Tobin at (Almost) Two

In just a few weeks, Tobin will celebrate his second birthday, so, in honor of the occasion, here are some things about him which I've taken particular notice of recently.

These days you might find Tobin...

...trying on someone's--anyone's!--socks or shoes that were left lying around...or tugging at Grandma's feet in her bright pink wool slippers that she carries up to our house to wear after she takes off her boots; he pulls at them until she takes them off and lets him slip them on his feet.

...opening the cereal cupboard, getting out a box of cereal, then plopping down to have a snack of Cracklin' Oat Bran until he's discovered and chided with a "Tobin, it's not time to eat cereal; we're going to eat supper when Daddy gets home, and you need to wait until then."

...walking around and around in a circle on the braided rug in our living room, making engine (I guess) noises all the while, until he plops down, looks up at us, and grins, waiting for our reaction.

...trying to push the buttons on the cell phone that Grandpa always wears at his waist.

...leaving a trail of scattered things behind him as he moves around the house, exploring various areas and playing briefly with the things he encounters. If we're on the main level, his trail might include a metal colander from the pan cupboard, two plastic bowls that he's gotten from the plastics cupboard and set on the table, a stack of blue lids from that same cupboard that he's inexplicably decided to place on the little couch in the living room, our big Texas cup and lid from another cupboard, a book about castles and one about dinosaurs from the bookshelf in the kitchen, some mittens that were drying on the hearth by the woodstove, a warm cap from the basket on the floor of the closet, a McDonald's toy that he got from the toy "junk" drawer that he can just barely reach into when he stretches as high as he can go, and an empty butter box that he saw me put into the trashcan for kindling but he decided it would be more fun to pull it out and play with it instead. If we're upstairs, you might find in his wake some socks from David's dresser that Tobin got out and tried on, a stethoscope from the toy medical kit in the little

cabinet between Josiah and David's beds, a sleeping bag that Tobin pulled off the little rocking chair in the hallway, a Winnie the Pooh book in Hebrew from the shelves in the hall, 50 puzzle pieces from a Golden Retriever puzzle that he found and was successful in opening the box to scatter everywhere, two packs of tissues with Snoopy on them from the bottom drawer in the bathroom cabinet, a Q-Tip (partially used) that he found in the second drawer and used to clean his own ears, the trains James and Molly from the train table in his room, a stuffed black bear and a stuffed turquoise unicorn and a stuffed caterpillar from on top of the antique trunk in his room, a few diapers from Shav's room, and on his feet, Daddy's brown shoes. Tobin doesn't cover his tracks very well--not at all, in fact. It's obvious when he's swept through a room--all the stuff on the floor! I sometimes feel like I could have a full-time job just going behind him and putting away the things that he pulls out.

...getting close to his baby brother while Shav is in the bouncy seat, pointing to Shav's nose and then to his own nose and then to the nose of everyone else who happens to be in close proximity. Repeat with eyes. Repeat with ears, etc. Sometimes you might catch Tobin trying to get into the bouncy seat while Shav is in it.

...walking as fast as he can when he hears a wrestle/tickle fest beginning in the living room between Jeff and the older boys. Tobin doesn't want to be left out.

...doing EXACTLY what he sees David doing, especially while seated at the table, since they face each other there.

...sneaking into the downstairs bathroom if someone leaves the door open, pulling out the bottom drawer, and playing with various band-aids, bandages, knee and ankle braces, etc. that he finds there.

...tilting his head to the side at an endearing angle, looking up, and saying his trademark "eh?" (or "enh?" or "ehn?" or something like that...it's a noise that I find difficult to transcribe, but it's definitely his everything sound...Josiah's was "doe" and David's was "adda")

...taking dust jackets off any books he can get his hands on.

...coming to me, holding his arms up, grabbing my legs at knee-level, and whimpering to be picked up. This usually happens when I'm hurrying to get supper ready and think that I don't have time to pick him up. Tobin is not easily deterred, and he helps me realize that I really do have time to hold him (especially when the alternative is listening to him screech).

...pointing excitedly towards the pasture when he hears one of our dogs, and echoing them with his own version of "ruff ruff." Saying this involves his whole body, as he tenses all his muscles, sways a little, and pushes the sound out of his mouth as if it takes a great deal of effort to produce it.

...seizing the opportunity when Josiah is lying on the floor to go over to him, lift his shirt, find his bellybutton, and poke it. Or if Josiah is sitting down, Tobin goes to him and plops down--unannounced, uninvited, but laughingly tolerated--on Josiah's lap.

...coming over to us when we're sitting on the couch, trying to get up on it to join us, and grunting for help. He really can get up by himself, but acts like he can't and needs help. My "help" usually consists of grabbing hold of his pants at the back of the waist and swinging the lower half of his body up onto the couch by his britches!

...getting excited when someone mentions the word "vitamins." He rushes into the kitchen, begins to gesture wildly, and isn't satisfied until I give him a gummy multi-vitamin and a hard, orange-flavored vitamin C. One day recently he "stole" an extra vitamin C off David's plate which led to David getting a "huffy" attitude and me reassuring him that it really wasn't a big deal and we had plenty more.

...trying to feed himself with a spoon, which often leads to a big mess, but will someday lead to him actually being an independent eater.

...happily, carefully, and successfully climbing the steps when someone is behind him and gives him permission to do so.

...resisting all attempts at helping him back down the steps on foot. He must be carried.

...pausing in his busy toddler activities to sit on the bottom step of the steps that lead upstairs, sucking his thumb and watching what's going on around him.

...hurrying to the gate at the top of the stairs as soon as he hears Jeff's Jeep and waiting there for his daddy.

...saying new words almost every day. Some recent ones: spoon, stuck, cockadoodledoo, cheek. Some not-so-recent ones: milk, bath, nose, Grandma/Grandpa (I haven't differentiated his sounds yet for these).

...shaking or nodding his head when questions asked of him can be answered with a simple yes or no.

...surprising us with his comprehension. Though his vocabulary is still quite limited, he seems to understand everything. Everything!

...wanting to do what his big brothers do. He is a skillful copycat.

...letting out a scream that could rouse the unconscious when he doesn't get his way.

...putting his head down on a pillow pulled off the couch onto the floor, sucking his thumb, and revealing his tiredness.

...waving bye-bye when prompted--and sometimes without being prompted. He does this not only to people, but also to the book beside the place on the bed where I change him and to his toothbrush in the bathroom.

...reluctantly allowing me to brush his teeth.

...hunching up his shoulders, sort of squishing his face, and laughing in a "aren't I adorable?" pose.

Why, yes, my boy, you are. You are absolutely adorable!