Month 24: Full Price From Here On Out

Miles is going to be 2 in just over one month. TWO YEARS OLD!! If you ask him how old he is, he says, “I’m two June.” A lot of moms I know get choked up on their child’s first birthday, but Miles still seemed like a baby then. But this 2 business is hitting me hard. It’s like all of a sudden, he’s a full-fledged BOY, not a baby. It made me feel better somehow when I could conclude every anecdote with, “… and he’s not even 2 yet!” Now, he’s grown out of his footy pajamas, gets regular haircuts, and has to pay full fare on airplanes. It’s sad times, people.

Not that he’s choked up about it. On the contrary, he’s Mr. Independent lately, even more than usual. He wants to put on his shoes “by self!” and has opinions on what he will or won’t wear. Most times he trots off to the sitter’s with barely a backward glance. In fact, the only time he seems to want Mom is going down the slide at the playground. Thanks, buddy. I’ll be nursing my broken heart over in the corner while you go climb the jungle gym “by self.”

He’s exerting his independence in other ways, too. He insists on being the one to turn off the TV. If I get impatient with him resting his finger on the button for 5 minutes and turn it off myself, he cries until I turn it back on -- just so HE can turn it off. He refuses to hold my hand, but likes to “pull Mama” down the street by her finger. (Hey, if that’s the only thing that keeps him from being flattened by a Mack truck, I’ll take it.) He sometimes refuses to eat until I swipe a bite of his food. THEN he gobbles it right up. Oh, the games we parents play…

I had thought we were out of the woods on the crib conundrum for the time being. After climbing out a couple of times, he seemed to lose interest or forget he could. Whew! We could put off the big-boy bed a while longer. Then today at naptime I hear, “Click, slam! Click, slam!” He had escaped from his crib and was opening and shutting his bedroom door. And instead of acting guilty, he put up a fight when I put him back in bed. What now? Do we gate his door? Get a baby-proof doorknob? Give up and get a toddler bed? Suggestions welcome.

When it comes to language, Miles is 2 going on 30. He often says, a propos nothing, “I’m a guy.” Alrighty, then! He has to label everything he sees: “Dere’s a truck. Oh, a bus! A baby. What’s dat baby doin’, mama?” He keeps a running commentary of the day’s events. I wouldn’t mind if he didn’t require constant validation. “Dere’s a doggie, mama. Dere’s a doggie. A DOGGIE, Mama!” This continues until I say, “YES!! I hear you. You’re right, it IS a doggie.”

Sometimes he makes mistakes, which I love. A fire hydrant is a fire “hundred.” Lemonade is “lem-lade.” And he still says “I carry you” when he wants to be carried. This morning in the kitchen he asked, “What me got, Mama?” “That’s a spatula,” I replied. “Umbrella!” he shouted, wielding the spatula. Close enough. It reminds me that he’s not all grown up JUST yet.

READ O’ THE MONTH: Coming out later this month is “The Belated Baby,” by fellow writer mama Kelly James Enger & Jill S. Browning. Says Kelly, “It’s for moms who have become parents ‘the hard way,’ whether through fertility treatments, adoption, or trying for years to have a child before they were successful."