Terrible Twos

Russ saying "two"

Glamorous cake I know. Russ loves fruit loops, so we covered his cake in them. He ate all the fruit loops, and not a crumb of cake.

Russ Russ has been two for a couple of weeks now, and the terrible twos are not so terrible around here yet. In fact the last two months have actually been by far the happiest, sweetest most wonderful time in Russell's life, making it a very happy, sweet and wonderful time in his mama's life as well.

Why has this little bubba been so happy lately? We are not quite certain, and only have theories, BUT we are seriously so blessed (haha) and grateful. Not that he was a raving tantrum throwing lunatic child before, but there has been a switch in him and he is a much more joyful and adaptable kid.

My theories:

• His papa- and love of his life- has been able to spend time and play with him every single day over the last few months. He is still sad to see him go each morning, but no longer throws tantrums each time his dad leaves his sight.




• His mom has now been unemployed for three months. My stress levels have gone way down and my laughter has gone way up- don't worry people, not in volume, just in frequency.
• Because of my recent unemployment we have been able to get out of the house 100 times more than we were previously able to. All the activities, especially with other kids, have helped Russ stop running and screaming from any child that tried to touch him to laughing, running around with and hugging kids spontaneously. Of course he can still be a little shy and timid at times, but he has made lots of improvement.
• He has learned over 200 words in the last three months, which cuts down a lot of frustration. This could very possibly be the most influential factor. Not only can he tell us what he wants, but seems to grasp discipline and consequences much better. His articulation is atrocious, but Mark and I must have a knack for acquiring language, and have been picking up Russ Russ pretty quickly. He still looks right into our eyes every day and has a very serious and one-sided conversation that we cannot understand a word of. It makes us laugh.
  

Here is what he is into lately

• Counting- loves to count. Just like dad. He counts to ten constantly (skipping 7-8 half the time). Counting actually calms his down when he is upset. Funny kid.
• Cars Cars Cars- Just like every other 2 year old boy right? McQueen and cars are the first thing the kid thinks about when he wakes up in the morning. He is obsessed.
  
  
  Oh how I love you Lightning McQueen
  
  This is Russell's "car slide"


• Puzzles- I just found a drawer of puzzles and he loves them with all of his might.
• Letter and Numbers- We were given those foamy bath letters and numbers for Christmas and they were a big hit. He surprised us by already knowing a few of them, and learned the rest in a few days. He thinks the Q is a "cute" which is much too cute to correct. He also looks at Z sideways and says N, and calls A "hay", ok, he's not perfect, but definitely loves identifying letters and numbers.
• Beach- This kid is desperate for the beach. It is by far his favorite place to be. He wants to be in the water, running in the waves all the time. While playing in the water his face is lit with pure joy, and when we say it is time to leave I have never seen such a look of complete distress and helplessness as he BEGS to stay and play longer.
• Playing charades- So sometimes we play charades with him where we act out an animal and he guesses. He gets really into it pointing and excitedly yelling out the answers. My favorite is when he does the acting and we do the guessing. After we guess correctly he has to stop and think for a second of another animal he wants to act. The face he has during this thinking process is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

I know this is probably way more information about him than anyone cares to know (besides grandparents) but read what you like, skip what you like.