Dear Sage at 22 months |

Dear Sage at 22 months

by elizabeth on February 28, 2014

There is an echo in our home. Sage you have become a world-class parrot! This is wonderful, funny, and mortifying all at the same time! Wonderful when you say, “almost there!” on our way to Gigi’s house in the morning, “Time to get up!” when we are getting out of bed, “Too big!” when you ask me to get inside your little wooden shopping cart, “oh pay goo goo” after I say, “Oh my goodness!” and “I don’t know” when I ask you where your pacifier is. Mortifying when you repeat my cursing response to dropping the mail all over the floor of the garage. Realizing the powerful impact of my choices and language is also a little mortifying. Your Dad and I are modeling for you every second of every day and I am aware it will most likely determine the kind of person you will become. It feels like the weight of the world is on my shoulders but now is the time for us to become the best people we can be. Especially in regards to how we treat each other. You are our greatest motivation and we are working our hardest to be mindful of all we do.

This month was host to my first experience in trying to explain gender differences and the challenges that accompany those differences. We were at the playground and you saw a little boy run off to the bushes, pull down his pants, and pee. You immediately decided that you wanted to do the same thing. My initial response was, “Sage, I see that you want to pee like that little boy but girls don’t pee in the bushes at playgrounds. Girls need to use the bathroom.” As soon as the words left my mouth I wanted to swallow them back in and let you pull down your pants and pee. Why shouldn’t you pee in the bushes at the playground?! Why would I say such a ridiculous thing?! If I do decide that I don’t want you to pee in the bushes at a playground, I need to be sure it’s NOT because you are a girl. I promise to never use “because you are a girl you can’t….” again.

Here are a few other highlights from this month:
• I noticed that you stopped using handrails when walking down stairs. Funny these little things that are so small yet so big at the same time. You are so little and you march down the stairs with so much confidence.
• You have also started noticing stop signs. It’s makes me smile when you see them, throw your hand out, and yell, “STOP!”
• Every word that ends with the letter “n” you have replaced with the letter “m”. “All done” is “all dum.” “Bean” is “beam.” “Run” is “rum”. It’s so cute when we are exercising and you say, “RUM MAMMA RUM!”
• You have started saying, “I love you.” You say, “La La”
• You have developed a great sense of direction. We were driving near Nektar juice bar, which we had only visited once, and you yelled, “JUICE PLACE!” Even writing about it makes me laugh. You know the streets that lead to the places we go. Noah’s house, Gigi’s house, our house, etc.
• You have started pretending that you have just met me and you say, “Hi Mamma, Meet you Mamma!” You are trying to say, “Nice to meet you Mamma”
• You love hearing stories about your piggies (toes). They go on all kinds of adventures and you like to say that each one goes to the market. We ask you what they buy at the market and you say, “quesadilla” or “cheese”.
• I love watching you try and do things on your own. Like rolling up your sleeves before you wash your hands, using the swifer to “vaccum” the house, put your clothes on yourself, open the fridge to find the ingredients for a quesadilla (the tortillas and cheese are in the vegetable bins so they are just your height!), velcro your shoes, put toothpaste on your toothbrush, snap yourself into your carseat… You very clearly communicate your displeasure when I start doing these things for you and strongly say, “No Mamma!” You have even started trying to do my routines for me. You like to scoop my coffee beans into the coffee grinder and turn it on all by yourself, make my smoothie for me, carry heavy things into the house. It’s heartbreaking to see you realize your lack of strength or developing fine motor skills not live up to the vision you had in your imagination.
• I have noticed a little more about your developing personality and it’s very organizational. You continue to want to put things back where they belong. I was trying to get you in the bath at Granny’s house and you refused to walk downstairs until all the Tupperware you were playing with had been returned to its proper drawer. I also caught you putting your sunglasses away and as you placed them on your bookshelf, you took the time to fold down the parts that go over your ears. I have never asked you to finish jobs like this or fold down your sunglasses so I can only imagine that this is just part of your nature. We’ll see how it continues to develop. Your Dad will appreciate this so much as I could use a lesson or two about putting things back where they go!