Nearly Two

Thane's second birthday is rapidly approaching.  In my mind he's already two and I've spent the last couple weeks trying to teach him to answer "two!" when asked the question, "how old are you?" (much to Bryce's dismay, I might add. Bryce never fails to correct me, "but he's not two yet!").

We'll be visiting in California on Thane's actual birthday, so I thought I'd jump the gun a bit and write a special All-About-Thane post in advance (I know, how rare of me to do something ahead of schedule).  I've been collecting Thane stories for quite a while now.  Some of these go back to pre-Christmas (a testament to my more typical "I'll get to it soon" style).  So, this could end up being quite a long post...

I remember once having a conversation with my mom in which she suggested that the personalities and traits her kids had when they were two, were largely the same traits and personalities they had as adults.  At first I was put off by this statement.  I mean, I'd like to think I've changed and (hopefully) improved a lot in the last ten years, not to mention the last thirty!  As I thought about it though, I realized she's not implying that we're the same impulsive, selfish, juvenile children we once were, but rather that there were obvious character traits and strengths and weaknesses that have remained fairly constant as we've navigated through our childhood and adult years.  As Thane approaches two, this conversation has come to mind more frequently and I wonder what will remain stable and what will change?  Twenty or thirty years from now when I (or he) look back on this post, what will we say?

How to describe Thane today?  What stands out to me most about Thane is how clever he is.  His mind is always working - figuring things out, solving problems.  For example, he loves to climb and is always trying out new tools to aid in this endeavor.  The obvious solutions? Chairs? Stools? Benches?  Of course.  The less obvious? Drawers? Buckets?  Laundry baskets? Lego bins?  Toys?  Brothers? Yep, those too.  One day I was getting particularly impatient with him pulling my wheat bucket around to use as a stool to access places he shouldn't be.  After the thirtieth time taking it away from him, I finally came upon an ingenious solution: I took a short rope and tied the bucket to the kitchen table.  "Hah!," I thought triumphantly, "who's clever now?!"

Thane was stymied for a while, but while I gloated, he pondered.  Soon I found him back on the counter.  Since he couldn't move the bucket, he just moved the whole table with the bucket still attached and accomplished his intended purpose.  That's Thane in a nut-shell; he will accomplish his desired purpose no matter how long or complicated the process.

Thane is very aware and quick to observe.  He's always watching his older brother and sister and is confident in his abilities to do whatever they're doing.  He hates to be left behind and likes to be in the middle of the action.

Here are some random Thane stories and information:

* Like most almost two-year olds, Thane takes his mess-making role very seriously.  He's even earned himself a theme song.  Aubree, Bryce and I frequently sing to him (to the tune of Fiddler on the Roof's "Matchmaker"):

"Mess-maker, Mess-maker, you made a mess,

Such a big mess, Always a mess!"

There were a few months when Thane thought it was his particular duty to dump anything and everything he could find on the ground.  After getting extremely frustrated, I finally determined that instead of getting mad, I should stop and take a picture because someday I would find it funny.

That resolve lasted right up until I hit the first-trimester misery, at which point it suddenly evaporated.  I remember it being particularly maddening when we would take Aubree to her Russell Ridge classes.  Bryce, Thane, and I spend those hours in a small preschool corner with shelves full of various types of bins - Lego's, books, Lincoln logs, puzzles, etc.  Thane delighted in racing to see how quickly he could dump the bins on the floor.  On good days it was difficult to keep up with him, and when I was sick, tired, and miserable? Forget about it!

Thankfully, he's "matured" a bit and isn't quite as thrilled with dumping everything possible on the floor.  But he's still a skilled mess-maker.

* Thane loves books.  What? You're not shocked?  Well, I guess it's kind of expected in our home, but Thane takes it to a whole new level.  For about a month he'd wake up in the morning, jump up in his crib and start yelling, "books, books, BOOKS!"  Now he's got his priorities a little straighter.  He wakes up and yells, "Mommy!," sometimes asks for breakfast, THEN starts his "books" chant.  

When he was going through his "dump it all out phase," there were constantly books scattered across the floor in front of the bookshelves.  Now, though he still pulls all the books out, he makes semi-neat piles all around the house (maybe hinting that he wants us to read to him?).  Drives Mark crazy!

One particular first-trimester morning when I had to crawl back into bed after trying vainly to get ready for the day, Thane and Bryce brought book load after book load (thanks to Aubree's trusty stroller) into my room and thoroughly entertained themselves by stacking the books so high they were taller than Bryce.  Then they'd knock the books down and, laughing hysterically, start over.  I couldn't decide if I should reprimand them or take a picture.  In the end I didn't have the energy to do either one.

* Thane's favorite kind of books are photo albums.  He loves to look at pictures of himself and family members.  He and Aubree made up a game they call "Daddy Hunt," in which (as you might imagine), they hunt for Daddy on each of the pages.  

