A Max Quick Post

I feel compelled to write a quick post about Max. I wish there was a perfect way to capture him right now exactly the way he is so when I needed it, I could summon it up and smile my freakin brains out. He is perfection in a two year old and I love it. While I recognize that he will only get more awesome, there is something special about this age when they start to discover the whole world around them and internalize it to their naive and inexperienced minds. Everything is a funny warping of what they are seeing, what they have seen their parents do, and what they have seen in cartoons. The lines between those things blur constantly and its hilarious. Because I can't make a carbon copy of him at this age to reference forever, here is some stuff I love about Max right now.


- He doesn't have a bad bone in his body. He has toddler moments, but they never seem rooted in anger, malice or guile. And they are short.
- He knows how to use the word "love" and knows how to show love
- He is sensitive to sadness and pain, and is particularly protective of his animals and Sam. See photo above.
- When he is outside, he has to skip or run (unless he is tired from the beach)
- He likes to pretend. His obsession is monsters, dragons, giants and wolves. He finds them under rocks and in bushes, names them (things like tsotsot, nadio, and doda), puts them in his pocket, and then takes them home to give them a bath.
- He still idolizes me and his eyes/mind explode when I get home. I know that will end soon. Boo.
- He loves music, dances and sings any song he learns.
- He never wants to leave the house. Once he gets outside he never wants to come back in. He never wants to go to bed. I interpret this as a natural ability to be happy with what he has and where life places him.
- He says goodbye to people, church, the playground, museums, etc. Everything in his life has feelings and life...even buildings.
- He has nightmares or a rough patch at night and wants me to hold him and sing him songs. This is basically my favorite thing to do in the whole world. You can talk him through the nightmare (like, wolves can't get into a brick building like our house, so they can't steal his puppy dog or monkey), calm him, and then watch him fall asleep. I literally jump out of bed if I hear him cry because he is finally old enough that what I can provide is what he needs. Right now Sam needs mom, but Max is satisfied with me.