How on earth am I already writing this post?! It’s so surreal to me that my baby is 2 years old (and has been since June!). That he’s about to be a big brother. That we hold full conversations on the daily, and his personality is so expressive and unique. When is that point that your baby becomes a kid?? I’m not sure it’s possible to pinpoint, but it’s an incredible transformation to witness, even if it catches you by surprise. He turned 2 back in June and it was so much fun to have some family and friends celebrate with us, making it a sweet, special day for him.

He got his first train track and set of trains from Mama Ro & Papa Steve, a zoo animal truck from his Aunt Alisha & Uncle Jack that he loves, a refurbished (by my Dad) Fisher Price car that was mine and my siblings growing up (can we all say “vintage”?! Haha) from my parents, and a duplo blocks, a bubble-blowing mower & drum set from Uncle Asher & Aunt Melissa. Literally the perfect gifts for him at this age as he has played with them everyday since! I love watching him use his imagination with the trains and Legos and sing his little heart out while he plays the drums.

Highlights of this age:

• His communication skills! He is so, so conversational and daily is incorporating new phrases into his vocabulary. He speaks in full sentences with amazing inflection and often even catches me by surprise with how he perfectly uses certain phrases. A few of his frequent sayings: “Are you ready?!” (as he gets ready to flop on the bed or play some other high energy game), “Force!” (as he ‘uses the Force’ to move something – a game taught by Daddy ;), “It’s okay!” (said very empathetically either convincing himself he’s fine after a minor injury, or said to me or others if anything seems wrong), “See you later, Jesus!” (at night when we’re tucking him in and we say goodnight and that we love him and Jesus loves him), “Where we going?” (whether we’re walking downstairs to play with toys, or running errands), “I’M SO EXCITED!” (said so excitedly whenever someone comes over to visit or I tell him we’re going to play with friends). There are so, so many…but we’ll stick with those.
• Hearing him sing “Abc’s” which he does alllll the time. It’s the one song he knows from start to finish and he always ends it with “Yay!”. Especially entertaining to watch him sing it while playing his drums, or hear him over the monitor after we’ve put him to bed for the evening.
• He recognizes numbers and letters, can sing his Abc’s (and pick out most individual letters and even tell you an animal that starts with that letter), can consistently count to 12 (and with help up to 20), knows a few colors (mostly pink and green) but is still hit or miss with the others, knows his main shapes (circle, square, triangle).
• Still loves reading books especially:) Green Eggs & Ham, The Cat in the Hat, Best Word Book Ever (Richard Scarry), Where Does the Brown Bear Go?, Lift-A-Flap Train (Usborne)
• Music he currently loves: Moana, Frozen, Elmo’s Song, Elmo Slide, Hamster Dance, and “fership music” (Worship music, especially “Resurrecting” by Elevation Worship)
• He hugs my belly and says, “I miss you Margot” and still loves getting to hear the “baby’s heartbeat” – which he pretends to check by placing a toy on my belly.
• Is very social and when we’re out running errands often says, “Hi people!” or “Oh, hi!” to other shoppers. He loves making friends and always refers to kids as “new friends” (whereas adults are “people”).
• At his 2-year checkup he’s in the 20th percentile for height and weight, and the 75th for head size…which cracks me up. But he’s healthy and we’re so grateful!
• Discovered some new allergies in addition to the already known ones, and that’s a tough thing for me to know his diet has to be so restricted. But he’s a good eater and I’m glad he can still have a lot of his favorite things, even if there’s a lot he can’t have.

This really is such a fun age. Even while toddler-hood presents more challenges and moods and tests my patience more, it’s rewarding to also have a growing relationship with him where he can communicate more of his feelings and affection. He’s still a snuggler and loves time with Mama, and I will cherish that for as long as I can get it!

Happy 2 years to my sweet boy – I can’t wait to continue to see who you become!