I Was Grumpy

Owen is going through a bit of a “willful” phase…or perhaps it is just the terrible two and a halfs.  It’s certainly not as bad as it could be, and in general he is a happy fellow, but in the past two weeks he seems often to want to do the opposite of what we suggest, even if what we suggest is normally something he’d love.  And then god forbid I insist we get dressed in the morning, even though that is something that we of course always do, and pretty much at the same time daily.  This morning I ignored his rantings and ravings and tried to get him dressed, until halfway through his mood changed on a dime and he asked for a “mommy hug” and then all was okay.

If he hasn’t napped, he is often grumpy in the car when he and Sean pick me up after work:  he’ll turn his head away from me and grunt when I talk to him.  He did this yesterday, but then a few minutes after we were in the house, he was back to cheerful, and cheerfully proclaimed, “I was grumpy in the car!”  Yes, Owen, you were.

I’m assuming it is just a phase and that it will soon end.  He still will immediately answer “I cahn’t and I won’t!” if we ask him if he has to go potty.  And then after a few minutes of dancing around – obviously having to go – he will say, “I have to go to the potty right away!  Right away!”  And then we do and he does.

His favorite word seems to be “disgusting” said “dee-gusting”.  Many things in our house, apparently, are dee-gusting, from the half eaten bowl of catfood to an ant on the floor.

Last night we went out on the porch during an odd thunder rainstorm to see if there was a rainbow, since the sun was also out.  (There was, but just a faint one!)  Anyway, Owen was running up and down the length of the porch and after twenty minutes or so I was trying to herd him back in without making it seem like it was my suggestion.  I asked him if he wanted to go play with his trucks and cars, or read books, and he said he wanted to stay out on the porch, because “It’s bootiful out here.”  Well okay then.  Hard to argue with that.

We’ve been doing a lot of reading, at long last!  There are still some books he will immediately turn his nose up at, but we are now reading relatively wordy books that he will be obsessed with for four or so days until moving on to the next one.  Right now he is all about “Caps For Sale,” “Be-Bim-Bop,” and “Hop on Pop”.  Before that it was “Doctor Ted,” “Go Dog Go,” and “Hazel’s Amazing Mother”.  I’m looking forward to seeing what it will be next!  (Although I also admit to hiding certain books in his bookshelf that I can’t bear to read again, like “8 Monkeys Jumping On The Bed” and “Your Turn Doctor.”  I figure it's a parent's prerogative!)