I cannot believe you are 2 years old already. Where has the time gone? It’s hard to believe that 2 years ago you were not in our lives. How things have changed since then. You are the best thing that has ever happened to your daddy and me. We love you more than you could ever imagine. I thought it would be neat to write you a letter each year on your birthday so that you can read them when you are older and find out what you liked/disliked and about your personality.
Last year at this time you were not even walking yet and could only say a few words and used a few signs. When you started walking at 13 months you took off and haven’t slowed down since. You are in love with tractors. It’s the first word out of your mouth in the mornings. You love tractor rides and riding on the lawn mower with daddy. A few months ago you started singing and you sway and move your head back and forth when you do it. You also love to cuddle with me throughout the day and with daddy when he gets home. You say “nigh nigh” and that means you want to lie down and cuddle while pretending to sleep. I’m not sure why you love this so much, but it’s really cute. You also love trucks and cars, but not nearly as much as tractors.
You also love being outside. Last fall when you were around 15 months old you would bring me your shoes when you wanted to go outside. Now you dig my sunglasses out of their case in my purse and bring me my sunglasses or you get your sunscreen since we always put that on before going out. One day I told you we couldn’t go outside because it was raining and you opened the sunscreen and started rubbing it on your arms. You were determined to go outside. When we are outside you love to push your lawn mower or your dump truck around. We also go visit the horse, donkey, and sheep up the road before I take you jogging in the jogging stroller. You also always want to go visit daddy and Uncle Brett at the office when we are done jogging.
When you were about 6 months old I started teaching you baby sign language so that you would be able to communicate with us before you were able to talk. You only used a few signs before you turned 1 year old, but after that you learned many signs. You even made up some of your own. You made up signs for Elmo, Big Bird, help, bunny, cookie, lion, and a few other that escape me right now. You still use the first 2 signs you ever learned even though you know how to say “more” and “juice” now. You continue to say new works all the time, but the ones you say the most are : tractor, dada, mama, more, jui (juice), car, truck, baba (grandpa), nigh-nigh (night-night), bye-bye. You are so observant. You will see me do something once and know how to do it, what something is used for, or where something is at. I have caught you trying to put on my eyeliner more times than I can count, and you have an uncanny ability with directions. When you were about 18 months you could tell me on our drive to Ames where all the cows where at on the way by mooing about 1 mile before we even saw them. You also get angry when we are in Ames and we pass the street that we turn off on to take you to Kindermusik. You love Kindermusik! We have had you in art class and tumbling, but Kindermusik is your favorite. I hope you will continue to have a love for music as you get older.
You are very shy at first even with people you know really well like your grandparents. You hide your head from them at first when you see them. Your favorite food is yogurt, and I can never get you to eat any meat unless it is the ground beef in your spaghetti. You are pretty picky and hate food that has much of a texture unless you are really used to it. You won’t try new things and it’s very frustrating. You are very independent and want things done your way, but also want someone there beside you all the time too….as long as you get to be the boss. You are an awesome sleeper. You have been sleeping all night long without problems since you were 6 months old. 7 pm until about 7 am. You are an excellent napper too, but a light sleeper during nap times so it has to be quiet then. I think you have some of my OCD because you don’t like to get dirty or get anything on your hands, you close doors and cabinet doors if they are open and they shouldn’t be, and you are always lining up your trucks and tractors and get upset if anyone moves them out of the order you put them in. You love books and we keep a lot in the car for you to look at when we go on car rides. You love the “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” series and others that rhyme or have tractors or trucks in them. You have such a goofy side too. You have been doing this impression that we call the Frankenstein impression since you were 9 months old. I guess you did it because we always laughed, but at the time we thought something might be wrong with you. Nope, you are just a goofy boy. You love to make us laugh and do weird and funny things all the time. You also love to copy want we do. You love taking baths and rub your hand on your stomach when you want a bath or when we mention it. You also peed in your potty for the first time on June 10th and have done it a few times since then. Hopefully we can get you potty trained soon if mommy stops being so lazy.
Around 18 months you went through a hitting and throwing stage and started throwing tantrums. We started putting you in time-outs in the corner and sometime when you get in trouble or get yelled at for doing something bad you will go and put yourself in the corner. You rarely hit now unless you are really upset, and throwing things is under control for now, but you are still a tantrum thrower. If you get upset now you start to shake. You also get upset when you are trying to tell us something and we don’t understand what you are saying. You get really frustrated then and usually have a tantrum.
I’m sure I could write a book about you and go on and on, but you will be awake from your nap soon and will want to go outside to play. I feel so lucky to be able to stay home and take care of you. I love seeing all the new things you do every day and getting so many hugs, kisses, and cuddles from my adorable little boy. I love you with all my heart and I feel like I am the luckiest mommy in the world to have such a sweet, loving, funny, and adorable little boy like you to spend each day with. I have big dreams for you and cannot wait to watch you grow and experience the world and all life has to offer. I will always love you and am looking forward to watching you grow!
Love always and forever,
Mommy
12 months old
24 months
