Wild

I’m becoming more and more convinced that almost everything is relative. So when I say that the Bwun is wild lately, I realize that he’s calm and quiet compared to some other kids.

But compared to the 0 other two-year-olds in my house, he’s wild. And enthusiastic.

The Bwun is a big fan of the show Go Diego Go. At first, I thought it was much, much worse than Dora the Explorer, which is a horribly annoying show anyway. But since the Bwun started watching Diego, he spouts off animal facts and runs around pretending to help Diego rescue animals. When he’s in his room I hear him call, “I see a animal in trouble! We got rescue him! We need the rope!” Or sometimes he pretends that he himself is stuck: “Help! Ayudame! I stuck! Diego, I need the rope!”

I can use his new animal obsession to my advantage. For some reason recently the Bwun has decided that loud noises are scary. He used to beg me to let him use the vacuum, but now when I get it out of the closet he starts whining (if I feel kindly I would call it “whimpering”) and saying that he doesn’t like the loud scary noise. (I assume this is a normal developmental stage, since it roughly coincides with him understanding what “scary” means. But if this is something I should be worried about, let me know.) Yesterday I needed to vacuum so I asked him if the vacuum was loud like a lion or quiet like a kinkajou. He told me it was loud like a humpback whale and sat on the couch while I vacuumed – no whining!

The Bwun loves to be outside. I wish we had a fenced-in yard; keeping both the Bwun and jr out of trouble is tricky. Our neighbor got one of those old Fisher-Price kitchens and lets us use it – the Bwun calls it his “bark-a-you” (barbecue) and likes to “cook some meat” on it. He really enjoys preparing and sharing food, although his version of preparation is usually to pull imaginary foods out of the air. Or to put a cup against the wall and let the food pour in. (Think of a fridge with ice and water spouts on the front.)

Right now his two favorite songs are what he refers to as the “people go out” song and the “chim chimree” song. Can you guess what they are? The first is “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt,” and the second is from Mary Poppins – “Chim Chim Cher-ee.” The Bwun will ask for either of these songs many times in a row.

I realize this update on the Bwun doesn’t quite make him sound wild. He’s a ball of energy lately, though. I promise. Anyone who wants to run from wall to wall in the living room for 10 minutes straight has too much energy. After he runs back and forth, the Bwun starts going in circles, then having me count for him to blastoff from the couch and land in a heap on the floor (about 80 times). Trust me – the Bwun is wild.

But I love him.

Toddler

Today is one of those days where I struggle to remember thinking that it would be so much fun to have kids.

The Bwun is really adorable. Mostly. And most of the time I enjoy being around him. Today, not quite so much. We got off to a lousy start this morning and now jr is ready for a nap, but refuses to go to sleep, and the Bwun is going wild. This is how two-year-olds are, right? Sometimes I worry that I’m parenting all wrong, and that’s why the Bwun has days like today.

After a series of time outs, though, he’s calmed down a little. The house is (momentarily) quiet. Since getting sick earlier this year – was it really at the beginning of April? – I haven’t had much energy, and I feel worn out after the Bwun throws a tantrum.

Toddlers are a lot of work.

Catastrophe

Because the Bwun is so fond of the big green blanket, I took it with us when we spent the night at my in-laws’ house last Thursday. We ended up staying an extra night, and leaving in a bit of a rush on Saturday. Guess what I forgot to bring back to our house?

Yeah.

The Bwun fell asleep on the drive home, which meant I was able to tuck him into bed with a different one of my favorite blankets. (I’m a martyr – what can I say?) Everything was fine until jr woke up in the middle of the night. Her crying woke the Bwun up just enough for him to realize that he was under a new blanket.

Much drama ensued.

In fact, only after the Romgi climbed into the Bwun’s bed did the Bwun finally stop sobbing, “I want my big green blanket!” According to the Romgi, several times during the night, the Bwun whimpered about the blanket. That kid is really attached, eh?

So I decided the kids and I had better go retrieve the blanket today. We managed to get it back without incident (thankfully, because Grandpa – the Bwun’s favorite, favorite person – left to run errands, sans Bwun, which would usually be An Incident) and then went to visit Krista. We even got to go out for ice cream! I thought that sounded like a good idea, but apparently the Bwun was under the impression that we were going outside to play on the swings – not go to the ice cream shop.

Much drama ensued.

Correction: the worst tantrum the Bwun has ever thrown ensued.

I’ve seen kids throw tantrums before. The Bwun doesn’t usually get too riled up; when he is upset, we can calm him down most of the time. But this! It was amazing. It was my first wrestling match. I don’t know if you know this, but the Bwun is strong. When I took him to the ER last month, it took me, the doctor, and two nurses to hold him down just to look in his throat. So trying to get him into the carseat during this tantrum when he wasn’t slowed down by sickness – what an experience!

He was still going strong as we headed to the ice cream shop. I’m a thinker, though – I offered him The Blanket. He settled down as soon as I gave it to him. When I looked back he was rubbing it on his lips (I told you he’s obsessed), little trails of tears still on his face.

I guess it’s good to have the blanket back.