2 Years!!

Well, if one year kind of blew my mind, two years is even worse.  I can't believe it has been TWO whole years since you were born and completely changed everything!  Let's get started...

2 year stats - Weight: 30 lbs (74 percentile)  Height: 36 inches (88 percentile)

* You are obsessed with all things sports related!  You love to shout "Hut hut!" and hurl your little football at us.  You always make sure to say "Dribble, dribble, shoot!" before shooting your basketball.  You kick your soccer ball around the living room, use your golf set daily, adore your swimming lessons, and use your biggest ball as a balance ball.  You LOVE to go to sporting events of any sort with Daddy and will happily sit for an hour or two watching football or volleyball or anything, really.

* Everyone has decided that you are going to be an engineer because you spend lots of time trying to (and usually succeeding!) at figuring out how things work.  Window cranks, buttons of all sorts, the computers, you name it.  If you see us do it once, you immediately want to try your hand at it.  We frequently get demands of "Button!  BUTTON!!!" when we're doing laundry or using the microwave or closing the van doors or anything else requiring the use of a button.  :)

* You are also a very resourceful little guy.  I bought you a little fold-up stool so that you could reach the sink for handwashing.  It didn't take you long to figure out that you could take your little stool just about anywhere and use it to reach all sorts of things (including things that we had purposely put out of your reach!).  Now, when we tell you "no" or move something out of reach, you don't waste your time throwing a fit very often.  You just quietly disappear and pretty soon you come back dragging the stool behind you, set it right up, and go about your business of reaching the desired item.

* You have loved brushing your teeth for a couple of months, but that is in total overdrive right now since you got a new electric toothbrush for your birthday.  I'm pretty sure you think we're the worst parents ever because we won't allow you to brush your teeth 10 or 12 times a day.  :)

* You are talking so much and we can usually understand what you're telling us.  If we don't, you just repeat it louder, slower, and with more enunciation as if we're hard of hearing and not that bright.  :)  You still copy everything we say, but more often you come out with words of your own that we had no idea you even knew.

* You remember tiny details from books or experiences and pull them back out at the most random times.  The one that totally amazed me was when we were headed to our big ultrasound and I told you we had to go to the doctor to get the baby checked (my standard answer for any doctor appointments surrounding this pregnancy).  Out of the blue, you grabbed my arm and said, "Baby check?  Poke and bandaid?"  Somehow, you had remembered from my last OB appointment (which had been a month ago and we had not talked about since then!) that I had had some blood drawn and had a "poke" and a bandaid.  Seeing your little brain work amazes us!

* You still love to help us with anything we do.  Some of your favorite things are throwing things out into the recycling bin, getting things into and out of the refrigerator, sweeping, vacuuming, feeding the cats, and unloading the dishwasher.  Your *most* favorite job recently, though, is going downstairs and getting Daddy a beer out of the little fridge.  You bring it up the stairs and go directly to the kitchen to find a can coozie.  Cracks me up every time.  :)

* You just learned how to blow raspberries, so I get at least 10 or 20 zerberts on my neck daily.  You climb up in my chair while I'm on the computer and ambush me.  You do one or two, use my own shirt to wipe the slobber off, and then go right back to it.

There are a million other little things you do right now that I want to write down just so I don't forget someday - running in to go to bed and then popping your head back out the door and saying "I yuh you!", mimicking every step of my getting ready routine (including the headband, doing "pretties", and putting wax in your hair), insisting on reading I Love You So (aka "Way, Way") with each of us every night before bed, constantly wanting to look at or poke or zerbert my belly while repeatedly saying "Baby, baby, baby!", following me around the kitchen saying "Taste, mama?", and your random snorting in place of talking.

We love you so much, buddy. Way, way more than you know (to quote your favorite bedtime book...).  You have turned into such a big guy this year!  It is so fun to see more and more of your personality come out each month - you are independent and sweet and curious and funny and brave and smart.  We love to watch you learn new things and develop new skills and can't wait to see you be a (super awesome!!) big brother in a few months.  Happy, happy birthday, Miles!