I started a post yesterday

about how I shouldn't be so whiny myself. My son is beautiful and gorgeous and sweet and funny. He's two years old. He's a baby. He's warm and happy and he smells so good. I should act more like an adult and quit whining back at him, and quit whining about him, even when he whines at me. Because even with all that whining, even with 1,000,000,000 times more whining, he is still far and away the love of my life.

Case in point: A list of lovely things about JD

1. He lays in his crib and sings the alphabet song until he falls asleep. When he wakes up, he tells me what songs he wants me to sing to him. He laughs like a nut when I make up funny words. His eyes get wide and he smiles to his ears when I put his name, or Shank's or Mimi's into a song.

2. He is learning to play pretend w/ Mimi and his other stuffed animals. One night when I wanted him to get out of the bathtub, I told him I heard Mimi calling him to come give her a hug and kiss. Ever since, he ends bathtime himself by standing up and yelling, "Mimi! I need you! Need big kiss!"( I've since come to understand that JD is voicing Mimi calling that out to him. It's really very sweet.) He tells me all about Mimi's favorite foods (spaghetti and pineapple), her favorite toys (big scoop truck), her favorite book (Green Eggs and Ham). The other night he made up a rather elaborate (for a two-year-old) story about how Puppy Doggie threw a ball out the window and he and Mimi went down to chase it. It's really incredible to see where his mind goes.

3. He can "read" some parts of his favorite books. The other day I spied on him reading Mimi's favorite book to her, "I am a Sam. I am a Sam. Sam I am. I like green eggs and ham. I like a goat. Splash! Into the water."

4. He is very excited about Santa Claus coming. He tells me every day that Santa Claus will bring presents and say, "What a cool tree!" when he sees JD's Christmas tree. He claims that he wants to see Santa Claus this weekend and sit on his lap. I'm not entirely convinced, but who knows.

5. He gets two lollipops (one for each hand, you know) and a box of raisins every afternoon when he gets into the stroller so we can take Shank for his walk. He always asks for "Red pop and yellow pop". He eats the yellow pop first, then he says, "Yellow pop all gone. How 'bout red pop?" before he starts on the red. Then he says, "Red pop all gone. How 'bout raisins?" as he starts in on them. Often he will follow the raisins up with, "Raisins all gone. How 'bout juice?" I mean, obviously he picked up the "how about ---?" from me, but it just cracks me up every time he says it. And to make it even funnier, he has recently started congratulating himself on his selections. When I ask him what he wants for breakfast, he considers it carefully, and says, "How 'bout oatmeal. Good choice!" When he picks out a book to read, he hands it to me, saying, "How 'bout Green Eggs and Ham. Good choice!"

6. JD also doesn't hesitate to compliment himself, either. When he looks at himself in the mirror or in a picture, he says lovingly, "You so handsome. You so cute!" When he says or does something to make me laugh, he says, "JD so fuuuuunnnny!" And whenever he accomplishes any kind of task, like putting a puzzle together without any help or finding Goldbug hiding in the pickle car (Richard Scarry, Things That Go, the ultimate best book ever for two year old boys), he sings a little song that I used to sing to him back when he was a baby, "You so smart, you so clever..." I hope he always believes these things about himself.

7. He picks up on things that I say that weren't necessarily meant for him to repeat, but serve to remind me just how attentive my little omnipresent audience is. The other day I was speeding up the road, trying to beat the light, but of course it turned red. I hit the brakes and made that disgusted throat noise. A couple days later, JD was wandering around hacking and muttering. I listened in to hear him saying, "Uuugch Red Light Uuugch. Uuugch Red Light Uuugch..." The randomness kills me. Even funnier was the other night when Shank tried to jump up on the couch and JD stared him down and said, "Shank, No! I'll kill you!" (On second thought, maybe that's not so funny...)

Case in point proven, or need I go on? JD is amazing beyond words, smart and clever and handsome and cute and funny and loving beyond description, a miracle and blessing of a magnitude that I'm not sure I really deserve. And the next time I whine about him -bc/ let's face it, I know I will- I will also stop to remember that, too.