On the edge of takeover

See the innocent children in this photograph? Does it cause you to tremble? No? Not even just a little bit? You must not be the mother of these children. Me? You better believe I'm trembling. Since Saturday morning, Connor has turned into a model child - even at mealtime. Not that little dude isn't always the picture of perfection, but sometimes (and lately this seems particularly true) he can really push my buttons. In fact, I'd started to think we had finally entered the proverbial terrible twos, and I wasn't excited about that as every parent of an older child tells me that it's actually THREE you have to worry about, not two, so if this was two - whoa doggie, three was going to be tough.

But something happened over the weekend. For starters, he asked if he could hold Helen and then actually asked me to get my camera. Usually, he's more interested in making funny faces at the camera than having his photo taken. At first, I thought this was incredibly sweet of Connor. But then, I started thinking, and I realized that this wasn't "being nice to your sister while providing Mom a nice photo op". No, that would be too simple. This is called gathering your army.


Next, I noticed at mealtimes, he hopped into his booster seat, ate most everything on his plate, and stopped torturing me by either spending the whole meal playing with his silverware or trying to cover up his plate with his placemat. In fact, careful observation has led me to notice he's been eating an awful lot of protein in the form of mussels and shrimp. I also noticed him eating two new fruits when Ellen offered them to him and while he and Ed were waiting for me at the doctor's office, they went over to a farmer's market and Connor chomped some cucumbers. At first, I thought "Wow, Connor might just be becoming a 'good eater'", but then reality hit, and I now realize Connor is just beefing up to prepare for a big battle.

I really started to catch on when I noticed at gymnastics, he was clearly doing some strength training. He bear walks across these bars with ease these days, something that tripped him up a bit just a few weeks ago when he started class. Lucky for me, class ended this week so I don't have to worry about him gaining additional strength for his planned takeover.

Finally, everything fell into place when I went to Connor's swim lesson tonight. This kid used to have a healthy respect for water. But now? He is completely willing to leap into the air and splash in the water. This leads me to believe that the upcoming battle Connor is preparing for may come by water.

I have also observed Connor sleeping better and occasionally, closing his door letting me know he's playing alone.

I'm on guard.

I'll keep you posted when hell breaks loose here.