No Ifs Ands or Buts

Warning: I am about to brag up my kid for a bit. If this kind of thing annoys you, feel free to skip a few paragraphs (or the whole post!).

Harrison is amazing. As in, the kid has many talents, but one of the best might be his uncanny ability to know where we are. Driving around town he can tell me that that church is where we had Quinn's birthday party (in October!) and that church is where we attend MOPS meetings (twice a month). He knows, by name, Russ's Walgreens, and Runza. Last month, he flipped out on me in the car because I took the "wrong" (i.e. different) way to Kearney and earlier this week, as he drove with his grandma to Milford, he asked her, "Grandma, where are you going???" when she had to turn south for a detour. Seriously - who needs GPS when you can have HDW in the car with you?! I am learning, by the way, that I have to mean what I say about where we are going because clearly he won't be fooled if I fudge it a bit.

Harrison's elephant memory also applies to events/people/food/things at certain places. He remembers that the doctor's office has fish even though (until recently) he was only ever there every few months or more for well checks. He remembers that eating lunch with his friend Blake most likely means ice cream as part of his kids meal, even though, again, this only happens once every few weeks. Tractor Supply, where Ben took Harrison two years ago, is where they have the baby chicks. And don't even get me started on the Children's Museum here in town. I cannot get within a five block radius of the place (actually, sometimes I can't even start driving to the west side of town) without him asking about going to see Ms. Deb at the Museum!

Although he doesn't like to wear it, Harrison has a t-shirt that reads, "World's Greatest Brother" that we got for him way back before Raegan we even born. It should probably also say Proudest and Most Attentive. He loves to know what Baby Girl is doing. He also loves to call her Baby Girl ("What's my Baby Gurawl doing, Mama??") And Raegge (pronounced Ray-gee). I started that, by the way, and I hope she doesn't hate it, because I'm afraid it is stuck seeing as that is pretty much all Harrison & I call her all day long. But yes, HD loves his baby sister. He loves to be in her face and space, and for the most part, she's happy to have him there. She gives him the biggest gummy grins and watches his every move. If I so much as mention that I need to check on Raegan, because I can hear that she's awake after a nap, Harrison drops everything and goes running for our room where she's sleeping. He also wants to "nurse" her which usually consists of holding her on the boppy for approx. 30 seconds while he rocks and sometimes sings to her. Makes me smile every time.

Harrison is a wordsmith. He loves to talk, is pretty darn good at using his imagination, and loves books. As an English teacher, this makes my heart swell with pride. And again - the memory! He knows many books by title and by page. If you skip a page in one of his favorites, or just one that's been read to him more than once, he'll know. And tell you! He can finish the ends of lines in a lot of books too, so a lot of my reading trails off halfway through a sentence just to see if he can pick up from there; with certain books he can do this on every page. Ironically, one of the books he is best at "reading" is called Boy's Potty Stars and is, duh, all about potty training. Seeing as we still seem to be light years away from potty training ourselves (I mean, him!), it strikes as me funny that this is the one book he knows front to back.

Like his dad, Harrison is always on the go. If you've ever met my husband and seen him sit, you'll know where Harrison gets his energy. Ben does not just sit. He has to be shaking (jiggling?) one foot or the other at all times. So no, it is not a mystery as to why both of my children are always on the move. I watch Harrison with his constant energy and his already apparent love of sports (the kid is pretty good with his Little Tykes basketball hoop and even our chiropractor was impressed one day when Harrison threw a football to him) and I can only imagine what he might accomplish someday on the field or court (or stage or classroom or a mountain!).

I'm writing all of these things because there are a lot of things about being two (and a half!) that are hard. Being the mama to a two (and a half!) isn't particularly easy or pretty either, some days. But what I'm trying to see and remember is that there are some pretty outstanding things about being this age and stage, too. All the hard stuff shall pass, just like everything else in life. If we can just do our best to settle and focus on the good, no ifs ands or buts, then good we shall have. Well, most days, anyway!