutes marching. Sometimes hopping.  He is regularly bruised. He has no fear of death or imminent danger.  He does his best to be a picky eater.  He prefers all things sweet.  He seeks acknowledgement of his constant observations. "Mama, BIG truck. Mama? Mama?" [Me: Yes, baby.] "BIG TRUCK!" He always requests a song right before he goes to sleep.  Sometimes he prefers wheels on the bus, sometimes issy bissy spie-der, sometimes the Jesus song (Jesus Love me), and sometimes children (Jesus Loves the Little Children).  He is crazy ticklish.  He wants to wrestle/wallow 90% of the time.  He has accepted that Walter is here to stay (and seems okay with that).  He thinks Walter needs a bottle every time he cries.  He also thinks Walter needs to "throw up?" every time he cries (Walter has thrown up/spit up a total of about 15 times in his whole life).  Speaking of throwing up, Henry hasn't thrown up in about 3-4 weeks. That is his lifetime record. He has recently become obsessed with the dark, and excitedly whispers "SHARK!" "MONSTERS!" when we walk into a dark room.  He can officially hold his breath for 3 seconds underwater. He can spell and read the word "no" most of the time.  He regularly recognizes the letter H, which clearly stands for Henry.  He will not sing his ABCs on command, but has been known to be caught singing them under his breath.  He does not understand the verses of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and sings it on repeat.  He knows his colors, and recently seems to prefer purple and pink (I can feel Paul twinging right now!).  He knows most of his basic shapes (I got a blank stare the other day as I tried to explain a hexagon and octagon).  I've never heard the child count above three.  He still believes that anything more than one is two.  He still doesn't pucker to kiss, but opens his mouth wide.  I've still never known him to bite, but he has been known to hit when he gets angry.  He's also been known to come home from school and tattle on himself if he hit someone and received time out as punishment. He regularly says please and thank you without being told, but we're still working on ma'am and sir after our yesses and nos. 

For sheer entertainment value, I decided to interview Henry.  My bet before the interview began was that I wouldn't get more than two responses that made any sense.

1. What is something Mama always says to you? "Get out!" [I don't think I've ever said this to him.]

2. What makes you happy? "My chair." [After asking him about 10 more times since he wasn't focusing on me but on climbing in a chair.] "Mama."
3. What makes you sad? "Mama." [I've been known to make him cry a time or two....]

4. What makes you laugh? [Jumps up and down and mumbles something while giggling to himself.]
5. How old are you? "Two."  [That's right, my child's a genius.]

6. How old is Mama? "Two." [Okay, maybe not.]

7. How old is Dadda? "Two." [Now we're just stuck on repeat.]

8. What is your favorite thing to do? "Move seat too. Move seat to mat too. [As he picks up a plastic chair and moves it to a mat.] Buzz."

9. Who is your best friend? "Woody." 

10. What do you want to be when you grow up? "Music." [We will next teach him to say, "You want fries with that?"]
11. What are you really good at? "Two."
12. What are you not very good at? "I'm two." [Paul's response, after watching the interview on video, was "Answering questions." Ha!]
14. What is your favorite food? "Pasta." [You are a liar. You wouldn't eat pasta unless it was dipped in chocolate and covered in syrup, Buddy-the-Elf-style.]
15. What is your favorite song? "Itty Bitty Spie-der." [I retract my former statement.  This is true.]
16. What do you want for birthday this year? "Cupcakes." [Also likely true - sweet tooth is an understatement.]
17. What is your favorite animal? "Horsey." [He has officially named his giant stuffed horse Bullseye.  Think we have a Toy Story problem in our house?]
18. What is love? "Lollipop." [I don't get it.]
19. What does Mama do for work? [Blank stare.]

20. What does Dadda do for work? "Umm.  That one." [As he points to a bank on the side of the road.]
21. Where do you live? "Dallas, Texas."  [Okay, kid, seriously impressive.  You ARE listening when I talk to you in the car.]

22. Where is your favorite place to go? "Ummm.. doctor's office. Cars, cars, cars. Cars go fast." 

I have a lump in my throat, tears in my eyes, and tightening in my chest just thinking about the fact that I've had this blessing in my life for two whole years. Lord, I sincerely thank You for him.