The Lenexicon: Milo the Ring Bearer

Nearly a year ago, my dear friend JiaoJiao asked me if Milo would be the ring bearer in her wedding. Of course I said yes, but I must admit I was worried about whether or not he'd be able to handle it. He was barely a year old then, not talking much and barely walking. How was I to know what he'd be like at age two?

I shouldn't have worried. He was great. Even on a day when he had so much going on, he handled it like a pro. We had a birthday party earlier that day, which meant he a) already had a lot of new stimulation to deal with, and b) crashed hard at naptime. When he woke up from his nap, he was... not happy. But we had to feed him his snack and get him out to the park for wedding photos.

Since we didn't want to mess up his tux in the car, he got dressed in the hatchback of my car. He could not have looked cuter in his little tux and little bowtie. He didn't mind the clothes, but took a little while to warm up to photos. Correction: he never really warmed up to the photographers or the whole idea of having his picture taken, but he did warm up to me and Daddy jumping around and dancing and making silly noises.

We only ran into one snafu doing photos, when his boutonniere pin stuck him in his hand (because he was messing with it. Which I saw coming a mile away, because honestly, straight pins are just not meant for two-year-olds. I tried to tell him it was sharp and he shouldn't touch it, but somehow that didn't work. So he cried for awhile and got himself good and worked up, but Daddy's monkey impersonation made things all better.

We had some time to kill before the ceremony, so the tux came off for dinner and playtime. Then he got dressed again at the venue and ran around and played some more. With just a few minutes to go before it was time to line up, I put his tux jacket on and he freaked out. Did not want to wear the jacket. Jiao said he didn't have to wear it, but I knew it wasn't really about the jacket. I think he just felt that expectations were high and he knew he was supposed to go do something. Didn't want to disappoint. I talked to him, asked him if he was scared. He said yeah, so I just complimented the heck out him. Told him how great he was and what a good job he was going to do, etc. etc. And in a couple minutes, he was happy and ready to go, jacket on and everything.

And we lined up, and when it was his turn, he only hesitated briefly before practically marching up to the front. I was so proud of him. I still am so proud of him. He never ceases to amaze me.

During the ceremony, I showed him a book to try to keep him occupied. He knows this book so well, that even though I wasn't reading it aloud, at one point he said (out loud) "Horse says 'neigh!'" I looked down and yes, that was the text on that page. Such a smartie. I hope he wasn't loud enough for anyone else to hear.