It’s been hard to keep up with the boy lately. He’s always been active and curious and into exploring, but it seems in the last week he’s gone from Curious George to Tear This Mothereffer Apart George. I’ve always been fairly relaxed about the house being a mess, but now it’s to the point that I can’t walk through the room and have to spend more than 5 minutes after bedtime cleaning up his disasters.

One of his favorite activities now is “Draw Picture.” I have a drawer full of paper and crayons that he can get into himself, which he does, while repeating, “Draw picture. Draw picture.” Except that there is no actual drawing involved, just taking everything out of the drawer and strewing paper EVERYWHERE. I don’t know why but this drives me particularly crazy.

I quickly realized the folly in keeping the Sensory Table objects in gallon bags inside a cupboard that he could access. This turned into dumping bags of pasta, beans, leaves, and rocks all over the floor. I let him do this ONCE because it kept him occupied for a while and then I regretted it when it was time to clean up. Now they are on a high shelf.

When he wants to read books, he dumps ALL the books that he does not select onto the floor. When he wants to find a toy in his toy bins he dumps them ALL on the floor. This is the pattern with everything.

And no he does not help me pick up. I am trying to teach him, and sometimes he will pick a couple of things up and put them back, only to experience the pleasure of throwing them on the floor all over again. Sigh.

I feel like I’m constantly just picking up after him or stealing a few moments of rest.

On the other hand, when I do just sit down to play with him, it’s pretty fun. He likes to sit on my lap while playing with his toys, which is adorable, or just be touching me in some manner. He has a great sense of humor but won’t be entertained by just any old gag – I really think he has an innate sense of comic timing and word play. We have a whole series of inside jokes together and when he remembers one and prompts me to join in, it’s one of those wow-all-the-sleep-deprivation-is-so-worth-it moments.

His vocabulary is also exploding as he spontaneously repeats and independently uses words (and even a few two-word phrases) in correct contexts – eyes, pants, milk, all done. He seems to be grasping the idea that he can use words to communicate with us – that talking is not just a new fun trick he can do.

I’m trying to let him walk on his own more, to the extent that he can handle it and not walk directly into a ton of trouble. Sometimes we talk a walk around the block together, and he can walk most of the way himself. Usually. But last time we tried it we got halfway through and he said “all done.” Ha!

I’ve never been one to lament that my baby is growing up too fast. From the day he was born it seemed Miles has always been eager to get to the next thing, never arriving early but always striving to get there, and so I can’t help but cheer him on as he achieves each new milestone and grows and learns and tears this mothereffer apart. Although I am kind of reconsidering the Draw Picture drawer…