There is something innately endearing about a child putting his or her shoes on the wrong feet.

Nathan is completely enamored with his fireman boots. They were a Christmas gift from my mom, and let me tell you, Nathan can’t get enough of them. The first thing he does in the morning, before he’s even out of his PJ’s, is put on his boots. He clomps around in them all day, just as proud as he can be. Never mind that half the time they’re on the wrong feet. That stuff just doesn’t matter when you’re two years old.

I love this age. Well. I LOVE the age, but dislike the phase he’s going through right now… we’re going for yet another round of NOT MINDING! It’s driving me completely bonkers. For example, we got into a bit of a power struggle today. There’s a local mommy group in my area that meets once or twice a month for lunch and play with our kids. There was one today, and before I even left the house, I had inhibitions about attending. Nathan was in one of his moods, and I could just feel that things probably wouldn’t go smoothly.

I made his lunch (which is pretty much mandatory whenever I take Nathan somewhere. He’s incredibly picky, and coupling that with an intense desire to run amuk with the other kids makes Nathan want to completely forgo his dinners.) So it’s just easier to bring his own lunch, and we rarely get into power struggles over it.

Not today, however.

I told him after he ate his lunch, he could get down and go play with the other kids. Well, Nathan would have none of my rules, dontcha know. He balked. Loudly. He wanted to completely skip his lunch and go play, but unfortunately Nathan without food is a very-hard-to-manage Nathan. So I tried to compromise and advised him to eat just half of what I packed. No success. I tried to bribe him with a cookie. Nope, still didn’t work. Applesauce? He took a few bites and then had enough. Then he tried to pick up his plate and move it away. Finally, I told him to open his mouth and I would feed it to him. COMPLIANCE! Never mind that my child is nearly three years old now and I had to hand-feed him his lunch. All I was worried about was getting food into that grumpy little belly while simultaneously sticking to my rule of eating before play.

But then he went kinda nutzo. He had no sugar (the cookies “mysteriously” disappeared into my own mouth), so I’m not sure where all the crazy energy came from. But he started running around the room, yelling and bouncing around while his wavy hair flapped crazily around his head. I watched in horror as he forcefully yanked toys away from other kids, stole their stickers and decorated his own torso with the loot, and danced around like a jumping bean that had been soaking in adrenaline for a number of days. I tried to reprimand him. When I saw him jerk toys away from other kids, I immediately went to him and gave the toy back to the other child, explaining to Nathan that he needs to share and be nice to others. I took the stickers off his torso and handed them back to the kids he stole them from.

But the ultimate embarrassment was when Nathan physically shoved another little guy down, causing him to cry. One of the volunteers approached me and told me what Nathan did, and I immediately whisked him away into a corner for timeout after I making him apologize to the other boy. I told the mother I was terribly sorry, but she was a bit of a bitch about it. Yeah, I know my child hurt her child, but guess what? It happens. That does NOT mean it’s ok, but it IS to be expected with two and three year olds. But she was absolutely bitchy about it. As I was apologizing for my son’s actions, she didn’t even acknowledge me. In fact, she turned away from me and ignored me as she held her crying son. I totally get that she was upset, but there was no need for her to be rude about it. So I just shook my head and left her alone.

That’s ok. Her child will shove another kid one day when he’s around Nathan’s age. Hopefully the parent of the child he hurts will be nicer to her than she was to me. After being shunned like that, though, I won’t be apologizing to her again if my child ever behaves inappropriately towards her child again. Nathan will apologize to the child he hurt, but I won’t go out of my way just for her to reciprocate with rudeness.

Yes, I’m a little pissed off at her arrogance.

But enough of that. Arrogant, bitchy people are everywhere in this world. I am quite sure I will encounter many, many more throughout my life.

So yeah, Nathan has his super sweet, precious and endearing moments… but this belligerent phase he’s going through right now is driving me insane. I’m hoping this phase doesn’t last long. I want him to be sweet again. Don’t get me wrong, he totally has a multitude of sweet moments. I’ve noticed he gets really wound up when we’re out in public, especially if there’s a lot of other kids around or bustling activities. I’m going to have to figure out a way to work on this…

In the meantime, I’m going to soak up every single sweet moment he has. I know his not-so-sweet moments are just a phase that he will outgrow with love and patience. I’ve had SO many people tell me the Terrible Two’s are nothing compared to the Terrifying Three’s. He’s almost three. I hope this behavior is not a taste of what I’m in for in the coming year!

