Rome runs around with his birthday balloons

Sorry, I've been M.I.A. from my blog for a bit, but that's because I spent all of last week slaving away in preparation for Rome's 2nd birthday here in Columbia. Originally, I was planning to take him back home with me to Florida sans the husband, but he pitched a fit saying he wanted to be with his son on his birthday. J couldn't take a few days off work, so I had planned to head down to Florida to celebrate with our families in Jax.---which we agreed upon earlier, but he changed his mind at the last minute, and begged me to stay. Since I wasn't going home for Rome's birthday, I made J work extra hard to ensure that the weekend celebration went off without a hitch. It did...sort of, but throw in a handful of rowdy children, balloons, games, a pinata, and sugar, you can imagine how chaotic things quickly turned into.


I'll describe Rome's weekend birthday party in a later blog post, but I'm still reeling from the fact that my precious little boy just turned TWO. Wow. I can't believe he's 2. It seems like yesterday he was just a lil' itty bitty bundle of joy, and now he's just a ball of rabid energy. 'Course, he's all joy, but just with a whole lot of energy.


Has he reached that terrible two stage? Um, sort of, but I can't really tell. He seems really sweet (and normal) to me, but J says otherwise. He's definitely gotten heavier, and he babbles more, especially to his toys, but Rome isn't at that stage where he's got me wanting to pull all my hair out. At least, not yet.

Some of the TWO-isms I've noticed with Rome are:

1. He's learning how to say "pwease" when he wants something, but he hasn't managed a "thank you" just yet.
2. He chucks anything and everything at you when he doesn't get his way, but I've stopped most of that naughty behavior by my dreaded countdown---getting in his face, holding him still, and counting down to one until he realizes that he'll get the timeout chair in the corner if he continues acting bratty.
3. Everything is "mine." Cookies, the remote, spoons, the toilet paper, shoes, and even my maxi-pads seemingly belong to him now. 
4. Constantly asks me or his daddy, "Was daaat?" (what's that) and expecting an answer in return. It happens in two second intervals.
5. There is an occasional meltdown. He's still not fond of the word, "NO," and will go to all lengths to get what he wants---even if he forces himself to cry. (And, no, I rarely budge.) 
6. He is very possessive, especially when it comes to mommy. He doesn't tolerate his daddy kissing me, and even goes as far as to hit him when he does. When he sees J hug me, Rome will run to me, shove his dad away, and wrap his arms around my leg to act like some kind of kissing ward. Apparently, he is still a momma's boy.
7. Rome is very, very demanding. When he wants to read a book, it has to be read right. at. that. moment. For some reason, he likes having his favorite book read when I'm sitting on the toilet. 
8. Rome is very, very sweet. At least he's that way to me. I still get my first-thing-in-the-morning hugs and kisses from him, and he frequently showers me with affection throughout the day. J's kinda like chopped liver. Rome barely pays his daddy any attention unless he's holding sweets in his hand.
9. He bites. He does it because he thinks it's funny, but it's funny until he starts drawing blood. Yes, blood.
10. He likes to play with my boobies. Uh-oh.

Now that my boy's two, I'm looking forward to see if this so-called terrible two stage is fact or fiction. I guess we'll have to see...

Next blog post: Rome's birthday party! (with more pictures)