This Beast is 2 years old! He's been in my life for 2 years, but I hardly can remember a time when he wasn't my boy. Here are some things about him that I think you all should know.
Favorite food: Cafe Rio rice and beans and horchata.
Favorite song for sleeping: Baby Mine
Favorite song for dancing: Geronimo, Sheppard
Favorite church song: I Am a Child of God
Favorite books: The Little Engine that Could, If You Give a Dog a Donut
He loves LOVES dogs. He fell in love with the neighbor dog when we moved in to our house in September. He fell so hard that he committed himself to learning to say his name: Harley. In December he started saying "Ahh-yee." Then it became "Hahh-yee." Then "Harl-dee." And now it's "Hardy." He practiced and practiced until he had it down pat. Every dog he sees is exciting; he exclaims "HARDY!!!" His stuffed dog is naturally called Harley, and his current favorite movie is Disney's Bolt. Harley goes everywhere with him. We often have to brush Harley's teeth when we are getting ready for bed. And sometimes Harley has to take medicine before BB will. Harley prays with us, eats dinner with us, and goes everywhere with us.
Harley, Lightning, another car, and his dirty little secret: Mee, the white rabbit.
Admiring a playground ("wee") at Costco with Harley.
Showing off his new haircut with Harley.
Getting ready for church with Harley and Mee.
Mee is what he calls his white rabbit lovie. The rabbit accompanies Harley everywhere, and has to be washed constantly because he chronically stinks from being sucked on.
He experiences the world through his cars. Lightning McQueen and Mater are favorites. Lightning is a shovel, a race car, a pacifier and a friend. His cars often fly. His second favorite movie is Disney's Cars. The world is his race track. If he sees a surface that looks like it would be good for one of his cars to drive on, he will put out his hand and request "Cars," just as a surgeon would a scalpel. When he says "cars" he means he would like Lightning McQueen. This particular Lightning McQueen. He has a few others, and they are great companions to this Lightning McQueen, but they are no substitute.
Lightning digging in the dirt.
Gardening? Bring Lightning.
Getting dressed for the day? Lightning must be involved.
Taking a bath? Bring Lightning and all of his friends. They enjoy a good soak.
Out to dinner? Lightning enjoys fine dining too.
Just woke up with excellent bed head? Lightning doesn't mind; he still wants to play.
Worried about your Mom's driving? So's Lightning. Better strap him in.
Playing Soccer? Lightning's a huge fan.
Out with your bestie William? Bring Lightning because the more the merrier!
Chasing a peacock? Lightning is excellent at chasing colorful birds.
He loves the YouTube Kids app on my iPhone. He enjoys watching surprise egg videos and toy unboxing videos. This is what he does to unwind.
He loves his morning smoothie. He calls all beverages juice, except for water, which he calls "Wahr," and milk, which he calls "Mnm mnm."
He lives for being outside. He will often request "shuess" so he can play outside. He enjoys hiking around our house, and walking to the park ("wee").
He has discovered trains. He loves watching Thomas the Train, much to my chagrin. (Anyone else find Thomas irritating? No? Yeah, me either. Ahem.) If he sees anything Thomas in a store, he will pick it up and insist we bring it home. Despite how hard it is to resist his cute little face and earnestness in asking for whatever Thomas item he wants, he has been disappointed so many times.
At Costco.
At Target.
We bought him an inexpensive train set from Ikea a few months ago. He loved it so much so immediately that he wanted to play with it in the car on the way home. It's a 25 minute drive people. I tried to jimmy rig something for him out of a flat box so he could put two sections of track together and drive the engine on that. But that didn't work so well because every turn, stop and acceleration made the track slip or come apart or fall. And it was only he and I in the car, so I couldn't keep fixing it for him. So for 25 minutes he was upset. Really upset. And once we got home I set up the track for him, but he'd get upset because he'd have the polarity wrong on the magnets that connect the trains, so they wouldn't stick. It took a few days for him to learn the patience to turn the car around if it didn't stick the first time. Now he's figured it out, and he loves LOVES playing with his trains. He sometimes purposely takes the track apart so the train will derail and he can put it back together. His cars and trains both can ride the rails in his world.
His besties are Lolo and William.
He is tender with little girls, especially Lolo. If he sees a photo of a dark haired, fair skinned little girl he says, "Lolo?" When we drive by the apartment building she lives in, he says, "Lolo!" When he's with her he will share even his most prized possessions (not Lightning or Harley, but Mater, or other cars that he wouldn't allow anyone else to play with). A few times when Lolo has gotten a hold of Harley, BB will come to me, worried and upset, "Harley?" pointing to Lolo. He won't take his beloved dog away from her, but clearly doesn't want her to have it. In my mind and TC's mind, he is betrothed to her and all other suitors will have to live up to her adorable excellence.
He is relentless. He does not give up. When he wants something he cannot be distracted. He cannot be deterred, encouraged in another direction, dissuaded, reasoned with or diverted. So our choices as parents are give in, or prepare for raging.
No means no. Don't ask him again. He will use physical force to show you that he means business. Don't try to get him to eat something he doesn't want to eat; it will end up strewn on the floor and walls.
All of his s sounds are short s'es. As in the s in bus. So cheese isn't cheeze, it's cheess. Keys are keess. He also says juice, cheese, nose, toes, Jesus, water, Harley, yeah, no, Mama, Papa, yes, cool, cold ("coh" while rubbing his arms), hot ("hah" while waving his hand), car, Mater (mee-yer), blocks (bahsss), bus, mouth (moff), cookie, flowers (wowrsss), Jeep (jeess).
