Chief is 20 months old and we are beginning to feel what the “terrible twos” might have in store for us. He is trying so hard to figure everything out, express himself, and display his independence. We rarely go on stroller walks these days. Unless I am navigating him to the park, or running intervals, he INSISTS on walking everywhere we go. He won’t ride in the shopping cart for grocery runs, he won’t sit in a high chair or booster seat, and keeping him contained at a restaurant is proving near impossible. Walking on his own is not the problem, I would actually love it if he would walk on his own and follow me. Unfortunately, once those feet touch the ground they have a mind of their own.
While finding his independence has its challenges, it also has its perks. If he spills his cup, he’ll grab a dish towel to wipe it off the floor; when he finishes a snack, he’ll toss his dirty dish in the sink and throw his trash in the trash can. He begs to wash the veggies for dinner and with enough coaxing he’ll help pick up his toys from the living room.
During his 20th month…
He’s saying so many words I don’t even write them down anymore. Some of the words that are in heavy rotation are work, like “Dada work?”, truck, slide, car, trash, bubbles, chocolate, coffee, and walk, like “Mama waaaaallllkkkkk!“
He celebrated Cinco de Mayo. He wacked a piñata, threw rocks in a fire pit, drove a car, pointed out everyone’s eyes, and cheered as candy came raining out the paper mache taco.
His girls left. Our two nannies that we’ve had this past year left for the summer. Riley left for good as she has to do her student teaching in the fall, but we’re crossing our fingers we’ll have Marnie back for one more semester.
This photo is from his 1st Birthday party. Why did I not take a picture before they left for the summer?!
He begs for bubbles.
He’s obsessed with water. He’ll play for an hour at the faucet in the kitchen sink – give him a couple of cups and a bowl and he’ll transfer water from one cup to the other, to the bowl, back to a cup… it never ends.
The only thing that makes playing in water more fun is if there are rocks and sticks involved. There are so many rocks in the bottom of our pool right now. He’ll collect buckets of rocks and sticks and throw as many as he can into the pool before he gets caught. If he sees us coming, he’ll just dump the whole bucket into the pool.
Dude is obsessed with himself. He begs to look at pictures and videos of himself on our phones All. The. Time. Downside – I can never pull my phone out around him; Upside – if I misplace my phone, he always finds it.
He visited the zoo for the first time. He hated the birds, loved the goats, and thought the otters were dogs. It was a great day.
He went camping. We did our first test run in our new camper, and Chief loved it! We took it to the Chickasaw National Recreational Area in Sulphur and it was perfect – close to home, easy to navigate, and large, easy to maneuver trails for the toddler hiker or the stroller when the toddler hiker can’t hang any longer. Chief splashed in streams, played in the mud, hiked through the woods, threw sticks in the springs, stayed up late, and even slept with Mom and Dad one night. We celebrated our second Mother’s Day together doing the things we love most.
Mama Update
I ran my first half marathon this month. I was a nervous mess for a week leading up to the race, but I had THE BEST time! My family came down to cheer me through the finish line, Chief and Chase met me at mile 8, and my body felt great! I couldn’t have asked for a better first race. I’m already planning on running another in August!
Ready to run.
Sister. Chauffeur. Snack holder. Cheering Section. Best Friend.
My boys.
My training partners. Chief took mid-week duties, Laurel came in clutch on the weekends.
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