Good Ronan

Nothing gives me more pleasure than when I see Aaron walk up to Gretchen and smack her in the face, or Gretchen walk up to Aaron and grab his cheek and pinch really hard. I'm not a sadist, but I am happy to see the twins go through exactly the same phase that Ronan was going through when I wrote about what a terror he is here, and here... and here. Why am I happy? Because it means A) I'm not a bad mother, and B) Ronan is not the devil child I thought he might be.

Of course, Ronan still has his moments. He's still 2, after all, and if the first 4 months of his terrible twos are any indication, the next 8 will be very long indeed. But he does seem to be learning. Sure, he stabbed his brother in the eye with a bubble wand the other day, but it turns out he was only trying to defend Aaron, from whom Declan was trying to snatch something (something very important, I'm sure). And yes, he did pull Hilary's hair this morning, but that was only because... well, okay, that was for no reason. You can't expect miracles overnight.

But Ronan is starting to talk a lot more, and he's just so darn cute about it. Last night he was helping Matty clear the table, and he kept picking up plates, bringing them to Matty, and saying, "Here you go, Daddy!" The other night Andy was engaged in his nightly ritual of giving the kids Noble Duke of York rides, and Ronan stood patiently at Andy's side, announcing after each ride, "Getchen's turn!" "Hilly's turn!" "Aa-on's turn!" until finally, "Ronan's turn!"

He's trying so hard, at everything. He wants to do everything "my-sef," from buckling his carseat to climbing in the bathtub to putting on his shoes to changing his own diaper (I don't actually let him do this last one). He so wants to be like his big brother and cousins. And every day he gets a little bit closer.

At his preschool/camp, the teachers call him "Spicy." At first I thought this was just a euphemism for "bad kid," but after spending some time there the other day for Ronan's camp open house I saw how much these teachers love him. I used to ask them about Ronan's behavior at school, and they would dismiss his hitting or pushing with a wave of the hand and say, "He's 2... All the kids in the class are like that."

I thought they were just saying that to make me feel better. But now that Gretchen and Aaron are turning 2 I see that those teachers were right.

It's going to be a long year.