Um, who is this kid?

I took this photo at the zoo a couple of weekends ago and good heavens, who is this kid? I mean, seriously he looks like a legit kid. Toddler? What toddler?

This was our first trip to our zoo here and we had excellent tour guides in our cousins. The animals were fine but I'm fairly confident that Dexter's favorite part was the playground. That playground brought out the wild man in him. At one point I found him trying to scale a ladder. Then, the kid who is ever so cautious around the baby slides at the park tried to launch himself down two tube slides. It was madness, I tell you.

Dexter is equal parts cute and challenging. He makes us laugh with his incessant chatter and funny faces. He pretends to be a pirate and a superhero. He corrects us. "Look, Dex, a beetle." "No, mama, BUG." He sings like the guy who only knows half of the lyrics of a song, muttering the middle parts under his breath but then with all his might belting out the last word. He loves cartoons even the really bad ones. I'm talking the cartoon with the two black and white terriers. Chauncey and Frenchy? I totally made those names up. Never mind, it's not good. Mickey is the bees knees though. He can do no wrong in that little boy's eyes. Should we ever make it to Disneyworld, and this mama would love to, I think his mind would explode if he crossed paths with that mouse.

We are still working on the whole tantrum thing. Sometimes we'll make it out of the store without a single whine. Other times we aren't so lucky. I imagine that I'm about as red in the face as he is during those times. He gets terribly frustrated when he can't do something by himself like put on socks or get a puzzle piece to fit. It's a good reminder for both of us that patience is something we learn, not something we are born with. He is beginning to test us and let me tell you, that is super fun. Repeating yourself over and over is not annoying at all. I'm not sure what's worse though, the kid who is just not listening or the kid who shakes his head no when you ask him to do something. Ummm, actually I'm gonna go with the kid who shakes his head no. Definitely worse.

Parenting a two year old is tough stuff. It's like the adorable puppy with its tiny paws and big eyes that eventually nips at you and poops all over your carpet. Equal parts cute and challenging.