'I Do It!'

Increasingly there is one phrase I've been hearing a lot of: 'I do it.' 

I put on his clothes and I hear it, I try to put on my clothes and I hear it, I make breakfast and I hear it and since my aunt has been and gone I've also been hearing it every time I attempt to do the dishes. 

"I do it, mummy, I do dishes. Get mah stool and I do it!" Okay, Roman, you do it and I'll stand here and not put up a fight. Surprisingly he did a rather decent job with washing up and after telling him once where things went to dry the concept of washing and drying seemed to sink in, too. In these moments I really love this age; the age where your child aims to learn everything you do for them, the age of independence that can sometimes be fraught with big servings of frustration...but at least for this morning Roman could do it and he gently reminded me that I need to stand back and just be more often.

Emotions Running High.

We're having a few challenging days this week because of limited naps. He wasn't sleeping brilliantly at night so we tried to limit - and even cut down on - naps. However very quickly we both realised that he needed naps. Without them he crashes in the middle of the day and is quick to get annoyed with everything.

Today was one of those days where he woke early from his nap and then was completely fed up for the remainder of the day. I was under the impression that he'd fall straight into bed and go to sleep but I couldn't be more wrong. When I went to get him - to change his nappy and put him back to sleep - he was as happy as a clam. He wanted to have a shot on his potty and read a book with me as well as lavish me and Bryan with cuddles.

Sometimes I don't understand the quickly changing moods and sometimes, and I say this very shame-faced, I can't contain my own frustrations with the moods. I'm used to toddlers; I've been around them far longer than I've been around newborns or one year old's and yet I feel like this toddler, Roman, is teaching me things I've never dealt with before. I didn't think that would be possible, but it definitely is. Every child really is different, my dad told me that when I was a teenager after he expected each of his children to be the same, but I didn't really hear what he was saying - nor did I really believe it. Now I'm living it. And for the majority of the time I'm loving it and when I'm not loving it, I'm praying to love it - and for myself; that I can keep up with all these shifts of emotion, that I can be three seconds ahead of my own changing emotions and keep them in check accordingly and when I get it wrong that I will have the strength to forgive myself.

Money Saving Expert.

142/366

He takes his saving very seriously - pennies must go into their slots one by one, the job never rushed and of course all of this saving business must be conducted with the bottom lip sticking out. It's very serious business, don't you know?

I should also note that I 'helped' to put coins in the slot. I was so rushed in my manner of coin slotting that a 20p piece missed the slot. Roman spotted this, looked at me in complete horror and said 'Muuuh-meee!' in a tone that suggested I should take a step back and learn from a pro coin slotter.

In Our Bedroom

133/366

Our bedroom is an extension of Roman's room - and incidentally so is our living room. It's his dumping ground for toys, the bed is his bouncy castle and if I happen to be in there at the same time as him I'm the children's entertainer.

Please also note the Mr Potato Head sitting on our bedside drawer. I rest my case.

'Buhin' Mah TEEF!'

111/366

We have a little, hand made with love for his second birthday, quiet book for Roman. I don't know if you're familiar with quiet books but they're very popular amongst us Mormons because they provide the ideal appeasement for toddlers who don't want to sit through an hour of talks in church - I had one as a small child and I loved it. 

 I was delighted when my mum told me she was working on this book - it's a soft cloth book filled with pages of non-frustrating activities for little developing minds - because I am not gifted with crafting abilities whatsoever. My dolls always wore immodestly sewn dresses because I got lazy half-way through making them and I've never learned to knit, crochet, make quilts or generally do any of the stuff my mum is so good at doing. I always tell myself that some day I will learn but in all honesty you and I both know I won't. 

I had every intention of making a video of this book, but well, time slipped away from me. Without wanting to put it off further I decided today was good as any day. I had a little helper who then decided he'd like to brush his teeth using the little cloth toothbrush from one of the activities.

 "BUHIN' MAH TEEF!" he told me, with the biggest grin on his face knowing full well the difference between his real toothbrush that sits in a mug on the window ledge in the bathroom and this cloth one. Undeterred by my protest that he put it back into the mug in the book he loaded some 'toothpaste' from the cloth toothpaste tube in the book and scrubbed at his chompers very heartily.

And this, my friends, this is the best thing ever in Roman's world. He loves this book so much that I have to ration how much he uses it because if I let him have at it he gets a bit excitable and starts to rip things out of the pages.

I hope you like it just as much as Roman does.

Yep. That's an iPhone.