I have a big confession. The original title of this post was "G at 2." Some time passed. I worked on it a bit, re-titled it, "G at 2... and A Half," then left it languishing in my drafts folder for almost two years. Whoops!
I did leave myself some notes, so let's see what I can pull out of my memory (and my Instagram feed) to fill in the gaps.
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*When Graham turned two, he wasn't speaking much at all. He had just a handful of not-very-understandable-words. So, we decided to have him evaluated. At the end of the evaluation, the test administrators asked, "How would you describe Graham in one word?" I didn't hesitate. "Joyful!" Graham has always had an inner happiness; his eyes sparkle with merriment. Even from a very young age, he liked to spread his happiness to others. Some kids might do that by being silly or performing or trying to get people to laugh. Graham was much more subtle. He would watch people until he caught their gaze, then break into an enormous grin. When Graham smiles at you, you can't help but smile in return. His joy is contagious.
* When Graham was two, we were doing our co-op preschool for Thane. Another co-op mom commented, "Graham's so cute! How can you ever get mad at him?" "I don't!" I replied. Trust me, that says a lot more about Graham than it does about me, because I definitely got frustrated and upset at my other kids before they were two.
* It's a good thing I didn't get upset with Graham, because he was suuuuuuper sensitive about reprimands. For example, one night Mark asked him not to rock the ottoman (because Mark and Thane were playing a game on the ottoman), and Graham dissolved into a sea of tears. Even the gentlest corrections left him devastated.
* One of Mark's punk songs soon became "Graham's" - "Cuz he's sweet, so incredibly, sweeeeeet."
* Graham loved his pacifier. I loved that Graham loved his pacifier. Of my five kids, the two that would take a pacifier were way easier babies and toddlers. When Graham hit 2 1/2 though, I knew it was approaching the time to wean him (at that point he only used it for naps and bedtime). One Saturday I told him, "I think I should throw your paci away." "No!" he countered, "me frow it away!" He took it out of my hand and proceeded to put it in the trash. And that was the end of that. No more pacifier! On my Instagram feed I wrote, "Seriously, it's a good thing he wasn't my first child or I would've been woefully unprepared for the rest of my kids."
*Everyday, when it was time for me to sit down for school with Bryce and Thane, Graham would run to get his ABC book, sit on my lap, and systematically go through the pages. Clearly, he considered his ABC book his own official schoolwork.
*When he wasn't looking through his ABC book, he was demanding that I draw Elmo for him. Over and over and over.
*And if he wasn't looking through his ABC book or demanding Elmo, he was cutting. The boy spent hours every day cutting and cutting.
*By the time Graham was two, he was definitely a book lover. He would often grab himself a stack of books, find a comfortable spot, and look through all of them. Don't be surprised if I repeat this information in an upcoming Graham-at-5 post. Not much has changed.
*His love of books wasn't all fun and games though. He certainly didn't skip over the destructo phase.
* He loved it when we would read aloud to him.
* In the car one day, Bryce once exclaimed, "Mom! Every time I sit by Graham, he grabs my hand and pulls it to his lap so he can hold it!"
* Graham has always loved people. Nursery was a breeze with him. He loved it from the get-go.
* Graham was quite the little parrot. One day, Bryce hurt his foot, and started crawling haphazardly around the room. Graham immediately followed suit. When Graham was a bit older (probably 3), I once told him he was a copy-cat. "No!" he retorted, "I am NOT a copy-cat... I'm a copy-bunny!"
* Graham loved to be in on the action and was especially good at helping to clean up. He put his own plate and silverware in the sink after every meal before he was even big enough to reach the sink. He liked to close all the closets and doors, put away his own clothes, help pick up toys, sweep (with the toy broom), and turn off lights.
* Graham was also super jealous of Thane. It was extra bad with Mark. Graham couldn't stand Mark holding or reading to Thane. He would always try to wedge himself in between them. If you know Thane at all, you can imagine how well this turned out.
* Graham loved music, the piano, and singing. As soon as he could start stringing words together, he tried to sing. His siblings taught his to sing the ending to the Duck Tales theme. They'd say, "Duck tales..." and Graham would end, "oooooh-ooh!" Aubree also taught him to sing along with her to the Day-O (banana boat) song. He was always up for a performance.
*At some point, he transitioned from the crib in the Big Blue Bear Bed. I don't remember much about that transition, so it must not have been too traumatic.
* Graham at 2 was such a joy. He's still a joy at 5. What a blessing he is in our family!
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