Two and a Half!

Our little monster is officially two and a half today! And as if to appropriately ring in the day, he is currently acting every bit his age. From his curiosity about every sound and sight we walk by, to testing his ever-growing independence, expressing his opinion on every topic, to turning around and giving the biggest, sweetest 'hug and a kiss' you'll ever receive. He can most certainly be a two-year old handful at times, but we can very confidently say that we are still loving every second with this silly little charmer. We can't imagine life without him!

Since I haven't done a written update in about two years, here's a run-down for the record:

phrases:

'We HOME' as we drive up to our place and as we walk in the door.

'Pun on iyee and fafee' ('come on Lilly & Daphne') to get the girls attention

'What dat?' as he cups his hand over his ear to get a better listen of something.

'bess you' for anyone who sneezes in his vicinity.

'good mohnin' to everyone and everything we pass on our morning walk

'no, mine' to anything and everything he encounters...

entertainment:

'read gooks' - wants to read, and be read to, all day everyday.

'pay-doh' - playdoh though he doesn't quite know how to create things yet

'paygounds' - obsessed with all things that allow him to swing, slide, and climb

'swim with Papa' 

'cook eggs' - cooking anything in the kitchen

'bounce' - jumping on or off of anything

'dowa, boots, iego go' - Dora, Boots, and Go Diego Go

'mi-ee mous'- Mickey Mouse

'E steet' - Sesame street

'Goge'- Curious George

'call Emmie, Noah, Miwo, Momo, Daddy' - face timing with his cousins and his grandparents

random bits of everything else:

He can quite handily identify every letter of the alphabet, and spells out almost every word he encounters. He can easily identify all of the numbers 1-10, but takes some prompting to not count 'one, two, six, hammer, six' when verbally counting from memory. Pretty much knows all of his colors but sometimes gets a little confused with pink, purple, and orange. Is still all about animals and can identify a crazy assortment of wild creatures...he even helps Kevin and me to differentiate between all of the big, wild cats. As I mentioned, he is a crazy jumper, has been doing the two foot jump for quite a while now, and has been practicing his long-jump of late...kid has skills. We've been taking swim lessons the past two weeks, and he is very quickly becoming quite the confident under-water swimmer. When we are consistent with our practice, potty training at home is going very well, but we've yet to try venturing very far the house without a diaper. He loves his pre-school, and asks almost daily if we are going to 'chools' today. Begs for the ipad every minute of every day, so we really have to limit his time on it now. And since the Olympics have started, he enjoys watching the gymnastics,swimming, and diving, and enthusiastically attempts to re-enact their routines and moves. 

Of course there's so much of the ins and outs of daily toddler life that would take too long to write down here. But the moral of the story is that he continues to amaze us and makes us proud every single day. We've loved every phase thus far, and can't wait to see what he is capable of in the future.