MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A Two-Year Old's Vocabulary

I'm staying with Jen and Dave these days to help take care of Zachary while his current babysitter is unavailable. I love these days with the kids. I haven't been here for close to a year, although I've seen them a couple of times in that period. This gives me a chance to reconnect with Nicholas and get to know Zachary a little better. He is two. He is self-absorbed. He is determined. He rules the world. As far as he is concerned, It's All About ME!!!

Zachary's idea of getting to know you is to give you a big hug-- a wonderful hug, I might add-- and to make sure you know EXACTLY what he wants and what he doesn't want. That's a tall order for an itty bitty thing that has a working vocabulary of about 5 words.

Mama, DADA, Out, UH-UH!, The lesser--Uh Huh!, EW and ME! or MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! depending on the urgency. There are other words, but these are the most important as far as he is concerned.

And yet we always know just what it is he wants.

Most of those are self explanatory. EW is very descriptive and covers everything from sticky hands, to a stinky diaper. EW with a screech probably means "Get that drop of syrup off of my bib this second!" EW means "Clean it Up!"

Then there are hand signals. An outstretched hand opening and closing means "I want to show you something". Wise people will go look. It could be harmless... "I want Elmo out of my bed." Or it could mean "Look! There's a boat floating in the toilet!", OR, "I just helped myself to some vita gummies on the counter." He is a constant reminder that 2 year-olds are fun-loving (note: boat) and resourceful (note: vita gummies).

My favorite hand signal is the one that comes at the end of dinner... or after he eats 3 bites and hands his plate back. "Dada!," he says. When Dave looks at him he holds his arms out in front of him, makes a tight fist with his hands, and his whole upper body tenses and shakes---his sign for Cold--or in this case, ICE CREAM! His light blue eyes positively light up at the thought! If dada ignores him he tries it again, a little louder. By the 3rd time his eyes have a fierce look, the shaking has taken on earthquake proportions, and he sends as much energy as he can muster into that look so there can be no mistaking what he wants!

Today we have heard a lot of  UH-UH, and MEEEEEEE!!! Today he is ornery and full of himself. Whatever I suggest, (or need to do) he's got other plans.

"Zachary, it's time for lunch." "Uh-Uh"

I try again, "Yep, It's time for lunch!," I say enthusiastically. "UH-UH!" he answers with more defiance.

"Do you want a hot dog, or Peanut butter?" UH-UH!

I change tactics.
"Then it's time for a nap." UH-UH!!

Lunch or Nap?  UH-UH!!!  Each response is louder and higher in pitch.

Finally we settle on lunch.

"Let's get in your chair." MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! he says racing to the chair.
I slowly back away, lest it escalates again, and let him climb in his chair by himself.
I heat his hot dog in the microwave and transfer it to his plastic plate.

UH-UH!!!!! he says pushing away his plate.
This, I have learned, doesn't mean he doesn't want it. It means if I fixed it on one plate, that's the plate HE expects to be served on. I put the hot dog back on the paper plate and give that to him.

I am learning. There are tricks to feeding him. There are ways to cajole him into doing what you want. And there are times when you will never win, until you pull out the Parent Card:  "When all else fails, remember YOU ARE BIGGER!" As parents, next to patience, it is the best card we have.

Ahh.... Grand-Children!

This week the view from the nest is one of my favorite ones. I am spending time with my daughter and her family. I have 2 grandson's, both in the 2 1/2 to 3 year old range and all that entails from temper tantrums and defiance to singleminded activities, and busy adventures.

The mornings always go pretty well, and then come afternoon naps. Nicholas' opinion about naps is "NO! I want to PLAY!!!" (This is also his statement before breakfast, after breakfast, after lunch, during a diaper change, and following dinner.) Mom's thought is "Too bad. I need a break and you need quiet time." Mom wins...sort of. Most days Nicholas does not take a nap, but mom gets her quiet time.

The other day we spent the morning with 2 other mothers and their kids in a pool party, followed by lunch. The 3 kids are all within a few months of each other so there were 3 with the potential for melt-downs, a tug of war over toys, and vying for the leadership role. The kids played well for the most part and it was a nice morning but after swimming, I was sure Nicholas would be ready for a good nap.

Jen had an appointment so I stayed with him. I love baby monitors. Listening to it during his nap was a window into his world.

Naptime started well and I was sure he'd be asleep in just a few minutes. There were lots of yawns as he hugged his baby doll and lay in the crib. A few minutes later he started telling baby all about the morning. "I went swimming. I move my arms and legs. I went swimming..." Then he started rolling around. The voice was louder. "My turn!" "No, my turn!" "My turn, my turn, my turn!" He was obviously re-living playing with the other kids earlier in the day. As the 'nap' went on, his monologue covered pretty much everything that happened in the last 24 hours; playing cars, throwing the ball in the big basketball hoop, riding his bike, Miss Maggie in her bed... no topic was ignored. 1 hour into the nap he was jumping around in his crib, 30 minutes later rolling all around still chattering away. Watching him through the baby monitor I just had to chuckle. Quiet time? And yet he was. For an hour and a half he cheerfully stayed in his crib and carried out his running monologue, just as he has for the last 3 days.

His parents would like to move him into a 'big boy bed', but I can see the difficulty with a little boy who has such a good time during his naptime. It reminds me of one of the things I love about being a grandparent.... It's not my problem!