One of the things I am most fascinated by, is the growth and development of Apollo's young mind. He is truly like a sponge soaking up massive amounts of information; smells, sounds, sights, the formation of sounds into words, the use of words to communicate, structuring words into sentences, and developing and refining motor skills.
I am amazed at how much he can take in and how he is so in tune with everything. We forget as we grow older, how to enjoy all that is around us, indulge our senses, and to look at everything as if it is the first time you have seen it. I know that having Apollo has helped me reconnect with this part of myself that has been lost for possibly decades. The way he looks at all the things I have grown to take for granted, i.e., the moon, stars, rain, snow, sand, water, etc, and the ensuing "ooooh!" and "aaaaaaah!" and "what's that" as he points, has forced me to stop and take a second look, and to be once again...fascinated.
In contrast, it can be very painful watching the personality traits develop, be augmented by a two year olds' heightened emotions, expressed in a public place, with complete disregard to the fact that you are surrounded by dozens of people. Suddenly you realize; "my kid, has become 'That kid'."
What could you expect. Apollo inherited his moms explosiveness and fit throwing, coupled by my ability to hold a grudge, and compound that with extreme stubbornness from both of us, oh, and don't let me forget that he learned from our (I really mean Melanie's) parrots how to scream at the top of his lungs in the highest pitch that he can, repeatedly, and you have the perfect recipe for an extreme scene.
Yes, this is happening. The first time was last weekend when we met some friends from Oregon at In-n-Out burger as they were just pulling into town after a 9 hour car ride. As always, the place was packed, and loud from all the raised voices trying to talk to one another. The stage was set; first, we throw ourselves to the floor, bury our face in our hands, and start whining. We then raise our head a bit to see if we are getting the reaction that we wanted. We then step up our game. Lets throw in some high pitched blood curdling screams, and start kicking and screaming....Aaaaaaaah, that's doing the trick!
Yeah, the place got pretty quiet. People were turning around to see what was going on. Employees from the back of the restaurant came to the front to see who was screaming. Melanie just went on with her conversation and ignored him and I, being the great dad that I am, started laughing. I couldn't leave him there to ruin every ones dinner, so I scooped him up from the floor, held him out in front of me just under his arms and headed for the door. Apollo was arching his back, kicking his legs back and forth so fast, that he looked like the Roadrunner at top speed, and screaming his high pitched"EEEEEEEE!!!EEEEEEEEE!!!!EEEEEE!!!", the whole way.
When we got outside, the 30 or so patrons out there, were equally impressed with this display, of completely unbridled emotion. You could have heard a pin drop outside. Thankfully, one understanding mother seated outside with her 3 children under the age of 6, broke the silence and busted out in laughter as if to say "Thank god, I am not the only one!"
This past week has brought a few of these wonderful episodes. The terrible twos have definitely begun. As if this isn't bad enough, our teens have both finally hit their terrible twos as well! Okay, maybe take away the public displays, and the rest is not that far off.
Apollo is actually very enjoyable and charming most of the time, and incredibly sweet. Hopefully, we get through this emotional transition phase unscathed before daddy has to start drinking again.