In an epic episode of Misheard Lyrics, Max joins me in singing Baby Mine.
The lyrics: "what they'd give for the right to hold you."
What he sings: "dee dee TOO TOO." (too too is his word for train)
The lyrics: "you're not much goodness knows."
What he sings: "la la la NOSE.
Speaking of Baby Mine, any time he lays down to sleep I have to sing it until he falls asleep. Over and over and over again. If I fail to comply, he complains loudly and obnoxiously ("Muh MY") repeatedly until I do his bidding. I think my record for the longest time I was required to sing was 45 minutes. Over and over. 45 minutes people. He's a tyrant.
Another episode of misheard lyrics is with I Am a Child of God.
The lyrics: "and He has sent me here."
What BB sings: "la la la HAIR."
He loves to unwrap straws, water bottles, and anything else with a label or wrapper.
Unwrapping straws? Lightning can help.
He's a good traveler. He finds riding in the car to be so much fun because he can point out all the different vehicles he finds, like busses, and cranes ("so tall"), dump trucks ("yeah?" until I acknowledge it's a dump truck) and cement mixers ("yeah" while twirling his finger until I acknowledge it's a cement mixer). He loves being out and about, at the store, park, wherever, as long as he's not cooped up inside.
He hates hats.
Trying on a fedora was a bad idea.
He folds his arms when we pray, and celebrates with "YAY" when the prayer is over. He also raises his arm to sustain people in sacrament meeting (this probably only makes sense to people who are Mormon).
Leaving church one Sunday.
He loves going to nursery at church, but only if I stay with him the whole time. If I try to slip out quietly, it only takes a few minutes before he realizes I'm gone and insists that I must be there with him. Insists loudly, that is. He has a favorite teacher and one Sunday even cried when he had to say good bye to her.
Picture with his favorite toy in nursery: the parking garage.
He hates being separated from his parents.
He's affectionate. He loves group hugs and gives great hugs and kisses. If he sees TC and I hugging, he will stop what he's doing to run over and join in the hug. He sometimes pats my back, and rubs my arm. He will make some girl very happy someday with all of his affection.
He is a mama's boy. He loves TC as a playmate, but he wants me to comfort him, put him to bed, be at his side every waking moment. I do not use the bathroom unaccompanied anymore. I do not shower alone. But he's a lover boy, so how can I resist?
He is a mama's boy. He loves TC as a playmate, but he wants me to comfort him, put him to bed, be at his side every waking moment. I do not use the bathroom unaccompanied anymore. I do not shower alone. But he's a lover boy, so how can I resist?
He does not like to be messy and hates when his clothes get dirty. He will complain until I assure him that it's alright, or wipe it up.
When he gets frustrated and is trying not to freak out, he turns his head to the side, squeezes his eyes shut and says a loud, prolonged, whispery "Oh gossssshhhh."
When he gets frustrated and is trying not to freak out, he turns his head to the side, squeezes his eyes shut and says a loud, prolonged, whispery "Oh gossssshhhh."
He licks nearly every rock he finds.
He enjoys building with Duplos or Megablocks. He likes to make things that his cars can drive on or park on.
Still loves anything that spins. He learned to say round and round "wown a wown."
He enjoys building with Duplos or Megablocks. He likes to make things that his cars can drive on or park on.
Still loves anything that spins. He learned to say round and round "wown a wown."
He loves cookies. Every time the oven timer sounds, he runs over excitedly and yells "COOKIES!" It really doesn't matter what I'm making. I'm sorry to burst his bubble when I'm making something other than cookies.
He hates getting his hair cut. And he happens to have hair that grows very quickly.
He loves watching for the garbage trucks on Monday mornings. When he hears the truck coming up the street, he looks and me and whispers, "Yeah?" and points at the front of the house. So we run up to the windows and open the shades so he can watch. Lucky for him we are at the end of a cul de sac so he gets extra truck time while the trucks do a 7 point turn to turn around. And we get three trucks: the garbage truck, the recycling truck and the yard waste truck. Mondays are exciting.
When he hears a beat, he must dance. His dog and cars must dance with him. If the dog or cars are in another room, I must retrieve them. If we are in the car and the dog or cars are at home, he throws a fit. An epic fit. One for the history books. We don't make the mistake of leaving either the dog or the cars at home anymore. We also don't leave the dog or cars in the car when we go somewhere. They must be accessible to his person at all times.
No time to pose for a picture Ma. I'm dancing.
He is independent. He does not sit in strollers, shopping carts, and does not hold hands. This meant that when we went to Tokyo in April he walked on his own, often veering into oncoming foot traffic, or TC held him. Also, he doesn't sit in high chairs or booster seats.
TC is the only one who can brush BB's teeth. And even then, it's a struggle.
TC is the only one who can brush BB's teeth. And even then, it's a struggle.
He loves his Papá. He asks about him at least once an hour all day while TC is at work. He listens for the garage door to open in the afternoon. When he hears a noise in the house that he can't explain he assumes it's TC and excitedly yells PAPA! They are best playmates. They play a game called "Besito Time." BB points to his wrist and says, "Yeah?" Then TC says, "Is it besito time?" And BB takes off running while TC chases him. When BB is caught he gets kisses and tickled.
Besito time in action.
Everything he does is with purpose and exuberance. When he's happy, he's HAPPY! When he's angry, he's ANGRY! There's really no in-between, moderate mood for him. Luckily he's happy the majority of the time. He's curious, loves to engage in everything around him, and gets frustrated when he can't communicate effectively. He is a tyrant, and a lover, and our sweetheart. TC and I hardly remember a time that BB wasn't part of our family.
