thrice as nice

when we were in the month counting phase each month was my favorite. he truly smiled during month one, laughed in month two. he was sitting up on his own when he hit four months and said his first word (uh-oh) at six months. he was an early walker, wobbling down those halls at only nine months old. i was so eager for sorren to turn one, and when he did i was astounded. by his first birthday he had about twenty words and fifteen signs. he didn't want anything to do with food until he was fourteen months old and the only thing that charmed him then were avocados, veggie booty and fruit leather. he started running at sixteen months and i haven't been able to catch up since.

he quickly became this spirited little (BIG) thing that had his own agenda. nothing was getting in his way. he would ask me to turn the music on and dance with him at 1am, and i happily obliged. he would sit on the back patio at twilight anxiously awaiting the moon so he could say "goodnight moon" and get into bed. he was turning into such a kid.

two was hard. no, i mean it was hard. and it started at eighteen months. i didn't know what to do with myself, i didn't know what to do with him. we were thrown a couple of gnarly curve balls that year and we did the best we could with those circumstances. but those tantrums. the lack of vocabulary. the whining. the regression. and then came the guilt. oh god, the guilt. THE WHINING! no, wait, the guilt! it will be the death of me, i know it.

two wasn't all bad though. (it was.) sorren potty trained in one week, including nights, and has only had two accidents since. he went on his first plane ride to california with just kris. his car seat moved out of the middle and he had control of his very own window. (thank GOD for child locks. the novelty wore off for me in .0000005 seconds.) he went to his first theme park and rode his first roller coaster.

november 17th came and went and i saw a refreshing side of sorren i hadn't seen in a long time. we had our groove back, we were able to communicate more clearly, we were on the same team.

three means i can have intricate conversations with my son. he knows all of his colors. he knows every common animal and what sounds they make. he's starting to count and recognize numbers. he wears pea coats and doesn't ride in the shopping cart anymore. he gets himself dressed and washes his hands without being told. he has an amazing sense of direction and tells me how to get home from fred meyer. he can be reasoned with! he has shown just how resilient he truly is and i love him dearly for it. he is smart, funny, curious, kind, and definitely has a wild side like his mama, as he should. three means we're over our rough patch and onto greener pastures. three is a magic number.