me: Have you seen the headphones around?

Jon: I think I saw them hanging in the Christmas tree.

me: Oh, great, thanks – I can see them now.

If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Apple headphones look just like the our white Christmas light strings.

Possibly, he is just so used to everything in our house plugging in (and being compatible with Apple products), and he figured by attaching the headphones to the tree, it could listen to his iPad movies.

So, Jon and I bought Maddox a set of 3 little racing cars, from – you guessed it – Cars.

He loves these cars. He pushes them around tables, on the ottoman, the walls, the counter, and on the Ikea floor mat with the map design. Needless to say, we watch Cars pretty much on a daily basis.

Now, when we drive places on the highway, Maddox calls, “Mac? Mac?” like Lightening McQueen does when he’s lost in the movie. It’s good to limit tv, but the adorableness of hearing Maddox whisper in an awed voice, as he’s drifting off to sleep, “piston cup…wowwwww” is irresistible. (The cup is the prize for the big race.)

Mads has also learned the words: fire truck, tire, oh no, mean green car, and I think neon. When they do the panoramic view that the blue car is so into, he goes “ooooh, pretty.”

The only thing I’m not so keen on is that when he races the blue and green cars, he makes these demonic growling noises because the cars in the movie are pretty aggressive when they race!

After the store, we swung by Dunkin Donuts (iced tea for me, munchin for Mads) and I have the slight suspicion that Maddox must go to drive-throughs a fair amount.  As soon as Maddox saw the window, he began clamoring for, “fries?  fries?  bagel?  fries?”  I’ll take responsibility for the fries (on a low-carb diet, eating 5 hamburgers for dinner minus the bun isn’t out of the question) but I suspect the bagel is a treat from his daycare provider!

Once we had the food put away, we headed over to the playground and Rail Trail. Mads pushed a couple kids around (kids are so darn SLOW) and made enforced apologies (“Do you want to go HOME, Maddox?  Do you want to go HOME?”) and he tried the swings again.

On the Rail Trail, when we approached the train, Maddox got really, really excited (he’s been playing with trains at home a lot, and watches Thomas the Tank Engine in the car) and said, “Train?  Train?  BIG Train!  Wowwwwww.” He ran over to it, and had a great time moving all the gears and ringing the bell.

On the way back, Mads surprised me by saying, “pocket?  Meh-meh pocket?” because he wanted to put a stick that he’d been carrying into his shorts pocket.  He can say and understand so much these days, it constantly amazes us.  Words we had no idea he understood are coming out of his mouth, in context and with the intended meaning.  He makes jokes now, and remembers things (so watch what you promise him)!

He also loves his new mower toy – he went around the ottoman very thoroughly, I think we’re going to have to let him take over the one outside soon!

And, thanks to his daycare provider, he is potty training at 2! It is way more thrilling than you’d think.

He’s started faking “night-night” complete with adorable fake snores. He also is using names more, as in “Maddox cookie Maddox cookie please!” not just “cookie!” Note: most things are property of Meh-meh, but some things are Mommy’s, Daddy’s or Kitty’s (as in Kitty’s tail). He also is getting adjectives, like, “heavy train” or “yucky bee!”

Finally, Mads has learned that when people aren’t around they are at somewhere, for example, when Jon isn’t in the room, Mads will ask, “Daddy work?”

It’s pretty awesome. =)

With this in mind, Jon, Maddox and I have been spending more time at the beach.  Mads isn’t a big fan of the water (yucky water!) but he likes to chase the birds and play in the sand. He’s also really into sticks.  Jon and I were listening to This American Life today, and the interviewee was explaining how his Dad used to hand him and his brother buckets and make them pick up rocks off the lawn.  And I was thinking, you know, for a two year old, that is prime entertainment.  Also, it’s a hereditary thing, because apparently, when I was in pre-school, I used to make all the other little girls in my class pick up sticks and drop them down the gutter.  (I was the princess in this scenario and I guess the sticks were fueling my evil empire or something.)

Mads and I like to walk up and down the beach, find a spot, plop down and put sand in a bucket.  Then, Mom dumps the bucket and we repeat.  Jon and I are starting to learn that there’s nothing more relaxing than just hanging out on the beach with your kid.

“Night night!” He announced, then walked off to his bedroom.  Jon and I followed him, since when your baby says it’s bedtime, who are you to disagree?!

Lately, I’ve been more and more amazed at how frequently Maddox has an opinion and wants to have a say in what’s going on.  He understands a lot of what we’re saying (probably more than we realize, which should provide some interesting surprises later on) and wants to communicate back.

He asks for snacks when he’s hungry and to stay longer in his bath, and he’ll take off running down the hall to practice opening the bathroom door – a new achievement that is interesting to explain to guests.

He especially wants to use electronics.  He’s very good about giving Daddy his remote whenever Jon leaves it out, despite the fact that in this picture it looks like he’s just clocked Daddy over the head and made off with the goods.

It is wonderful and perspective-altering to have to adjust to the recognition of Maddox as a person in his own right, instead of a baby to be carried from pillar to post.  Maddox continues to be the best part of our lives, from his first “Dada!” in the morning to his new “Night night, Mama” just before bed.

Here is how this went:

Maddox: Deee!  (Translation: Look!  A bear!)

Dad: Would you like to hug him?

Maddox: Yes, please, you can just lift him into the cart.

Dad: Okay, here you go!  Just for the store, though, okay?

Maddox: Sure, Dad, we’ll just be store buddies.

Maddox: No, really, YOU’RE too cute, Mr. Bear.

Maddox: Mr. Bear, I love you.

Maddox: Hey Costco Ladies!  See my new friend?  We’re starting a posse.

Maddox: Mr. Bear, I sure will miss you.

Maddox: Whoa, how did this bear get in the car with me?

I so did not put him there, Dad, I thought he got off the cart in the cheese aisle.

Maddox: What, my new buddy is coming home with me!?  Yay!

You can share him, too, Dad =)