Two and A Half

Two and a half is a special age.

I've been a little emotional about two and a half. Because since July, when he hit the big 2, my Little Man has blossomed. The words we waited so long for him to say arrived, and now flow-eth freely from his mouth. He repeats EVERYTHING that he hears. This is both hysterical and terrifying. He apparently has been listening to us very carefully his whole life, because now that he has words, songs we've sung and books we've read are being repeated by him in earnest. Every day I hear him sing a new song or "read" a book out loud and I amazed by what he has remembered.

"Dada read a book?" he greeted Husband this week when he came in the door after work. We're still working on hard consonants so it sounds like "Dada ree a bo?"

Husband and Little Man settled down on the couch with "The Little Red Caboose" and before Husband could start, Little Man launched into the story. He repeated it almost verbatim, turning the pages at the correct times and pausing to let Husband enjoy the parts of the story he himself likes the most.

"And the lil red ca-boo saved the choo choo," he concluded, closing the book. Husband and I applauded.

I had bought him the book two days ago.

Two weeks ago he counted to 10 randomly in the back seat of the car. Now he places his numbered lego blocks on his lego train in the correct order. If I remove a number, he informs me it is missing and then moves on to the next one.

The other day while I was washing dishes he busted out "twinkle twinkle little star", complete with hand motions.

He says, "woops!" when he makes a mistake and cracks me up, especially when its followed by a wide-eyed look and a covering of his mouth in shock.

He refers to himself in the third person as "baby" and uses it to tell me about things that are his: "that baby's choo choo. That baby's car." I especially enjoy when I hear, "Baby do it himself!" We're getting that phrase with more and more frequency.

Much of his talking is about--you guessed it--trains. There is much discussion about steam trains, locomotives, train tracks and round houses. When he went to the doctor for his well check up, he informed her that "steam is hot water, and it makes the choo choo's go."

"You guys," she said to Husband and I. "A 2-year-old explaining a combustion engine is not normal."

He is still a big boy, stretching out of his 5T pants already. He is still a picky eater, preferring his banana and greens to be mashed up. And he's still a whirlwind--only now when he's destructive, he comes to tell me.

"Baby make an enormous mess!" he said to me earlier today, stretching out his hands to make sure I understood the scope of the mess he'd managed to create in the 2 minute scope of time I'd been in the bathroom.

Ah, two and a half.