Reed is a goblin

My sweet, kind, generous, easygoing two year old has been replaced by a violent, namecalling sociopath. But only sometimes.

A few weeks ago Theo was going to win an award at his school. As I was getting ready to leave for school with Reed, I got him fully dressed upstairs and then came back down to grab a few things before getting in the car. Then down the stairs bounds Reed wearing nothing, grinning. I ask him where his clothes are, and he says, "upstairs! I took off my clothes!" Then without missing a beat, he stops where he is and starts picking up every car, truck, and piece of clothing within reach and starts chucking it at me while yelling "you dummy! I hate you, you dummy!" And let me say, he has incredible strength and aim for a two year old with no professional athletic training. I caught a huge plastic school bus before he was able to release it at my head. After I was able to wrestle his clothes on, I put him in the car and buckled him in so I could finish what I was doing inside before we left. When I got to the car ten minutes later with my stuff, he had calmed down and simply said, "what you do in the house, mama?" Often after his crazy rages, he asks for a hug or shyly hangs his head and says, "I sorry, mama."

A couple of days earlier, Reed asked me for a hug as we were finishing up breakfast. I picked him up and he wrapped his legs around my waist and his chubby arms around my shoulders, squeezing my neck with his tiny fingers. As he squeezed tightly he said, "I want you to hug me forever, mama." When he waddles into our room in the morning, sucking on his paci and trailing his blankie, and circles around to my side of the bed and asks to cuddle, I pull him up on the bed between me and Jeff. He lays his head on my pillow, face an inch from mine, and I hug him. He says, "I want to be closer, mama, I want to be closer to you."

This is our life now. Moments of absolute perfection, joy and beauty juxtaposed with moments of total crazy. It helps that there's only one nearly-three-year-old, rather than two, and it helps that we've been through it before, and it is amazing to be able to look at Theo or Beckett (more often Beckett) while Reed is going nuts, and share a giggle with them about whatever crazy thing Reed is doing. It's all part of the fun.