February 2013: 29 month (2 years & 5 months)

Dear Patrick,

• I’m sorry to admit this but I do not like building forts with you.  You are Godzilla to my Tokyo, and Tokyo is very, very tired.
• We had tubes put in your ears on 2/15 and true to form, you were an amazing patient.  We were warned that you would cry when taken from us into surgery and cry when you woke up from the anesthesia, but you did neither.  You jumped in a motorized car and drove yourself into the operating room without even looking back at your parents.  And once you had a popsicle in your dad’s lap in the recovery area, all was right in the world again.
• I’m actually beginning to like Curious George.  I might watch that him even if you aren’t around.
• “I want to take my paaaants off and jump on the beeeed” is something you say often.  It should be noted that the words “pants” and “bed” are said with extra, drawn-out syllables so that you sound really nasaly.  “Peeaaaaaaants...”
• Michael found another owl lovie and bought him for you this month.  You call this new owl “soft owl” and your other owl, “regular owl.”  Now instead of finding just elephant and owl before bed, we also have to find soft owl too!  Thanks Uncky.
• Some sibling rivalry exists with Cooper. “No, Coopy, no!” you’ll scream.
• You call me, “ma ma” - but not as a southerner.  Instead, you say it with a sharp, french accent “ma ma”!
• Tantrum is your middle name. Luckily your outrage doesn’t last long -  it just doesn’t take much to set you off either.  Not time for TV?  Oh, well, get ready,  because Patrick-Tantrum-Byrd is NOT gonna be happy.  We can usually distract you from your agony with a toy or the idea of cooking.  Nothing breaks a tantrum like the offer of cooking an egg with your Dad.  (And we’ve made plenty of scrambled eggs that we did not eat this month.)
• You can play the colored cube game and follow the rules now.  We tried a few times before but you just pushed the cards around and weren’t interested in the order of how to play - until this month, which is a really interesting development.
• You are very opinionated - so much so that you are starting to make decisions for us now too.  The other day I told you I wanted to make a cup of coffee and you said, “No, you don’t want to make a cup of coffee.”  Oh, really - I don't?  You know me better than I know myself, I guess.
• Your father and I went to Toys R Us one morning this month and had a field day.  We bought you some “big boy” toys we thought you’d like: tool caddy, one of those bags filled with air that you can push over and it comes right back up again, cars and a couple of motorized somethings that I’m not even sure exactly what they are, but they make a lot of noise.  Its Christmas in February for you, my sweet boy.
• We have enrolled you in full-time daycare, which starts next month.  I think we are all a little nervous about this next big transition in our lives, but we just keep reassuring each other that it will be fine!