30 Months

Our boy is now two-and-a-half years old. Wow! It hardly seems like yesterday that we were holding his head up to protect his delicate neck. We looked at a video the other day from almost a year ago and I'm shocked to see that he couldn't form coherent words with his mouth. So much has changed in such a short amount of time yet it also feels like that time in our lives as parents was so long ago, years even!

Lucas is developing rapidly and everyday we are amazed and frustrated by his growth. Amazed because he reveals impossible talents to us constantly and frustrated because he continuously finds ways to test us. One of the aspects of the terrific twos that give way to the terrible twos syndrome is that he's developed just enough to realize that certain quirks and perks in his behavior will undoubtedly manipulate our parenting behavior. Their little brains pick up on this very quickly and before long you find yourself giving into the little minx whose energy level always seems to outweigh yours. Both Xtina and I are constantly reminding ourselves to stick to our original plan where the parents rule over the child (with love and care first, of course). We are in charge.

But his endearing traits still find their way to the surface most of the time. Tonight we cooked dinner together! We made broccoli beef with pasta shells in a white cheese sauce. I realized that when he is involved in the preparation of the meal that he is much more eager to sample the outcome. He ate every portion like I haven't seen in weeks or like when we go to ponce's. He helped wash the food and put it in the bowl and scatter it all over the floor. He helped with the dishes and after going through his alphabet he went right to bed. A parent has never been happier.

As I tucked him beneath the blankets he tells me that he wants to listen to music tonight, so I put on something mellow so that he'll drift off into slumbering nirvana. He has a stuffed dog that he calls My Big Boi and lately he's required My Big Boi's presence with him whenever he enters dreamland. So tonight I asked him if he wanted to sleep with My Big Boi, which he does of course. Unfortunately I can't find the little canine anywhere.

"He's in my bedroom."

Lucas sends me into the other room and after a quick search I still can't seem to find him. So I go back into the bedroom and start looking under the crib or thinking that maybe he got lost somewhere in the closet, but Lucas is having none of it.

"He's in my bedroom."

And he climbs out of bed and stomps off into the other room. I follow like a dutiful student and Lucas goes right over to his shelf, digs through a cubbyhole where most of his stuffed animals are located (how did I miss that one?).

"There's My Big Boi"

He tells me and calmly walks back into the bedroom with the dog tucked under his arm, climbs back into bed and tells me goodnight. I flick off the light switch with my admiration for him bouncing off the ceiling. Good night my sweet genius.