Hung up

Apparently I'm going to have to make some slight revisions to our fall plans. The first time I suggested apple picking to Torsten it seems that he didn't take me seriously, but when I mentioned it again he was rather incredulous. Turns out that starting from the age of four (according to him) he was forced to spend entire weekends from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. (according to him) picking apples in his grandparents' orchard, and it was miserable and difficult and as a result he hates picking apples. Plus, as he pointed out, I don't even like apples.

I tried to tell him that this could be a way of erasing the childhood trauma! We can jaunt over to the orchard, spend a few minutes picking a solitary bag of apples, drink some apple cider, pet the animals, and leave! And it would be magical and healing and he would have fond memories of how apple picking can actually be fun! But he wasn't having it. And he's right, I don't like apples (except Granny Smith). So. We're crossing that one off the list.

(The boots are still awesome, though. And the requested fall weather has totally arrived and we are loving it. And we WILL do the pumpkin patch. So, the fall plans are not a total fail.)

Unrelatedly, Callum has started making truck noises, and you guys, it's so cute. I think he's trying to say "vroom" and he does it with cars and trucks and trains, though he sometimes does yell "choo choo" when he's playing with his trains. The truck noises may be one of my very favorite things he does right now:



Also, almost 21 months is my new favorite age. He listens so much better. He eats with utensils. He talks constantly and he's working on combining two words and it feels like we're really close to him being able to full-on talk, in sentences, so that we can understand what he's saying. He dispenses hugs and his eyes are just so expressive. I was thinking recently about how I don't really start to recognize Callum in his baby photos until about 2-3 months, and I think it's because that's when you start being able to see his personality in his eyes. His hair is the thing that people comment on most (because it IS red and beautiful), but his eyes are what really stand out to me. I never really believed all that crap about eyes being windows to the soul, etc., but his Callum-ness just radiates out through his. Maybe it's because he's young and guileless, and maybe it will change as he gets older, but right now you can read him through his eyes, and I think it's amazing.

(As an update: he still has a cold but he's stopped wheezing and we haven't needed the albuterol in days.)

So, since we're talking about childhood hangups (or any kind of hangup), tell me: is there something that most people love to do that you can't stand? And if so, is it because of some traumatizing past experience, or just because you think the rest of the world is crazy?