He’s definitely not ready to be the man of the house, but Robbie has definitely started to fill the role of boy of the house.  I’m certain it has something to do with a lovely book by the name of The Happiest Toddler on the Block…  It was only a few weeks ago that he had four or five tantrums a day, took three hours to go to bed, and generally drove us crazy.

However, all of a sudden, he wants to be involved in everything.  Wednesday night, we went to the store and I left all the groceries at the top of the stairs.  I had gone into the next room to clear some space on the counter.  When I turned around, Robbie was lugging a gallon of milk, muttering, “Heavy.  QiQi super strong.  I got it.”  And then he went back for more, rolling the watermelon down the hall and into the kitchen and, eventually, unpacking all of the groceries for me.

Later, he went outside with me to take the trash out.  And there was a lot of trash.  Like, a lot.  A Herbie.  Seven bags of trash.  A bin with a dried and crumbled 60-pound bag of cement.  Insulation from a water heater.  And a few smaller things.  Don’t you know, my darling child tried to take the heaviest bag out for me?  Eventually, he settled for the few smaller items, so proud of himself every time he set something on the curb.

But maybe having those few really rough months was worth it.  After all, now I can appreciate the wonderful little boy he is on his way to becoming even more.