Gussy's twos are not-so-terrible (knock on wood!)

In case you didn't know, Gus Caputo was basically the best baby that has ever existed. Seriously, I used to worry that there might be something wrong with him because he was so good all the time. As it turns out, that was just his sweet, little baby personality. Ever since then, though, I've been waiting for the tides to turn on me, thinking that surely his "terrible twos" would be really terrible. But, so far - knock on wood again! - they have been more funny than they are terrible. Don't get me wrong, he definitely has his moments. He is testing the boundaries and trying out independence, but, for the most part, he just gets cuter and sweeter and funnier by the day.

Pretending the laundry basket was a boat (I'm not sure where the glasses come in):


He is doing great at school. I think that the turning point came when, on the way to school one day, he picked a flower for his teacher. That day, he was so puffed up and proud about giving Miss Karen the flower that he forgot to whimper and cry when walking into the classroom. We haven't seen a tear or a frown about going to school since then. Such a big boy!

I really appreciate Miss Karen and the rest of the staff at his school because they always stop me to say how much they love Gussy and how sweet and funny he is. They do that with all the moms and it just really makes me (and I'm sure the other moms) feel like they really value my child's presence there. At their orientation this year, the pastor of our church and the director of the preschool both talked alot about how much God blesses them through our children during the school year. I'm very thankful that they feel that way, since we surely do, too!

Before bed last weekend:


Gus and Catalina are starting to bicker a little these days. She likes to be the boss of everything and to orchestrate all of the play and make-believe that happens under our roof. Gus can barely even sing a song without running it by her first. As you can imagine, that kind of tyranny doesn't mesh well with his growing desire for independence. Luckily, they have been working out their frustrations without too much drama. Catalina is such a little mama and cares so much about him that she never stays frustrated with him for more than a minute. For example, we frequently have a situation where Gussy gets frustrated because Cati tries to force him to play a certain way. Gussy says, "NO!" but she keeps on and on until he pulls her hair or pinches her. Cati cries and calls for Mama. Mama comes running, gets the story from her, and fusses at Gussy. Gussy can't stand to be yelled at (or, even, to be talked sternly to), so he sticks out his bottom lip and cries, at which point Cati hugs him and says, "It's okay, Bubby," because she just can't stand to see her little brother cry. In fact, just today, Gussy was a little fussy and crying when I got him from his crib. Cati told me with tears in her eyes that she was going to start crying, too, if Gussy didn't stop crying. Precious!

Pretending to sit on the eggs in their nests (balls on top of the dog food bowls):


Recently I have been making a list of some of Gussy's funny phrases or mispronunciations that are so cute (and which will undoubtedly be self-corrected in a week or two). Thought I'd share the list with y'all:

- My favorite word that he says is "Nectarine." I can't explain what's cute about it, it just is. My second favorite word he says is "Exactly." Ask him a question and he'll frequently answer with "Egg-ZACK-ly!" instead of "Yes."
- For as long as I can remember, he has called bananas, "Nanas." Last week one day, he started saying "Banas."
- Since I don't eat meat, we eat a lot of tofu around our house. Gussy loves it and calls it "To-food."
- Catalina still calls "coffee" by it's Spanish name, "cafe." Gussy calls it "hot fafe" (like "cafe" with an "f").
- He puts an extra "a" into lots of sentences. For example, at night, when he looks out the window, "It's a dark." When he sees the screen saver on our computer, "It's a baby Max." "It's a cute." "It's a very good." You get the picture.
- Catalina likes to pretend she is a fairy princess sometimes. She says "Abracadabra" a lot. Gussy pronounces it "Abba-ba-dabba."
- The phrase he utters most frequently these days is, "Let Gussy do it!" Everything we do takes us three times longer because he wants to at least try to do it himself, like getting him dressed, putting his dirty dishes in the sink, feeding the dogs, etc. It's time-consuming, but so adorable.
- "Watch meeeeeeeeeeee, Mama" is usually followed by some action that makes me nervous, like jumping on the bed or jumping off the bed onto the floor.
- He says "That not right!" a lot. There's no doubt where he learned that one, since his sister is constantly correcting him. "Don't do dat!" and "Eww, gross!" are two others that he picked up from her.
- When he gets excited about something and wants me to look at it, he stutters just a little, "L-look, look." It's really cute because he's so excited that he can't even get the word out.
- My friends and I do yoga together every Thursday night. I've shown Catalina and Gus a few easy little poses, including downward facing dog. Catalina will sometimes just bust out with it and say, "Look, Mama, down face dog," which is cute in itself. Then, Gussy bends down, does the same pose, and says, "Look, Mama, little doggie." That might be the cutest thing I've ever heard!
- When he eats something that he loves, he says either "Mmm, mmm, mmm, tum, tum, tum" (which is supposed to be "Yummy, yum, yum to my tummy, tum, tum") or "Mmm, good-licious." We have no idea where it came from, but it's really funny when he says it.
- He sings the Stanley Steamer commercials! I laugh 'til I cry everytime he does it. I don't know if they just come on a lot during the Today show or what, but he has managed to learn the phrase, "Stanley Steamer makes your home cleaner!"
- This last one is the sweetest of them all. When you tell him, "Gussy, I love you," sometimes he comes back with, "No, I love YOU!" and points. He'll go back and forth forever and it makes me feel really good when he does it.

Okay, thanks for enduring my long Gussy update. He's almost two-and-a-half, so I thought it was timely. He is a joy, just a really delightful little boy! I can't get enough of him!

One last funny one...naked superhero! That's actually what he was saying as he was running through the house, "Watch me, Mama! Naked! Super-hero!"