24 months (aka Two Years!!)

Oh my goodness, mister man. You are two years old today!! I simply cannot get over the contradiction of time's passage: it's ONLY been two years since you were born and yet it's ALREADY been two years. I can barely remember our lives without you as the center, but it's flown by with a blink of the eye at the same time. This will be my last monthly post to document your progress because I just can't keep up with you anymore (in more ways than one) and I'll admit it's sort of bittersweet to be finished with these posts. I know you won't care for many more years but I hope you can look back on these monthly updates in your yearly albums and smile at how much you have changed. I know I do that frequently. You are so loved, buddy. I hope you realize that.



I'm really glad this is a leap year, just to enjoy one more day of you being one year old and savoring the time before you officially jump to TWO whole years of age. Why do I feel like crying when I think about you turning two? It's not like you are 18 and leaving me for college but it's still a wake-up call for me to relax and enjoy these magical 'little kid' days before they slip away too quickly. And with that, let's look back at the month of February for one last recap, shall we?

(crappy iPhone pic, but you love cheesing for the camera now)


This month was a pretty big one for you as a teeny person and for your parents as big people. Since we officially bought our first home this month, it's meant lots of trips back and forth between this new 'strange' and empty house that you will surely love in the not-so-distant future and our current comfy pad. Lots of changes are headed your way, buddy, and I think you are starting to figure it out. Because this month you've been all about mommy and your monkey blanket. Perhaps needing a little comfort and security in these times of change?

(Valentines Day at Home Depot. You didn't seem to mind picking paint colors with us, since you had a ginormous cart to drive)


You had a cold at the beginning of the month, which isn't that big of a deal but this winter has been 1000 times healthier than last winter so even a little cold is enough to make life seem bleaker around here. Last year at this time you were averaging a cold a month, plus you had one ear infection, and one case of possible pneumonia. This winter has been SO much better, but alas--this little cold you got did, in fact, lead to your second-ever ear infection. Boo. Poor dude with the fever and fussiness at bedtime made my heart break. Of course, I took you to the doctor the day before we were set to fly out to Missouri, just you and I, for my friend's wedding. And of course, you managed to handle the flight like a total trooper despite your ear infection. I was nervous to take you on the plane all by myself...while pregnant....and carrying bags for us both through the airport while tending to you at the same time. But whaddya know---it was a piece of cake and we had a blast in Missouri together.











(crappy iPhone pic but isn't my date SO handsome?!?)


When we got home, you were totally fine for about a week and then you suddenly had a fever again one day after a nap. You never get fevers unless something is really up so I took you to the walk-in clinic that night to be sure that your ear infection wasn't back. It wasn't, and you also didn't have strep---but apparently some 'virus' was still working it's way out of your system. I had to miss a day of work and then we had a whole weekend together while you recovered and while daddy had to be at a work function both Saturday and Sunday. Those four days together, cooped up in this house during the cold winter, while you weren't feeling very good were pretty rough, bud. I think we were BOTH happy to get back into the routine of daycare/work the following Monday when you were all better. And um, you really scared me when you slept until 10 am that Saturday you were sick because we all know your favorite wake-up time is NEVER EVER past 6 am. I knew you were really fighting a bug when you slept your life away and although I've had my mornings in the past two years when I wish you'd just sleep in already....it wasn't that much fun to constantly check on your breathing status, either. Yes, an ordinary day when you are healthy and we are busy is a very nice thing to have and I promise not to take these 'boring' days for granted anymore.

What else? Hmmm.

Your vocabulary is growing every day and I think my new favorite words of yours must be: monkey, Bert & Ernie, and school bus. The way you say these words are so stinking cute it is sickening.

You are still mister social and love playing with your friends. But lately I've noticed you are getting more shy around strangers and prefer to be really REALLY quiet around them until you've checked them out completely. Daddy says you are really shy at this session of swimming lessons because there are about four times as many kids there---but you still love swimming, even if you are the quiet kid who is very serious about the whole thing.

(buddies!)






You love to give us trouble when it comes to eating real meals. Meaning, if you had it your way you'd just eat snack foods 24/7 without stopping to sit at the table for any true sustenance made of actual protein or veggies. I'm trying not to worry about that too much because you are obviously growing well but I also don't want you to be a kid that only eats Kix cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. At over 30 pounds you aren't exactly starving but still---let's work on eating something other than empty carbs this next year, okay?



You love your big boy bed and have been rocking the sleep department. Still taking 3 hour naps every day and usually sleeping about 10 hours at night, too. I absolutely love reading to you in your bed, then turning off the light and singing a few song while your eyes get heavy. You haven't been fussing at all at bedtime lately and when you wake in the morning you simply call, 'mama! yellow!' because your tot clock is yellow and you are allowed to wake up:) I sure hope that your sleep isn't too messed up after our move....and after your sister arrives. We are really going to rock the boat a bit over the next few months here, buddy. Sorry about that. But you are just such a great kid that I'm sure you will surprise us with how wonderfully you handle it all in stride.

(this is you sleeping like a rock, before I had to wake you up from a 3.5 hour nap. Silly boy)


You are totally obsessed with Thomas the train now. Elmo and Chuggington are still up there in the rankings, and Fireman Sam is sometimes your top pick. But Thomas and Friends has become your new true love, except you really HATE Cranky the Crane and he makes you whimper every time he comes on the screen. You are definitely becoming fearful of certain thing now and I do not mind comforting you (or just fast forwarding through the darn crane scenes). Your obsession with garbage trucks, working trucks, and now buses keeps us quite entertained whenever we are driving in the car together. You love pointing out every single 'big truck' and 'yellow bus' to me as we go down the road. And you've even picked up on the meaning of stoplights and their colors, telling me that green means go and red means 'spot'. That 'stop' word is a tricky one, huh?

(a little vid where you talk about your birthday. So cute)



We've started to color with markers a lot more lately and you demand that I draw you Elmos and Cookie Monsters and garbage trucks every time. Definitely challenging my artistic skills with those requests but we always manage to make masterpieces on that paper. You can entertain yourself for much longer periods of time now, too and sometimes I really think you need your alone time. But let's get real: mostly when you go off into a corner alone it means you are taking a big poop, because you are NOT into the potty at all these days. I guess those few weeks when the potty was all the rage were just a glimpse into the future when we can actually take you out of diapers.



This update is getting long, mister Truman, but I just wanted to try and capture the essence of you in my words for one last monthly post. We are having a 'low key' birthday party brunch for you this weekend but I know you are still too little to really care about parties and presents and celebrations. But you are just such a blessing to us that I just couldn't 'skip' a little get-together in your honor this year despite me being totally stressed out about the new house and being substantially pregnant. Sure, there is a lot going on for us right now but today is your day, buddy. And I hope you know how lucky we feel to be your parents. You are the best, Truman.

Love always,
Mama




(the slideshow I made for his party this weekend---all still shots of our man from the past year.)