Being two

Among the many things that come with terrible two’s there are a few cute things as well. Elijah is our blanket boy. If I recall correctly, he would be Linus who always drags around his blanket on the cartoon, Charlie Brown.

A year ago, if anyone touched Elijah’s blanket, he threw a fit. This became a bit of a game among my family when we visited them. Gathered in a circle around Elijah and his blanket, everyone would reach ever so quietly to touch his blanket and see if he’d notice. At that time he called his blanket a “BT” and would tell everyone, “No BT.”

Somehow over the past year a change has occurred. He now trusts me, his mother, with his blanket, which he now calls “bakey.” If he’s headed to the table he’ll hand it to me for safe keeping. On occasion he has even shared his blanket with baby Joshua! I was shocked by this gesture as he covered up his little brother with his own blanket.

I believe all of us in our home are hands on learners. One of the charactersitics of such is liking textures. That is one of the best parts of that blanket for Elijah. To comfort himself, he will take the knotted yard between his little fingers and rub it under his nose. I’ve always thought this was a bit funny because my dad would do something like that to us kids when we were little to tickle and tease us. But Elijah does it for pleasure and comfort.

So one day last week I was holding Elijah and his blanket on my lap. He grabbed the yarn as usual and offered to rub my nose. I laughed out loud, but this gesture must have been one of great love for his mom! Now as he runs through my house in a whirl wind of holy terror, I have a knowledge that he loves me.