From a toddler's point of view

I often wonder what goes on in the minds of my little guys.  I forget how very concrete LO is until I ask him to do something and he responds doing exactly what I asked, but not at all what I meant.  For instance, I once said "turn around and let me wipe your face." Then had to laugh when LO started spinning and I couldn't wipe his face at all!  Lately I'll use an idiom and get a quizzical look from LO. "That's a piece of cake, huh?" "Where?" LO responds. "How do you like those apples?" I asked another time.  "What apples?" LO asked. It definitely doesn't help that these all involve food...LO surely thinks he's missing out!  Anyway, I digress.  My point is that it is in these moments that I feel I get a little glimpse into his thought processes.  Until the last month or so, though, these were the only times I caught that glimpse.  More recently, though, LO has had more spontaneous conversations with me where he actually offered up real, unsolicited information.  That fact might have escaped me except Sam's mom mentioned he started doing the same thing in the last couple of months.  When she mentioned that, I realize that LO has been doing the same more and more often.  I savor these random little morsels whenever he offers them.  It is so exciting to have him share something meaningful.

This morning we were at the pool and LO asked, "Mommy am I bigger?"  "You're getting bigger" I responded, unclear where this was going.  "I thought I would get bigger on my birthday, but I didn't" he said, with just a bit of disappointment in his voice.  Maybe it's just me, but I thought this was both sweet and sad.  Ironically, LO has spent a lot of time recently talking about "when I get little" so he can use NB's toys and gear.  Guess he's decided getting big is the way to go after all.

You WILL get bigger buddy.  In fact, you are already, but you just don't know it yet. Don't we all need a little reminder to just be happy where we are?  I'm so sorry buddy, if I'm already teaching you not to be.  Moving forward is always the goal, but I hope we'll enjoy the process of getting there.

"Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans." Beautiful Boy, John Lennon.