Racing! I can’t help but smile every time I look at this picture. He’s just so adorable with his curly hair and legs that don’t reach the pedals. It won’t be long before he can play this for real without having to sit in his daddy’s lap. (Before I took the picture, he sat in Paul’s lap to race because Paul’s legs reach the pedals. When they were done, Nathan was content to sit in the seat and pretend like he was still racing.)

That’s right, Nathan is grounded from TV today for not minding.

He totally gets it, too. After breakfast, we normally let him watch an episode of Blue’s Clues, but not today. He asked for Blue, but I reminded him that he doesn’t get to watch any of his shows today due to continuously getting out of bed last night. “Okay, Mommy,” he said quietly without resisting. He knows what he did. He knows he’s supposed to stay in bed at night. And he understands that he now has to deal with the consequences. I know he doesn’t like it, but at least he’s accepting it.

In other news, Nathan and I still have that cough. Mine is getting a little better, but Nathan’s is still junky-sounding and deep. But on the bright side, I successfully taught him to cover his mouth with his elbow when he coughs. And he does! He’s pretty good at remembering to do it, even when he’s in the process of running or playing with his toys.

He’s losing his baby-ness and is becoming more and more like a little boy.

In fact, Paul’s mom told me about the last time Nathan was over at their house, he picked his nose, opened up a drawer, and promptly flung his booger into it. Can you believe that? That’s not something babies do, that’s for sure.

I have so many more similar antics to look forward to, don’t I?

Fortunately, he’s calmed down a lot over the past week or so.

We anticipated once that phase was over, he would probably start talking more. But we had no idea it would be like unleashing a dam! It happened so suddenly. I blinked and *POOF!* he started talking more and more like a big boy.

The other day, he found his missing cape. When I heard the triumphant sound of dancing feet, I peeked into his room and saw he had already put it on.

“I found my cape!” he exclaimed. I stared, speechless.

“What?” I asked, not really sure if I had really just heard him correctly use a sentence.

“I found my cape! I found it!” he said.

Wow. Just… wow. A couple of weeks ago, he would have said something like, “Look! Cape!” but this time, he used a whole sentence. And I was super impressed that he used his pronouns correctly. Just like a big boy! And now that he’s transitioning past this epic Misbehaving Phase, he’s becoming so dang sweet. He wraps his little arms around my neck and says, “I love you so much, Mommy” as he plants little kisses on my cheeks.

My favorite sentence he’s said this far was when he was sitting on his potty, reading a book as he tried to go. He opened one of his favorite books, The Little Engine That Could, ran his hands up and down the front page, and said, “I love books soooooooooooo much.”

Another new development… He’s minding me better when I explain things to him.

For example, my mom, Nathan, and I went to eat at Red Lobster the other day. Nathan was sitting beside me in the booth, and he repeatedly attempted to slide under the table, stand in the booth, talk to the people behind us, etc. I finally had enough, and I plopped him back down beside me and told him that was enough. He needed to sit still and stop trying to slide under the table. He did NOT like that one bit, and he threw a hideous temper tantrum which involved banshee-like shrieking and ripping out one of my earrings and hurling it onto the table. I picked his angry butt up out of the booth and marched him outside for a time out and a harsh scolding. After he completed his timeout, I told him his behavior was unacceptable and that if he chooses to continue to behave like a brat, I would take away his books. I told him when we went back inside, I expected him to mind like a big boy and not throw any more tantrums.

Well, he did pretty good when we went back in to finish our lunch.

But then when it was time to leave, he spied the lobster tank they keep out in the lobby.

Uh oh.

He ran towards the tank and stood inches from the glass. “Hi, fish!” he said, waving his hand. “Lots of fish in the fishtank,” he mused as he stood there, watching intently. I dreaded telling him it was time to go. We needed to leave, but when I tried to steer Nathan away from the tank, he resisted. A could feel a tantrum brewing. But I had a plan.

“Nathan,” I said. “We need to leave. If you’re good and don’t throw a temper tantrum, then I will let you look at the lobsters next time we come back. But, if you’re NOT good and you decide to throw a tantrum, then no more lobsters. I will NOT let you look at them the next time we come back. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s go then.”

“Okay.”

Okay? Really? And then he turned around, grabbed my hand, and walked out of the restaurant like a big boy. It’s the little things like this that make me feel like I am doing something right.

“Ready to take your trains to the car wash?” I asked.

“No. Train wash,” Nathan stated matter-of-factly.

This kid is sharp. Very sharp.

