20 months

There's something about 20 months that just sounds WAY older than 19 months.  For some reason, when I hear 19 months, that's barely 1 and a half years old.  But 20 months...you can round that right up to 2 years old, or I could just say, "The Nugget will be 2 in July."

I feel like we're already in the "Terrible Twos" unless the Nugget has some other tricks up his sleeve.  He has been throwing tantrums like a pro for nearly a year.  He's shown us his fantastic pitching arm, hits decibels that surely make dolphins in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans cringe (we are landlocked in the Midwest), and has proven that my sweet baby can hit, push, and grab like a Looney Tunes character.  In fact, every day, I feel a little like Wile E. Coyote and the Nugget is my Roadrunner, playfully yelling, "Beep-beep" as he tears through life while I struggle to outrun and outwit him at each turn.  

When I make his behavior about me, I feel like a terrible mother.  I am impatient, confounded, upset that I can't make him sit down for more than 3.2 seconds, eat his greens, or share his toys.  

When I have the good sense to take a deep breath, I remember that the world must be overwhelming to a toddler.  That he is learning enormous concepts like cause and effect, gravity, language, and social graces.  That none of those skills are going to come to him in a single afternoon.  That like an outsider, I am guilty of subconsciously comparing his behavior to other children his size instead of his age.  That I have the power to be patient, calm, and consistent.  That I can ignore disapproving glances from strangers, knowing that although I might not always know what I'm doing as a mommy, I understand my son's needs more than any sneering passerby does.  (And I can do my best to remember that before I roll my eyes at another mommy for the parenting choices she is making to get through the day.)  That even though the Nugget is "almost 2", he still has one foot planted firmly in his babyhood.  That between the tantrums and the aggravation, he is a gentle, loving, playful, bubbly, smart, funny boy who deserves nothing less than infinite patience, understanding, and unconditional love.