Travieso AJ and the Terrible Twos

I recently heard that the Terrible Two’s does not necessarily refer to the birth year 2 but to a span of “2” years. And this span can be anytime, 2-4, 3-5, etc. I find this particularly interesting at the moment because I was just telling a friend that Seena was wonderful at 2. I loved her at 2. She definitely had her moments of course, but for the most part she was sweet and loving. Once she hit 3 ½ to probably around 5, she was a nightmare. Ok, maybe I exaggerate a bit but she was terrible. So she fits the “2” year span. AJ on the other hand, is a TERRIBLE TWO. He is travieso. The boy never stops. He never stops

eating
climbing
running
eating
climbing
getting into EVERYTHING
being travieso

And I know this is typical 2 year old stuff but seriously, Seena was not like this. She liked to snack but my son doesn't snack...I don't know what he does for that matter. He just eats. And when I say the boy never stops eating, I mean it. He never stops. From the moment he walks in the door from daycare he heads straight for the pantry and if that door is closed, he's pulling the closest chair to a counter that has any food on it. I've resorted to hiding all fruit bowls, food bowls and cookie jars in the highest cabinets. And forget it if YOU want to eat, he takes that too.

And if, he gets lucky and gets a hold of some food that he's not suppose to have...he crushes whatever item he has in his kung-fu-like grip. I literally have to pry his fingers open meanwhile the food item is spewing through his fingers and all over everywhere. This is usually when the cursing occurs because the crushing of food is never in a convenient place like the kitchen. It's always in the family room or my favorite, the couch. AND the little booger knows he's being travieso because he runs like a speed of lighting as soon as I notice his sneaky foodnapping.

Travieso
The Spanish word travieso translated into English is "naughty" or "trouble maker". This is what I call my son on a daily basis, however, he's not necessarily "naughty", he's just such a boy. And he's two. He's a 2 year old, boy, trouble maker. Not a fun combo. Which, I might add, has definitely added a few greys to my hair and has had me say one too many curse words under by breath. He even has a travieso look. If I can catch it on camera I will. It's a look that oooozes with traviesoness. His brows come down, his lips are pursed, his legs are spread and he does a little bouncy dance thing.

Like some sort of tribal, warrior, battle dance.

It's travieso, I'm telling you. He's going to be the kid that's going to end up in the emergency room a lot because of some traviesoness he got himself into.

Everyday when I look at him or I observe his mannerisms, all I can say is that he is just such a boy. Girls just don't do the things he does. What makes it all bearable is that he's just so darn cute. But still, travieso.

Case in point - this evening he entertained himself with surfing on puzzle boards. He first, laid them out on the kitchen floor. He would then get a running start from across the family room and then jump on the puzzle boards and "surf". Obviously, he didn't get very far and most of his attempts landed him on his butt, but he didn't care. He just got up and did it again. Such a boy.

Does anyone remember the movie Parenthood? Remember Steve Martin's son that runs around with a pail on his head? That's my boy. Travieso.