Super Cute Two Year Old-ness

I could write a blog post for every day of the week about all the incredible challenges of raising a rambunctious two year old boy. The girls were mellow, laid back two year olds. They were little delinquents when they were three, but by then they were better able to communicate and understand the consequences of, say, throwing Play-Doh at me. Or biting me. Or writing on the wall with a Sharpie.

It is my hope that since Nathan does not fall under the "mellow, laid back" category of two year olds, he'll be the kind of three year old who voluntarily eats all his vegetables and asks if there are any extra chores he can help me with. Time will tell.

In spite of his tremendous capacity for naughtiness, there are times when Nathan is unbearably cute. And, so that the internet at large doesn't think that I am totally down on two year old boys, I thought I'd share three such moments that have all happened within the past 24 hours. They almost make up for Tuesday's skull slamming into my nose incident that left me with two mildly black eyes.

Unbearably Cute Moment #1:
Yesterday we celebrated St. Nicholas Day, which involves leaving treats in the kids' shoes. Nate's treat was a new Mickey Mouse night light that nicely compliments the Cinderella night light he commandeered from the girls some time back. Nathan got up at the crack of dawn and came into bed with us, but the minute Dave and I dozed off he escaped to look for sharp knives, toxic chemicals and unattended Sharpies. Instead he found the night light and an uncovered plug in which to try it. By this time Dave and I had woken up and were eavesdropping on the little conversation Nate was having with himself: "Oh! It's Mickey! Hi Mickey! I just pwug you in. OH! Dat's so PWITTY! Ta Da! Daddy! I found Mickey!"

Unbearably Cute Moment #2:
Nate and I went to Dave's office this morning for a little visit and Nate, naturally, didn't want to leave - so many buttons to push! so many potted plants to upend! - so I tried to ply him with a stop at Whole Foods. He wasn't taking the bait so I played the cookie-from-the-bakery card. His response? "OH! A cookie would be DELICIOUS!"

Unbearably Cute Moment #3:
We're driving home from Whole Foods and listening to ABBA (Nathan's favorite band. Naturally.) and he's in the back seat saying, "It's in my ears! There's something in my ears!" I turned down the music and said, "What's in your ears, baby?" to which he solemnly replied, "Sounds."

So. When he's not creating complete and utter chaos, the kid's cute. See?