With the new baby coming, I have been trying to soak up my time with Clark lately. Just like it was hard for me to imagine becoming a mom, it’s hard for me to imagine being a mom of two! Right now, Clark is my world, and having the blessing to be at home with him every day has given me the privilege to get to know every little thing about him. He is growing up so fast (as it seems children do…) and I just want to remember some of my favorite things about him right now.
The way he says ‘shoes’. He has started saying a handful of actual words and a couple of them just crack me up. He says ‘shoes’ a lot. When he does, for some reason his voice goes up at least 2 octaves and he drags out the ‘ew’ sound. ‘SHeeeewwwwws’ It’s so cute and funny! He’s also really into putting on both mine and Bob’s shoes lately and attempting to walk in them. 
His independence/bravery. I absolutely love spending time with Clark, but let’s just be honest… There are plenty of times that I need to be away from him to get housework done, make a quick phone call, or even take a shower! With him, it’s easy because he totally doesn’t mind playing independently. He’ll go in his room and browse through whatever books are on the floor, play with toys, or open all his drawers and rearrange stuff (not my favorite game). It’s great to get some breathing room. Now, I have to admit that I do have a love/hate relationship with this part of Clark. It makes him really brave, so he takes risks that sometimes make me sweat. I’m the type of parent that knows full well that he will get bumps and bruises and maybe even a broken bone or two some day. I’m actually totally okay with it and think that it’s part of growing up to experience those things. (Clark knows to “rub it out” when he gets a bump of some sort.) But it would not surprise me if this kid is the first of his age group to have an ER visit due to injury. Like for breaking an arm jumping off the couch or something. Just sayin’….
How helpful he is. I’ve mentioned before how much Clark loves the Swiffer. He’s really helpful with other things though too. Whenever Bob or I come home with groceries, he gets really excited. He starts pulling things out of the bags and putting them in the fridge (he thinks everything goes in there). We assist him with some things of course (eggs?), but for most of it we just point to where it goes and he puts it away. He helps me unload the dishwasher too. Unfortunately, he can’t reach where we keep most of our dishes, so he’ll hand me plates/bowls, etc. and I just put them in the cabinets. Another favorite of his is wiping things. I could give him a damp paper towel or rag and he would be entertained for at least 30 minutes wiping anything from the floor and furniture to his toys. Of course, since he’s a toddler, he sometimes thinks he’s helping when he isn’t. Like when he tries to fill Bruno’s food bowl himself and the kibble goes all over the floor. But it’s so cute that he wants to help.
His dance moves. I think a video is in order. The kid loves to dance and he puts on music every chance he gets. Hopefully he has better moves than mom and dad as he gets older.
(Yes, that’s a bottle of Jack Daniels. Don’t worry, he can’t reach it!)
His kisses. My absolute most favorite thing about Clark is that he is so lovable. He is very generous with his kisses! Even if he’s meeting someone new, we can almost always get him to at least blow a kiss. Since we converted his crib to a toddler bed a few weeks ago (more on that later), he’s able to get in and out of bed on his own. So in the mornings, he crawls out of bed and into our room and wakes us up by giving us kisses. There’s always an audible ‘muuaahh’ involved too. I just love it! Bruno is no stranger to a Clark kiss either. It’s the first thing Clark does when we go downstairs in the mornings. (Bruno sleeps on the couches in our living room.)
I don’t know how long these things will last, but I want to remember them. Love him so much and can’t wait to see what kind of little boy he’ll be in a few months from now!
familyjulius 