2 years, 8 months
Ok, so it's been almost half a year since my last blog! Sorry folks!! As you can probably guess...life has just been crazy!!
So a quick re-cap...we've had a LOT going on. From our last blog, we had a family vacation to the beach (Brock LOVED the ocean and the beach), a bunch of firsts in our new home (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas), a new big boy bed and pirate-themed room, and a wonderful holiday season, and now here we are after 2 full-on snow days at home...back into the swing of things.
I think anyone who reads this is able to have re-caps on Facebook of what we've been up to, so I'll spare the details and photos for today. Really I just want to take a minute to reflect on what I'm now calling my 'favorite' phase. Recently, a co-worker of mine asked what my favorite phase had been, since she has 3 month old at home. My answer was now. I remember when Brock was a baby, just thinking every phase was my favorite. As he got older (and fussier at times), that definitely changed. But right now, he's just the most fun.
He has all kinds of things he loves. He has 'best friends' - mostly stuffed animals, or me, or Oscar or Daddy. He says I love you, sometimes without us saying it first. He's hilarious...he makes us laugh daily...yesterday it was saying 'of course'. He plays and pretends and watching his little mind make up these little stories and scenarios is fascinating. He'll sit in his car seat in the car talking to his toys, and making them talk to each other.
We sing and sing and SING. The soundtrack to Frozen is our current favorite. He knew words to most of the songs within a week of having the CD. The released a sing-along version to the movie and though we'd already seen the movie when it first came out, I took him again. It was perfect. He loved it and we sang right along. He's always been a singer...from a super young age he's been into music and songs - singing and dancing. And yet it still makes me smile when he sings. It's our thing...he talks about 'our' songs. He has 'his' songs and I have 'my songs' according to him..but my favorite are the ones he says are 'our songs'. He sings higher when the song goes higher, or whispers in some cases. He shakes his head and makes all kinds of facial expressions - a little Justin Timberlake in the making.
He is the sweetest thing ever. He is doing amazing at school. He loves his teacher and his class. He's a fantastic helper. Right now he is in a big Toy Story phase...he always wants to watch them on TV. He got a train set for Christmas and loves to play with his trains. He still loves trains and planes - the sight or sound of either one makes him stop dead in his tracks.
He says 'thank you' for everything (even for kisses). He is such a little sponge. He'll tell us 'good job' in the way he's heard us tell him. He loves to snuggle and will ask to do so. He likes to play on his own, but he always wants us close by. He's also very bossy when he plays but in the cutest way. He likes you to play with him, but he will tell you where to put the toys.
We can have full on conversations. We're full blown into the 'why' phase. He asks why for everything. My goal is never to say 'because I said so' but I'm only human so we'll see how long that lasts. He's a fantastic eater. He'll eat just about anything we put in front of him without much of a fight. Now, it takes him awhile to finish eating because he likes to talk and play during dinner...but I feel very grateful that I don't have to make seperate meals (which in all honesty I don't think I would do anyway).
I just love this phase so much...I could go on and on. And yet, I have this huge feeling of sadness. Because if the last almost 3 years have taught me anything, it's that time flies. I see article after article or blog post on Facebook about 'these are the best days of your life', 'love them when they're little' and it's like a sucker punch to the gut. Because I do all those things...as a working mom, I try and enjoy every second of my time with him. I try and really relish that this is the time we will long for as he grows up. So, since I'm aware of that now, that means time can just stop right? Things can go really really slowly and he won't grow up and leave us right?
I can already see why people miss this phase and it makes me want to cry almost daily. Yes, there are days when I just want to lock myself in my bedroom with trashy tv, snacks I don't have to share and a quiet house. But those are fleeting moments and the idea of those times can't compare to the chaos that is our house on those days. At his worst, he's still hands down the best thing that has ever happened to us. And while each phase has gotten better and better, it also means we're just that much closer to the days he doesn't need us to tuck him in, or make his dinner or wash his clothes and it's almost too much to handle.
