Kinnell at 2
Kinnell jokes, asks questions, is excited to talk and proud to be understood. He makes sarcastic faces, like if you tell him he has to eat his dinner he sort of rolls his eyes back into his eyelids and pretends he can’t see you. He repeats everything you say–we’ll be reading a book and he’ll say the names of each animal, then point to the ones he doesn’t know and repeat each word after you.
He is such a great dancer! I’m not just saying that because he’s so adorable, prancing around with one arm out and the other sort of tucked in… but also because he really listens to the music and dances accordingly… slow for more quiet songs, fast and spazzy for more rocking out songs. His favorite big finish: falling down on the floor and giggling. Pixi gave him a play drum set for his birthday, and he loves to pull off the very satisfying-sounding drums and march around to his own drum-beat.
Kinnell loves puzzles. He dumps the pieces out and then sets about putting them back in place. Grandma Iris sent a shape puzzle, and he knows many of the shapes! Heart, star, triangle, circle. He can count to 10 although I don’t think he really understands the concepts beyond 2. He knows the color orange and sometimes recognizes other colors, but not always. He sings, “This is the song, la la la la, Elmo’s world!” and “Down, down baby, Elmo shake his body!”
He is such a joy and delight — if I remove him from a situation and he starts to have a tantrum, all I have to do is say “No Kinnell, it’s ok — come help me with this.” “I help,” he says, nodding, quickly calmed. If you carry him in your arms he will play with your hair; and strokes his own hair thoughtfully as he falls asleep.
He will imitate precisely what Raimi is doing sometimes, and other times he’s content to entertain himself. Tonight he walked over to his play kitchen and picked up a plastic drumstick. “Tonight we ha chicken,” he said, trying to get my eye contact. “Tonight, chicken” he repeats, nodding.
We moved him into a big boy bed this week. We had bought “Elmo sleeps in a big bed” for his birthday. He’d developed into quite a kicker, and seemed so attached to sleeping at our sides each night that I was pleasantly surprised that he slept perfectly soundly the first night. Raimi woke him up this morning. “Kinnell, it’s morning time,” he called down from the top bunk.
“Look at our big boys!” Kevin and I said as we came in to say good morning. I was well rested and proud, even if I did miss my baby, just a little bit.