Twenty-two Months

Happy Birthday, Jett. Yesterday you turned 22 months old.

You are so brave now.
This weekend you wanted to ride your toy truck, which was not meant to be ridden but you somehow manage it, off the couch and I almost let you. If you could have seen the adventurous look in your eyes, you would understand why. Your gleaming eyes are hypnotizing and they make me want to indulge your every desire.

But it is still so hard.
You say so many words and you know a good handful of signs, but still half the time we don't know what you want. That makes for a lot of little cranky moments throughout each day, and some major meltdowns. But sometimes, sometimes everything clicks. And when things click while we have guests over, well that is especially delicious.

Tonight we had friends over for dinner and your behavior was fabulous. You ate all of your peas - you haven't done that in weeks. You had seconds of corn. You ate cottage cheese without throwing any on the floor. You drank your water without asking for milk, and you didn't whine to get our of your chair when you were finished. Then you brushed your teeth when I asked, gave everyone a good night kiss, let me change your diaper, put on your pajamas, and just hopped in to your crib without even taking a book to bed with you. And all in front of company! Oh, I felt like the best momma ever.

I think I'm catching on.
So...so maybe you don't want to change your diaper now. Or brush your teeth now. Or take a bath now. But if I just give you 10 minutes...and am willing to change your diaper while you stand up, and let you brush your teeth yourself, and put bubbles in the bath...you'll come around.

And maybe you don't want a hug right now...but if we play blocks for a few minutes, and build a big tower, you'll jump in to it to knock it over and lay in my lap, and rest your head on my legs, and let me build a tower on your belly.

I'm catching on to you, my sweet little enigma. You and me, we've got a good thing going.

Happy Birthday. We love you.