Almost a Deuce

In a matter of days, Peter will be two years old. Two years ago today we were trying to get Peter to turn upside down by holding a couple of lit cigars against Mommy’s toes. That sounds like a joke, but it isn’t. Well, the cigars part is inaccurate, but it was still burning stuff.

 

It didn’t work and Peter stayed breech despite our best efforts. After living with him for these past couple years I know why: he didn’t want to. End of story. He’s strong-willed, smart, and strong. My hunch is he figured out while in the womb that he preferred having his head up, and that last week he figured out how to position his body in such a way that he could stay like that as long as he wanted.  I remember that first day with him, when he had his eyes open and moving around, and he could lift his head on his own. That was a clever little strong guy who had mastered his environment.

 

Now if I had a time machine and could go back two years to suggest a way get him to flip over, I’d tell us to play Thomas videos at Mommy’s feet so he’d turn to check them out. Of course, that would work today. But back then he had dug in his heels (literally, pretty much) and was happy being where he was. If we asked Peter to stop doing something he liked so he could do something else he doesn’t know about, well, let’s just say he’d decline. Some things don’t change.

 

So much is different now about Peter, but really it’s more like our understanding of him that has changed instead of him. He’s really pretty consistent. We’re just kind of slow in understanding him in some ways. And, of course, by “we” I mean me.