Hip Hip Hooray!

I've got something that everyone should have. Really, life is much better when you have one. It's this right here:I'm not just referring specifically to the sweet 2 year old boy, I'm referring to the fact that I have my very own personal cheer leader. It is awesome. Here are a few recent conversations:

As I was refilling the soap dispenser in the kitchen yesterday: "Oh, Mom, did you get all the soap in? Woohoo!"

Or, P: "Are you making dinner Mom?"

Me: "Yep, I am."

P: "That's great! Woot! Woot!"

Seriously, do you know how awesome you feel, when someone is cheering for you every step of the way? (Especially when you contrast that with the dinner conversations from my other kids who say things like, "Ew, I don't want that for dinner!" etc., etc...)

Every time I walk in the door after being gone for any amount of time, I hear, "Oh, you are back Mom! Yeah!" and he runs to me and wraps his little arms around me.
On Sunday, as I was trying to wrestle him into his clothes as he kept trying to run away from me (don't worry, he's still got all the normal 2 year old mischievousness), he paused and said, "Mom?"

and I said, (with some exasperation) "Yes, Peter?"

"You are amazing." (I had never even heard that word come out of his mouth before.) The kid knows how to melt my heart.
And I know I have mentioned before how he always says "please" when he asks for things and anytime I hand him something or do something for him, it is always followed up with a "Fank you, Mom." He even declines politely when he doesn't want something, as in this morning's conversation: "Pete, let's go change your diaper and get you dressed." To which he replied, "No, fank you."
Life is absolutely better when someone is acknowledging all the little things you do, and even better, when they give you a cheer for doing it. Just imagine, next time you are loading the dishwasher or folding the laundry, that you have your own little cheerleader saying, "You're doing it! Good job, Mom!" I could really learn something from him. I could probably be a better cheerleader for my kids, as well, focusing a little more on the "that's great, you did it" parts of life and a little less on the, "what?! you haven't finished that yet?" parts of life.

He adds lots of fun to our days. Every morning when I first see him, he addresses me by what will be my "role" for the day. As in, "Hi, Mom penguin" or Mom Monkey or Mom puppy or whatever the animal for the day is. And of course, he expects to be referred to as "Baby penguin" and so on. Fortunately, this does not actually require much action on my part other than responding when he calls me. Occasionally there is a little penguin waddling requested or some animal sounds, but he addresses me that way all day long. It's always a fun surprise in the morning to see what animals we will be.

Hard to imagine life without this sweet kid. No wonder I'm dreading sending him off to preschool in the fall. (Of course, we have to conquer potty training first.)