My little boy is nearly two years old. I can't believe it. Everyone told me that time would go quickly and that he would grow up fast, and boy, were they right! It seems like only yesterday we were just bringing him home from the hospital and setting up our home with our new little guy. I can't describe the amount of joy and fullness of heart that I feel as a result of my Tyler. He has quite a little personality. He's a charmer, like his dad. He has a smile that melts my heart and he is so stinking smart! I can't believe this kid's vocabulary, and his ability to link words together in little sentences and to connect concepts. Of course I am his mom, so I think he's a complete genius, but I am seriously amazed by him every single day. A good friend of mine recently reminded me that I need to keep a record of what he says and does and how he makes me laugh and cry (in a good way, of course). She said to me, "you think you will remember all this stuff, but you will forget, so write it down." So, I'm going to write it down, as much as I can so that I can remember, and so that he will know how completely awesome he was, even from a very young age. Already I have forgotten a lot of the way he pronounced certain words when he first began talking, but here are some things from the last few months...
Every morning Tyler wakes up between 6 and 7 a.m. (Lord, help me) and almost inevitably the first words out of his mouth are "I unt faffles." (I want waffles). He loves eggos and has eaten one nearly every morning for the last year. His other favorite foods are yogurt, french fries and fruit/veggie pouches.
He used to always call bananas "maynas." Recently he has begun calling them "mananas." It's closer to the correct pronunciation, but I prefer "maynas," simply because the fact he is pronouncing things more accurately reminds me of how quickly he is growing up.
Over the last few months he has developed a huge love for basketball. I directed High School Musical at the university, and Tyler's favorite pastime was coming to "Mommy Office" to play "bassetball" with C-Bass and "Trishan" (Christian), two of my students in the show. He has his own little hoop at home and he stands up on a box to shoot hoops because he is not quite tall enough to reach from the floor. He can say "rebound" and can chant "Defense!" while clapping his little hands with the best of 'em. When Daddy shoots a basket, his success is met with an excited, "Daddy did it!" from Ty.
He also likes music and loves to dance. He has some pretty awesome little moves for a white kid. He likes to engage his whole little body, incorporating some deep knee bends, some pretty fancy spins, and lots of twisting wrists and arms. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen.
Much to this mama's delight, he has started singing some of the little songs that I have sung to him since he was just a wee little one. The other day in the car I heard him sing an entire verse of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, all by himself and unprompted. My heart nearly burst.
Every time we drive by a fast food restaurant, he says, "I unt fruh-fries." And when we drive past the local Chipotle restaurant, he asks for a "say-see-ya" (quesadilla). I'm always amazed by the fact that he recognizes locations and even knows which street we turn on to get to my office.
We say a lot of I Love Yous in our house, and Tyler, for some reason, pronounces it "I ya dum." Not sure where the "dum" part came from , but I'm certainly not going to correct that anytime soon. There is nothing I love more than hearing him say "I ya dum, mommy."
And then there is the Binta (pronounced beenta). This is a word Tyler came up with to describe his binky or pacifier. The Binta has taken on it's own persona in his little world, and sometimes I think he loves Binta more than his mom and dad. He gets super excited when he sees Binta, and when we reluctantly let him have his Binta (though we wish we could break him of it....). Recently he has been asking me to sing "Happy To You" (Happy Birthday to You) to Binta. Oh, Lord.
Some of my other favorite phrases these days are:
-"Daddy g-up" or "Ty Ty g-up" (Daddy get up, Ty Ty get up - when he wants us to get out of bed).
-"Mommy home!" or "Daddy home!" (said with excitement when we get home after being away for a few hours.
- "I unt brush teef, toof-pace" ( I want to brush teeth with toothpaste)
- If we ask him a question and he doesn't know the answer, he will say "Um!" He used to say "Ummmm..." but recently it has changed to more of a statement. Um!
- He loves Elmo and Sesame Street. "Sreet" is his name for the show, and he will ask for "Sreet Guys" when he wants to play with his little SS figurines.
- "Uhn go ow-shide!" (I want to go outside).
I also love it when he says "Hi Mommy!" or "Hi Daddy!" with a high-pitched, almost surprised inflection, like he is really genuinely glad to see us. Melts my heart.
I'm sure there are a million more, and I'm realizing even as I write this that I already have forgotten some. I need to start keeping a little notebook and pen nearby to write things down. I know every kid learns words and develops the ability to ask for what he/she wants and put together ideas. I realize this is not some crazy phenomenon. However, I think it is uncanny how he comes up with things on his OWN, and how he hears and repeats every little thing, and how he can process concepts in his little brain. We humans are amazing creatures, really. God designed us so expertly and with such love. Tyler reminds me constantly of how the Father must look at us, with wonder at what we can do, with so much hope for what we can be and with more love than can be described in words.
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