Motherhood 2.3 years on!!!

I have one of those ‘naughty’ kids.  The kind of child that people probably raise their eyebrows at, the kind of child that the nurse in the Dr’s office has had to ask me to keep away from the water cooler.  He’s always been a model child, he’s been the one who’ll sit at the table at cafes and who can be easily entertained but all of that seems to have changed in just one afternoon.  Perhaps he’s a little like his dad and tends to get ‘moody’ if he misses out on his sleep and maybe today’s not the best day for me to write an update on my ‘angel’ especially considering he only managed a 15 minute afternoon sleep and my views and his behaviour MAY have been coloured by his being over tired.  Marley’s going to grow up with a real affinity for apes considering how often I call him a monkey these days.  He’s very into squealing at the moment.  When he first started I was quite pleased and a little disappointed.  I was pleased because as a singer I liked to see him experimenting with his vocals and disappointed because I felt he was being reserved and I felt he had more to give (Tim disagreed with me on this).  Today however he found his inner squeal, a boundless squeal that only need be heard once but he felt like giving and so gave it over and over, I found myself apologising to those around us.  I felt like saying, ‘he’s a really good boy, he’s not a spoilt brat, he’s not a menace to society, he’s only just found his squeal and he’s experimenting....don’t you remember what it was like to really let go and make some noise??? this is a wonderful thing’ isn’t it??? Well first and second time I thought it was but sitting in the doctor’s surgery this afternoon as the last patients for the day, his squeal had me reeling and I’m sure the poor nurses were delighted to hear it at the end of a long week, not once but twice.  Yes, he’s found his voice. 

Marley’s growth this past month has been huge. His feet are massive, he’s tall and people are constantly commenting on his height.  He has a head of curls that are getting long enough for us to consider his first haircut.  He sleeps happily all night in his bed but enjoys snuggling up to me in the mornings as he has done for months.  He’s started to show interest in mega blocks and understands a lot more than he used to.  He asks for Bay in a questioning tone each day and points to the door way from where Bailey seems to magically appear most afternoons after school.  I say ‘No, Bailey’s at school, he’ll come and play later’ and Marley puts his hands over his face and drops his head.  He ADORES Bailey.  We’ll be moving back to Melbourne in a little more than a month and I feel so sad that they’ll be parted… I have to tell myself to focus on the bigger picture. Marley’s begun to cry at playgrounds when other children leave.  This lead me to take steps to put him into a day or 2 of child care but on the day I took Mar to have a play he ended up being bitten to the point of bleeding by another child and so that plan has been put on hold until we move. 

Marley’s started to say ‘Oh Goh’ which sounds very close to ‘Oh God’, ‘Go away’ and ‘Cool’ to name a few new phrases.  His favourite word is Ee-ole (icypole) usually associated with rapid pointing to the freezer or often he makes things so much clearer by helping himself to the freezer and bringing me an icypole to unwrap for him.  Little monkey!  I think the biggest change in him has been his attitude.  He really is fast and funny, he dances at everything and goes from unbelievably serious to kooky.  That’s a great word to describe Marley, KOOKY.  That’s what my sister calls him, a Kooky kid and it’s true.  The other day along with a gazillion other parents I watched my child from the perimeter of of the shopping centre kids play area.  I watched him as he interacted with children bigger and smaller than he is, I watched his approach, how fairly he played and how confident he appeared.  I felt so proud but then he just made me laugh so much.  He took it upon himself to individually engage the nearby adults waiting patiently for their children as they play.  He went up to a lady or a man and quietly but confidently began his monologue.  This involved a series of arm and head motions.  He threw in the odd shoulder shrug and some very strong arm swings.  He spoke softly and had these poor parents unsure if they might offend him by their lack of understanding or if they should just play along.  He was insistent and very funny, god I laughed.  I swear he’s picked these exaggerated gestures up from “Fifi forget me not and the flowertots”.  He’s so funny!