* Thane has finally become a relatively good sleeper!!  (I'm writing this especially as a reminder to myself not to give up if future children start out rocky - it's worth it in the end!)  He takes great, long naps and usually (not tonight, of course!) goes to bed easily.  He still wakes up at least once a night screaming, but will go right back to sleep after I go in and say, "It's okay, Thaner, go back to sleep."

* Thane's been going to nursery for 6 months now and loves it!  In fact, this morning he woke up singing, "Head, shoulders, knees and toes," and was excited to tell me he learned it in nursery.  His favorite part of nursery is "SNACKS!," but he also likes playing with the other kids, reading books, and music time.  

Though he loves nursery now, the first few months were horrendous.  When we tried to drop him off he would become completely, inconsolably hysterical.  It didn't help that nursery was smack dab in the middle of his normal nap time.  At the beginning of the year when our church schedule changed and Thane was able to take a little nap before church, we decided it was time he acclimated to nursery.  The first week was rough, but he survived.  The second week we went to Sacrament meeting and all was going well until it was time for the closing song.  At that point Thane's eyes got wide and he looked frantically for a place to hide.  Realizing their was no place to hide, he burst into tears and began to wail.  The third week, this pattern continued, only he had this reaction after EVERY song.  It was both heart-wrenching and hilarious!

* Thane has a bit of a temper and is quick to use his fist to try and solve problems.  I'd like to get the phrase, "Thane, no hitting!" put on some sort of auto-repeat to save my voice.  Mark and I were concerned that perhaps he might be taking toys or hitting the kids in nursery.  When we asked the leaders, however, they were shocked by the insinuation. "Oh no!," they countered, "Thane has an overly developed sense of fairness and empathy.  He always tries to take care of kids who are sad or crying, and tries to intervene when one kid takes a toy away from another."  Really??

* Have I mentioned before how much Thane likes food? Because, that boy can EAT!  Lately he's especially blown me away with his appetite.  One morning he ate eight (8!) whole wheat waffles.  I started keeping track at four.  By six, I was texting Mark with updated.  By eight, I figured it was Facebook worthy.  

He regularly has two or three bowls of cereal or oatmeal for breakfast, and once stunned the missionaries (who were over for dinner) by eating five (small) bowls of broccoli-potato soup.

Surely he's in the midst of a growth spurt!  I half expect to go get him one morning and discover he's doubled in size.  

* Thane's begun to recognize and understand his colors.  "Thane," I ask, "what color are my jeans?"

"Blue!" he answers enthusiastically.

"What color is the sky?"

"Blue!" 

He's a genius!

"What color is the grass?"

"Blue!"

Well, at least he's starting to understand the concept. ;)

* Thane's expressive language skills have exploded in the last couple months.  I remember telling Mark one night, "you know, Thane knows a ton of words, but he really needs to start using two-word sentences."  

Within a week he'd skipped right over the two-word sentences and started jabbering away constantly.  A lot of his words are still a bit difficult to understand, but I've become a pretty good interpreter and he's getting clearer every day.

Aubree and Bryce contributed a lot to this advancement.  They delight in asking him to repeat words and phrases and become absolutely giddy when he says something new.  "Mom!!!!" they scream, "Thane just said, 'Oh, Wow'! Did you know he could say that?! Yea, Thane!!!!!"

*Thane is a complete and total Daddy's boy.  If Mark's around, he wants nothing to do with me.  Unless, of course, it's the middle of the night or he's really hurt - then only Mom will do.  Otherwise, he follows Mark around and "helps" with carrying the laundry up and down the stairs (he might like this chore because he gets a ride in the basket...), taking out the trash, or anything else Mark undertakes.  

* Oh yeah, and then there was that one time he wrote on the wall.  At least it was only in pencil and amazingly, he's only done it once.

* All my kids love to sing, and Thane is certainly no exception.  I've been impressed with how much he is able to sing along with Aubree and Bryce, even on less common songs like "Puff the Magic Dragon."  Thane usually is able to pipe in on at least the last words of each line of songs we sing.  His favorite song is "Wheels on the Bus," but he can also frequently be heard singing the chorus of "his" song, which goes "I-yi-yi, I-yi-yi, I love Thane!" (It's from one of Mark's punk songs.)  He also loves to sing the "ABC's."

* Other things Thane loves include shoes (especially his older siblings shoes), coats, and hoods.  He always asks to wear his coat, and once it's on, he wants his hood up.  I guess it's a good thing we live in Washington now and he can wear his coat nine months out of the year.

* I recently started asking Thane, "Who loves you?," and since I'd trained Bryce so well, I expected his answer to be, "Mommy!"  Imagine my surprise and amazement when he unhesitatingly answered, "Jesus!"  And every time I ask, he gives the same answer (and I completely encourage that response!).  After responding, "Jesus," he'll now also add, "and Mommy, and Daddy."

He's such a fabulous kid and we adore him!