Jacksonisms...Take Two

Things to remember if/when you should ever have a two year old:

1. Everything you say will be remembered and they will pick the weirdest times to repeat it out loud.

2. They will notice at some point that your husband has hair in both his ears and his nose. Your husband will then be told that it's "dose" (gross). Try to keep a straight face. You can do it.

3. If you ever either on purpose or by accident, pass gas in front of, beside, behind or anywhere in the vicinity near them, they will announce it to the world, try to pick up your shirt/night gown and proceed to tell you loudly that he's "looking for dat toot".

4. If you have a little boy, and his little body parts are given names, expect him to refer to these body parts...and often. He loves watching Dora and Go, Diego, Go! so much that he no longer has a turtle in his diaper...he has a baby tortuga in there. He also sings a song about it. Loudly.

5. Expect that same little boy to be very bold when it comes to him and "dat toot" as well. It will go off at random times and it will be announced with a giggle that "haha I tooted" but at least it's followed up (most of the time) with an "cuse me".

6. Don't ever try to be funny about asking him what that noise was....he will tell you exactly what it was, that it came out of his diaper, and that his hiney is like a vent that blows the air out. (He found out what vents were a few weeks ago while playing on my bed and looking up at the ceiling and asking.."What's dose?" I told you...they remember EVERYTHING.)

7. Be prepared to laugh outloud at any given moment. When I told him today that I went to the doctor, he patted me on the hand. I told him I had to get a shot in my arm and that it hurt but I didn't cry. I was then told "I so proud of you. Dat's awdum!" (awesome) The greeter ladies at Walmart must have thought I lost my mind for laughing so hard right then and there.

8. Although they will have times where they can't sleep, wake up after bad dreams or just need another hug. You will drag yourself out of bed. You will walk with one eye open down the hall, bump into a wall or two and take a second to figure out how to open their door. But when those little hands reach out to you out of that bed and you hear the words, "Just hold me Mommy", you won't remember anything that came before that.

9. I think every child at this age goes through a dancing phase. Jackson's has hit big time. His favorite pasttime is to sneak into our bedroom, mess around with the alarm clock until the music comes on....turn the dial until something crazy comes on (tonight's selection was some kind of slow R & B song) and then proceed to get down and get funky. When you walk in and catch him, he looks up at you like YOU'RE the one interrupting him and he's doing just what he's supposed to be doing, then proceeds to continuing dancing.

10. They will talk your ears off. They will ask you 50 times where you're going and when will you be there. They will drive you nuts with the "I gotta potty" and then sitting there 15 minutes and doing everything else but pottying. They will make mess after mess while experimenting with their dinner and seeing exactly which foods can also be used as finger paint.

But when they're half awake/half asleep and headed to bed and they reach over and kiss you and tell you "I love you to the moon and back"...it's all worth it. You go to bed. You wake up, and you start all over again....just to get back to that point again the next night.

They drive you crazy. They make you laugh. They make you cry. But no one can ever capture your heart faster than they can. And it's all so unbelievably worth it.