Nathan’s mood varies in the mornings. Most times he wakes up all jolly and full of rainbows and lolly pops. Other times, he wakes up grumpy and irritable. Full of “piss and vinegar” as the saying goes. He’s hard to deal with on those days, and it usually takes quite a bit of playing and bribing with books to get him into a better mood. In the picture above, he’d had a great morning. (Fortunately he has those more often than not.) Look at his morning hair! I was sitting on the ground when I took it, so the picture looks like he’s a giant in a tiny little room.

And see the mess behind him? Well, every night before he goes to bed, we clean up his room. And the first thing he does in the morning is drag his toys back out to play. I’ve really been working with him on cleaning up after himself. He and I always clean his room before he goes down for his nap. I set out some baskets, and we sort the toys. Legos here, cars there, blocks in that one, books in this one. Most of the time, he gets distracted and wants to play with the toys we are cleaning up, but I tell him we clean up first and THEN he can play with his toys again. This seems to work well. Just yesterday, he brought a basket filled with over 50 Hot Wheels and dumped most of them onto the coffee table. He played with them for a while, and when he was done –get this– he put them all back into the basket and carried it to his room!

Good work, son.

I know I say this a lot, but I have to say it again. I can’t believe how quickly he’s growing up.

Nathan’s train track setup. He did this all by himself with no help from me or Paul. Not too bad for a two-year-old, huh?

My dad’s side of the family is spread all across the United States. They’re in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Colorado, Washington State, Tennessee… so you can imagine how hard it is for us to all get together. The last time we saw each other was in 1987. Yes, you read that correctly… it had been TWENTY FOUR years since I had seen most of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Although I took a lot of pictures of me and my family, for privacy reasons, I only posted pictures of me, my husband, and my son.

Here we are leaving Tennessee. My mom and dad rented a minivan and although I must say I borderline LOATHE minivans, this one was pretty bad ass. I packed tons of stuff for Nathan to play with, including his favorite thing in the whole wide world- books. He did remarkably well, considering this is his first long road trip ever. We had to stop a number of times for food and diaper changes, but it wasn’t a problem. Nathan did get a little fussy at times (who can blame the poor kid?) and we’d just simply find a restaurant or gas station and let him walk around with us to work off some energy. Traveling with Nathan wasn’t bad at all.

My dad, wearing his aviators. And you see mine in the first picture? They match. That’s because my dad knew I have been dying to have a pair of REAL aviators (not those knockoffs you get at the local store) so he went to the PX and picked me up a pair… the exact same kind he’s been wearing ever since he flew in the army.

Happy once we got out of the car

Keeping a watchful eye on Nathan... we both kept our fingers crossed that we wouldn't have to wait long for the food!

Since my husband, brother, and my cousin P flew up, we stayed near the airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The day after we arrived, we made the 45-minute drive from Grand Rapids to Grand Haven, Michigan. Since Cousin P was pretty familiar with that area and armed with maps and directions, we all decided we would follow her to Grand Haven. Only she missed one of her turns, and instead of ending up at our destination, we ended up in South Haven, which is approximately an hour or so south of Grand Haven. Adding a VERY hungry and tired Nathan to the mix made for a rather stressful adventure, but once we found a little pizzeria in South Haven and got some food into his little belly, it was all good.

Once we ate our fill of delicious pizza, we made the trek to Grand Haven, where we sought out the beach. That’s right, we totally went swimming in Lake Michigan! If you don’t know anything about Lake Michigan, it is COLD. I mean… coooooooooooooooold. That was the coldest water I have EVER been in. In fact, the day we were there, the temperature read a whopping 55 degrees.

Nathan didn’t let the frigid water stop him, though. That kid loves, loves, loves the water. He played in it, splashed around, and enjoyed watching the boats whizz past.

He was completely oblivious to the cold water. Well for him, it doesn’t matter. Water is water, and water is fun to play in, regardless of the temperature. This kid is seriously a total water bug!

He loved walking in the sand, and that odd sensation you get as you stand on the sand and a wave laps at your feet. He walked up and down the beach, smiling and clapping his little hands. It was a rather hot day… Michigan had a heat wave while we were up there. And even then, notice how there is NO ONE in the water.

My Cousin P, me, and my brother braving the frigid waters of Lake Michigan. It was so cold that it felt like needles were piercing my skin as we walked. Cousin P dared us to go out as far as we could stand. Our goal? To get up to our necks. Mission: failed. We were, however, able to quickly dunk ourselves up to our necks though. And see my brother on the right? He is a brave, brave soul. He kept himself mostly immersed, even though he was shivering.

