The Little Man is 2!

 I know that everybody seems to say this, but I can't believe my baby boy is 2 years old.  Time is racing by and he is growing up way too fast.   The birthday celebrations were pretty low key this year.  We had cake and presents at the grandparents house on Sunday.  And more cake and presents on Monday.  We spent his birthday playing around the house, doing lots of puzzles, going to dinner, and playing on the swings at the park.  He got lots of attention, fun gifts and good food.  He LOVED blowing out the candles on his cake and cupcakes.  He couldn't even wait for the end of the song.  Then he kept asking for "more" so Aaron would light them, sing, and he would blow them out again.  In honor of the big day, I wanted to document a few of his favorites as well as a few of the many things that make him so great.

 He has inherited a love of all things Apple from his uncle and dad.  He has taken two trips to the Apple store with my mom.  He plays on the ipads at the kids table and gets super excited.  It was so funny to watch him play this puzzle game for the first time.  When he completed a puzzle he would raise his hands and cheer.  He caught the attention of a few other customers who were quite entertained by watching him and seeing the look of pure joy on his face.

He is a great big brother.  He is so gentle with Lexi and loves to make her laugh.  Occasionally he likes to wave his bear or lion in her face and roar, and she likes it.

He is becoming quite opinionated about things, including the food he eats.  He used to eat whatever we gave him, but now he wants a say in the matter.

 He LOVES puzzles.  One of the first things he does at grandma and grandpa's house is head to the corner and say "puzzapuzzapuzza" and reach for the puzzles.  A few weeks ago I bought him some new 24 piece puzzles, thinking they would be difficult for him to do now, but he would probably enjoy them when he was a bit older.  He became a little bit obsessed.  For the first week or so we would do all eight of them 1-2 times a day.  We started hiding them some days to give us a little break, but he would find them or keep asking for them until we got them out again.  At first he needed a lot of help, but now he can do them all by himself.

He likes to wear dad's hats.  Apparently he likes to sag his pants sometimes as well.  He is talking more and more, and we are actually understanding some of it.  He has mastered some very important words  including:  tractor, popcorn, mine, more, cookie, George, nack (snack), and bach (binki).

 He still loves to "read" his books, especially in his "tent" and before bedtime.  His favorites are constantly changing, but lately he has enjoyed The Gruffalo, Little Blue Truck, and The Monster at the End of This Book.

 He has mastered the fake cry.  He doesn't like to be told no.  Sometimes he just cries, and I have no idea why.

 He loves Disney and Pixar movies.  Some of his favorites are Robin Hood, Dumbo, Bugs Life, and Cars.  But I haven't found one that he won't watch.   He was pretty excited when cousin Milo gave him this Buzz for his birthday.

He loves to color/draw, and even more he loves to ask me to draw things for him.  Some of his favorites are elephants, lions, sheep, cows, and pigs.

But occasionally he tries to get me to be a bit more advanced and asks for Mike Wazowski, Woody, Buzz, or Dad.  One day he went through a Muppet phase and kept pointing out different Muppets for me to draw. 

It reminds me of a stanza from a poem my grandma wrote:

If I said I was an artist,

The truth would be quite tainted,

But think of all the lovely pictures

You and I have painted.

I love this little guy so much.  He is the greatest friend to have around.  He always wants to play with me and hang out with me.  He thinks my drawings and songs are the greatest.  He gives me hugs throughout the day and occasionally comes up and squeezes my cheeks while he gives me a big kiss.  He gets a huge smile on his face when I go into his room in the morning and blows me kisses when I leave his room at night.  I am so incredibly grateful for this little boy.  I can't believe how blessed I am to have him in my life.