The Rhodeman

How do I even begin to tell you about my little man?



I really have not let myself believe he isn't a baby anymore. So everything he does amazes me. And since he has a major case of second child-itis when it comes to blogging attention, this is a post all about my boy. The one we call Rhodeman.

It might seem like a strange nickname but it rolls of the tongue very easily. Plus, it inspires many song outbursts from unlikely sources. I really believe Rhode will grow up thinking there are a myriad of songs written just for him. Everything from the Batman theme (RhodeMAN duh-na-duh-na-duh-na-duh-na duh-na-duh-na-duh-na-duh-na RhodeMAN!) to hits by the Village People (Rhodeman... are you listenin' to me? I said, Rhodeman).

And it really doesn't help that the boy must dance when music is played. Yeah, yeah, most babies dance. But Rhode dances like he has no control over what is happening to his body. We will be watching a show and when the song credits come on he will start bouncing and wiggling without his face changing at all. It is like he isn't even aware he is, at that moment, groovin to the beat. The music just takes over.

He is pretty good at his baby sign language, he has picked it up way better than Scarlet ever did. Being a second kid is pretty nice that way. I would try to get Rhode to sign something like "more" and Scarlet would do it. She then got a cracker. It didn't take my constantly starving boy long to figure out a few hand waves got him his stomach's desire.

But the typical signs just weren't his style. So he updated them a little.




The sign to get more of whatever he happens to be chowing was the first he learned. His is a little more precise in what he is actually asking of me.


One open hand with the other pointing it. I call it "Put that food right here in my hand mom".



The sign for please is nice, but a little small for Rhode. Instead he uses both hands and rubs them vigorously across his upper body. Unless he is sitting, then his legs get a good rub down.




I call it his "all of me is begging you to just give that fruit snack up, mom"

And then there is his most frequent request, to eat. It's simple enough to point to your mouth. But Rhode gets right to the point. One thing has to happen before he gets to eat dinner so he makes sure I know, it's meal time.
Folding his arms. I won't lie, that one makes me want to give myself a "good mom" pat on the back.

He signed "thank you" for awhile but it was always accompanied with a little bit of attitude like, "hey mom, I'm throwing this your way 'cause I know how cute it makes me look."

But now, all of a sudden he just says, thank you. No matter what the context, if you ask, "Rhode, what do you say?" he will thank you for whatever he might be pleased about at the moment.

The boy is a talking fool! He makes 16 month old Scarlet look like a mute. I could pretend I am listing all the things he can say as a "record" but I am so totally bragging. He can say mom, dad, ball, car, cookie, cracker, water, thank you, sister, Eliza (E-la-la), Charlie (Chee-Chee), bye bye, no (which he says distinctly and frequently), fish, bird, dog, plus the animal sounds for dog, elephant, bird, sheep and chicken. And when he answers Scarlet's princess phone, he now says, hello?

I can't even believe this kid most days. Rhode and I spent a Sunday School together last week and sat behind our friend Tim and his daughter Eliza. After the meeting, he sauntered out by himself. But before heading out the door, he stopped when he saw Cynthia (Tim's wife). He pointed back to where we had been sitting and said, "E-la-la", indicating Cynthia's daughter was sitting right over there, then kept walking out the door. Not used to receiving directions from the 16 month old, Cynthia and I just looked at each other and cracked up.

I can ask him to do just about anything and he knows exactly what I am saying. I am really enjoying having another set of hands that answer to, "go grab me this" and "go throw this away." I am so darn lazy.

He is pretty decent with a spoon though they are usually a little slow for him. He prefers the bowl to mouth method for things like oatmeal or soup.

Rhode is such an eater. He can out eat me most meals. The boy will eat pancakes until you run out of batter. I keep expecting some big growth spurt to accompany his bottomless stomach. But so far his food intake has not gotten any smaller.

He still is such a cuddler but he finally has decided playing outside with the kids is occasionally more fun than mom's lap, thank goodness. He has had a few rough nights with stuffy noses and such so I will, out of desperation, pull him into our bed. Unlike his sister who would then proceed to crawl over us and kick my head like a soccer ball, Rhode curls up in his little bum-in-the-air ball in between us and sleeps soundly.

And I am so grateful for all the above mentioned items that make me laugh, amaze me, and leave such a positive impression in my mind of my little boy. Because, most of the time as he takes toys, beats up on babies (his preferred method is backing up and sitting right on them), says "NO" to me about EVERYTHING, and throws the infrequent but memorable meltdown mid-aisle, I really just want to trade him in. But remembering the good, plus the fact that we are officially four Sundays away from Rhode attending nursery makes me really love that little guy.