Paul and Nathan’s footprints in the sand. I can’t believe that one day my little boy’s feet will quite possibly the the size of his daddy’s…

Nathan and Daddy walking along the beach. Watching Nathan pretty much REQUIRES a lot of walking around. That child does not stay in one place for long!

A lovely picture of the sun over the lake. And see that pier in the background? Grand Haven has it’s very own pier. We didn’t actually go there (Nathan would have balked had we taken him out of the water too soon) but it was beautiful to look at.

A random stranger at the beach said Nathan could use a sand shovel she had. And let me tell you, Nathan thought he had hit a gold mine! He had so much fun scooping sand and flinging it everywhere.

Of course, whenever you have your children anywhere near water, you must remain vigilant at all times, especially when that kid loves to be around water. So there I am, keeping an ever-watchful eye on my little water bug.

Another shot of the pier. Beautiful, isn’t it?

That’s my dad, Nathan’s Grandpa (or as Nathan calls him, Papa), helping Nathan dig more proficiently. See how my dad is even guiding Nathan’s arm? I think it’s so precious.

Running around near the water, looking for more digging ground. He is holding onto that shovel for dear life… he totally loved it. (And believe me, wringing it out of his tightly-clenched little fists when it was time to give it back and go home was a feat in and of itself.)

That’s me wiping some sand of Nathan’s cheek. I was sooooooooo cold that my already pale skin had this icy blue-purple tinge to it! Totally worth it, though. I would go back in a heartbeat.

I think Nathan was looking at a seagull here… or maybe it was some of the other kids who were building a sandcastle nearby. Whichever it was, Nathan was completely enamored with everything about the beach and tried to soak up everything he saw.

It was hard to get him to stand still long enough to get a smiling picture of him, but at long last, SUCCESS!

Leaving the lake. It may have been the COLDEST water I have EVER been it, and my whole body may have turned purple from the freezing temperatures, but it was the most fun I think I’ve ever had at a lake. It was such a great experience, and now I can say that I SURVIVED LAKE MICHIGAN!

So the next day was the actual celebration of my grandparents’ wedding anniversary. I won’t say exactly how long they’ve been married, but it’s more than SIXTY YEARS… and counting! My grandfather is doing a stellar job helping my Grandma out since she can’t do the same things she used to be able to do. It was so good to see them. See, they live in Michigan… and before my Grandma became ill, they used to drive down to Florida for the winters. And every time they came through Tennessee, they would go out of their way to stop and spend a night with my mom and dad. So twice a year, I was able to see them. The last time they did that, however, was about four years ago. Since then, my Grandmother has become unable to travel… and it’s almost impossible for us to get up to Michigan to see them. Oh it was so good to see her. I miss her so much.

Nathan happily playing with a toy at my Aunt D’s house. Everyone, naturally, was completely in love with Nathan. This was the first time anyone on my dad’s side has met my husband and my son. My grandparents met Paul when we were first dating, though. I can’t even tell you how good it felt to give everyone a great big hug and see my family face-to-face for the first time in 24 years.

There’s Paul, helping Nathan open a gift. Aunt D had gotten all the kids little gag gifts, and of course, Nathan thoroughly enjoyed ripping off the wrapping paper. And Paul was amazing… the whole time we were at my aunt’s house, he watched Nathan for me so that I could socialize and hang out with my family. And you know how I mentioned earlier that whenever you watch Nathan, there will be plenty of walking around involved? Well, Paul walked around after Nathan so much that he developed a blister on his toe! THANK YOU, HONEY! It really means the world to me that I was able to spend time with my family.

Taken the day we were leaving Michigan. We ate a delicious lunch in Grand Rapids before my husband had to catch his flight home. Nathan and I rode back with my parents.

The looooooong ride home. (Well, long when you have a two-year-old with you!) See Nathan holding an orange? Yeah, I totally bribe my kid with fruit. Well, it works! Nathan loves fruit, and he loves to play with it as well. We also had some Blue’s Clue’s and Sesame Street DVDs for him to watch during the drive, and he totally loved it. Our trip to Michigan was super awesome and fun, and it was so good to see my family. I hope that another 24 years does not pass us by before we are all able to get together again.

Nathan is in this phase where he LOVES to group all his toys together. Especially when said group happens to be somewhere rather inconvenient. Like in doorways. Because I have a bad habit of not watching where I’m going (I know, how can I do that with a toddler in the house?), I end up stepping on Hot Wheels and giant Legos… and let me tell you, stepping on that stuff barefoot HURTS! Regardless of the mishaps, though, it’s still super cute that he does this.