miniature portrait of a 2 1/2-year-old

Garrett loves airplanes ("bee-bees" in Garrett's language), but especially his new Matchbox airplanes. They've become about as ubiquitous as his beloved silky blue blanket (also a "bee-bee" in his language. His vocabulary is brimming with homophones).

Garrett needs to stay in nursery. For the last six weeks or so, he's been the child who opens the door and escapes down the hallway. When he is there, he needs to be more careful. The goose egg and rug burn he's sporting on his forehead in the photo above were received there last Sunday.

Garrett's toothbrushing routine is as follows: 1) stand on toilet; 2) let Mom brush his teeth while he holds his special Thomas the Tank Engine tube of toothpaste; 3) panic while Mom rinses the toothbrush; 4) take over control of the toothbrush; 5) get toothbrush wet; 6) suck water off of toothbrush; 7) get toothbrush wet again; 8) tap toothbrush on side of sink; 9) put toothbrush in holder; 10) put toothbrush and toothpaste back on shelf; 11) close mirror; 12) turn bathroom light off and hallway light on; 13) get a drink of water without a sippy lid. If this complicated routine is not followed with absolute precision, meltdowns are inevitable.

Garrett's playlist includes "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Wheels on the Bus," "The Happy Birthday Song," "The Clean-Up Song," "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," "Popcorn Popping," "Elmo's World Theme," "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man," "Ram Sam Sam," and "Peas Porridge Hot." With a few exceptions, he doesn't sing the words (at least not very intelligibly) but he loves to do the actions. The melodies also often get stuck in his head.

Garrett's habits lately include joining us in bed in the middle of the night. (I am not a fan.)

Garrett's jobs around the house are to retrieve and dispose of his and Caleb's diapers, clean up his toys, and put his dirty clothes in the hamper, as well as other various odd jobs as needed.

Garrett's kisses have evolved from simply offering us his forehead so we could kiss him to a routine of kissing us on each cheek, then on our forehead, then our lips, and then our nose.

Garrett knows the colors orange, green, and blue; the shapes circle, heart, and star, and the letters U and K.

Garrett wishes that everyday was his birthday. He loves to sing the "Happy Birthday Song," play with balloons, and eat cake and ice cream, but he especially loves blowing out birthday candles. Recently a car commercial advertising a President's Day sale featured the "Happy Birthday Song." Whenever it aired, Garrett would retrieve the nails from his toy cobbler's bench, line them up vertically on the floor, sing the "Happy Birthday Song," then blow them out.

Garrett made me laugh on Sunday when he thought the flap of fabric over the zipper on his pants was a pocket and tried to stuff a small cotton puffball inside it. Because at the time he was standing in front of a Primary room full of children, he gave the row of Valiant boys a good laugh, too.