In which we have a birthday and lots of summer

It's a humid summer here with lots of thunderstorms, the exciting Midwestern kind that wake you up at 3 a.m. with thunder and lightning. I love them so much; when I lived in Oregon, summer storms were one of the few things I missed about Illinois. It's made laundry challenging, though. We have a load that's been on the line for a few days now, because we forget to take it in, and then we get a storm, and then it's really humid, so we leave it out trying to get it to dry, but then it rains .... you see where this is going. The Fool and I capitulated and threw it in the dryer tonight because it was starting to get a little silly.
Jamie turned two on Monday. We celebrated with some grocery shopping and a nap, after which the festivities really began. When he woke up that morning, he looked at us reflectively and said, "I want ... ice cream! Chocolate ice cream!" So around 3 p.m., post-nap, I said, what the heck, kid, and we both had chocolate ice cream. Then we played with his new wooden train set, and then we went to meet the Fool for dinner and a contra dance. We brought a watermelon to share with everyone. (See above re: heat and humidity. I say that's nature's way of telling me not to bake, and definitely not to frost anything.)
But now, he is officially a toddler, I guess, and we have conversations that go like this.
ME: How would you like to walk to the post office with me?
JAMIE: OK!
ME: Great! Go get your shoes, please.
JAMIE: No.
ME: You need to wear shoes to go to the post office. Please go get your shoes.
JAMIE: No.
ME: Would you rather stay home?
JAMIE: No.
ME: So you want to go to the post office?
JAMIE: Yes.
ME: Please go get your shoes, then.
JAMIE: No.
ME: How about walking to the bar?

Comments

LaurieM said…
When my toddler was a tyrant of whims I was told that the it was good he was strong willed as it meant that when he became a teenager, he wouldn't be susceptible to peer-pressure.

So far, they were right.

Happy Birthday to Jamie! May you all survive the toddler years.
Katy said…
Happy Birthday Jamie!
Gramma Phyllis said…
Happy Birthday you Jamie! And congratulation to you and the Fool for surviving these 2 years. It only gets better.

That conversation sounds like one I had about 34 years ago, went something like this:
Me: want some ice cream?
DJ: no! nilla co (vanilla cone)
Me: We don't have any cones, you can have a dish.
DJ: NO!
Me: OK, no ice cream. walked away
His reaction was to scream and try to drag me to the freezer. "No" was his word of the day and he discovered the hard way how it worked!

Now the poor boy has 5 of his own and the youngest is a handful at 19mo!
PICAdrienne said…
With my kids, the key was to give them a choice, that either way I got what I wanted. 'Do you want to put on your coat yourself, or do you want me to help you put on your coat.' Of course, with the heat, Jamie is probably really not interested in a coat with the heat.

Happy Birthday to Jamie and good luck to both of you. Remember, determination is a good thing when they learn to channel it.
JakkiMitch said…
Happy Belated Birthday to Jamie!!

Two year olds are so much fun! (I think... it's been a long time since I had one... but I only remember the fun times :-)
Kimberly Rose said…
Is his birthday August 2nd??? Mine is.

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