We have a 2-year old in the house now.  The little guy’s birthday was on July 5th.  Of course, we have heard of and witnessed some of the outbursts that come with the “terrible two” phase, but we have been more impressed by the incredible leaps and bounds he is making…literally and figuratively. 

He is ALL boy and shows it physically.  Jumping and climbing off of and onto anything and everything he can.  He is interested in potty training and using his potty multiple times a day.  He is trying new food, excited about going to “school” beginning in August, helpful when he wants to be, repeating new words instantly, and beginning to speak in short sentences.  More than that, he understands so much more than we give him credit for…the following story is an example from today.

After returning home from Safeway and Trader Joe’s this morning I let the dogs out into the backyard.  Since it was such a nice day, I decided to just let them hang out and went to open up the doors to their dog runs in case they wanted to go into their houses (which Oak and Odyssey like to do).  Since the little guy has figured out how to unlock the locks on the glass “storm” doors, I closed both doors to the backyard to keep him from following me outside (once he goes outside he does not want to head back indoors, and I still had some things to get done inside the house).  I opened the dog runs, walked back up to the house, opened the “storm” door, and then tried the main glass door…it was locked.  I thought to myself, no problem, this is whay we had the keypad installed on the garage after I got locked out last year around this time (with the little guy in the house that time, too).  So, I calmly walked around the the front of the house and tried the keypad…it didn’t work.  So, I tried again…no luck.  A little bit of panic set in. 

I had just locked up all of the windows knowing that it would be hot today and the AC would kick on to keep the house cool.  I walked to the front door to check to see if it might be unlocked…nope.  Side door to the garage…locked.  I tried the keypad again…NOTHING!  So, I walked around to the back door.  I knocked on it so the little guy would come back to it, and he did.  I tried to explain to him how to unlock the doorknob lock, which was how I got locked out last year.  He tried, but just couldn’t quite figure it out.  My panic grew just a bit. 

So, here I am thinking of how to get back into our house.  We gave our next door neighbors a key last year in case I got locked out again…unfortunately, they were gone for the day.  Our friends down the street also have a key…last year I was able to have our next door neighbor watch the little guy through the window while I ran down there to get a key.  This time, I did not feel comfortable leaving the little guy alone in the house for what would be at least a 10 minute time period, as I am in no shape to run down the street and back at 7-months pregnant.  Ryan, who I was also able to call last year, was out of town for the day…still in the state of Oregon, but at least 1-1/2 hours away.  I had no cell phone (locked in the house) and did not want to leave the house with the little guy by himself inside.  More panic, but told myself that it would all be OK, and I just needed to relax.

I thougt, my last resort is to break a window.  I walked around the house again to figure out which one would be best and decided the office would work since the door was closed and the little guy would not be hurt by broken glass.  I walked around to the back one more time to try to find something to break it with…I have no idea how to break a window and this was not something I really wanted to do.  It was this time around the house that I noticed it was the DEADBOLT that had been locked, not the doorknob!

That little stinker figured out how to lock the deadbolt!  I was hoping that meant he could also figure how to unlock it.  I walked to the back door and knocked so he would come to it.  He came running, and I told him to go get his stool from the bathroom.  I had to repeat my request only two times, and he went running into the bathroom (thank goodness it was unlocked as we also keep doors to bathrooms locked to keep the little guy from playing in toilets) and came out carrying his step stool for washing his hands!  I told him to put the stool next to the door and to climb onto it.  He did.  Then, I asked him to turn the “thing” on the door.  I don’t know how many times I asked him to do this, but it was only a couple and the door was UNLOCKED!  I immediatley pushed it open enough to keep him from locking it again.  Now, I had to convince him to step off his stool so Mommy could come inside.  By this point he tought it was all a fun game, which was fine with me, but I also wanted to get inside and tell him what a wonderfully smart little 2-year old he was!  He let me back into the house and was not impressed by what he had just done, but I sure was!

So, we definitely have our share of “terrible two” behavior, but the amazing cognitive and physical ability that our little guy (and I am sure all other 2-year olds) has is amazing.  To think that at this time last year he was just beginning to take steps on his own and to know all that he is capable of now is truly amazing.  I’m going to make sure that I focus on all the positive aspects of our little guy being a 2-year old and believe in the not-so-terrible-two’s!