While he still refers to us primarily as “mommy” and “daddy,” Miles has learned our actual names. And as of tonight, I can confirm that he knows precisely the time to use them.
As an increasingly opinionated little man, Miles is quick to let us know what he does and doesn’t like. There may be nothing he hates more than getting his fingernails and toenails clipped. “If you’d just stop squirming, this would be over faster,” means nothing to a two-year-old. He struggles and resists the whole way through the process, giving Jaclyn twenty little moving targets as she desperately attempts to declaw our child.
During the exercise (in more ways than one) this evening, Miles suddenly shouted, “STOP IT, JACLYN!”
Jaclyn was mortified by this. She tried her best to correct him, but he wasn’t having it. While being tortured, pleasantries and informal titles fell by the wayside — mommy was now Jaclyn.
I, on the other hand, found the entire display hilarious, both Miles’s opportune use of her name and her reaction to it. It was like a new signal that Miles meant business. This was his “formal complaint” tone, his “I’d like to speak to your manager…Jaclyn” attitude.
After the process was at least complete, Miles quickly returned to snuggling up with Jaclyn on the couch. She was “mommy” again.
The Perils (& Pride) of Paternity 