Second Son Is Two

What can I say about my little man? Every day he is learning new words, trying out new skills, and pushing all the boundaries. His laugh is delightful and infectious and so easy to provoke with some tickles or nibbles under his chin!

Six days before his second birthday, he slipped and fell as he was getting out of the baby pool while the older kids had swimming lessons. He broke his top two front teeth and had to have them extracted the next day. He did extremely well after the surgery. I don't think he misses his teeth at all and now he has an even more adorable gap-toothed smile.

Scrunchy-face smile, just like Second Daughter used to give us (minus the teeth)

They also had to file down the one on his right. You might be able to tell it's a little shorter. It was chipped, too, and too sharp.

He asks all the time to listen to a "Bob CD." (That would be VeggieTales, of course.) At nap time, he always asks for "Dora Elmo" as if we'll one day say, "Oh, ok. We'll let you watch TV instead of take your nap." He has a lot to learn about parents!

Wearing Second Daughter's Elmo shirt

Recently he asked for a sip of my iced tea. When he drank some, he made a sour face then declared, "Mama tea yucky!"

He will do a downward dog pretty much anytime someone asks. I really need to get a picture of this!

When someone does something he doesn't like, he yells, "Bad baby!," which is cute, and hits, which is not so cute. He also tips chairs, throws things and empties bookshelves onto the floor.

In the morning, he will hide under his blanket and giggle when we go in to take him out of his crib, but will become upset if you leave without actually picking him up.

He hates to have his diaper changed, fighting it nearly every single time.

He is incredibly shy when we're out of the house, even with people he's known his whole life. He's been to story hour once a week almost since he was born. One of the other moms there is his godmother. Still he usually refuses to talk or look at any of them.

He recently discovered crayons and will busily scribble on any paper he can find. Then he will eat the crayon.

He loves to find pencils left by his brother and sisters and color on walls until he is caught.

He loves to climb. He will climb anything. Taking after Second Daughter, I have pulled him from the top of the futon, the dog crate and the piano. I have pulled him down from a precarious balance on the arm of a chair. He also loves to jump, especially jumping off things. (It's hard to believe he wasn't jumping when he slipped and broke those teeth.)

Every evening, when Kansas Dad gets home from work, Second Son runs over to him, "Shoes walk dog." He lifts his little arms and bounces up and down to go along.

He loves to jump and can even get both feet off the ground at the same time.

He can drink from a regular cup, but you have to watch him closely. When he's satisfied, he dumps whatever is left wherever he's standing or sitting.

He loves smoothies, hot dogs, sausage, bacon, Cheerios, ice cream, spinach, carrots (especially baby carrots), chocolate, whole milk (which he sometimes calls water, very confusing for everyone involved), noodles, Ranch dressing, croutons, baked ziti casserole, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, white rice, brown rice, sliced toasted almonds, "yummy apples," pears, yogurt and cottage cheese (in moderation). He is indifferent to pancakes and eggs. He's actually not much of a breakfast guy at all, other than some milk.

Haircut for his birthday party

He hates having his hair cut. Before his birthday party, Kansas Dad shaved it all off and Second Son survived better than most times thanks to a friend's tip to play YouTube videos. We set up the laptop and watched Carmy and Claire.

He does a fabulous imitation of "force lightning." He is attracted to everything Star Wars and Mario related because he loves his big brother so much.

The Tooth Fairy brought Super Grover instead of money because two-year-olds don't really care about money yet.

Every day, he's the first one "ready go bye-bye," begging for shoes and heading out the door. Wherever we are, whatever we're doing, when you ask if he's ready to go bye-bye, he nods and races for his shoes and the door or, if we're out, the van. It's all about the going. He loves to race to the van, get in first and either sit in the driver's seat or hide in the back. We usually carry him out to avoid dragging him to his seat and enduring the inevitable wails.

 He talks so so much now! In fact, I think he started talking even more once they took out his teeth last week. My favorite word is "buddy" for "bunny." He says First Daughter's name quite well, but First Son and Second Daughter are both "Sheedee." Once he got very close to saying Second Daughter's nickname perfectly. He won't even attempt his own name, though he says "my" clearly enough.

Despite his accident at the pool (which he may not even remember), he loves all things water. He loves the sprinklers at parks and at church during donut club. We've already been back to the pool and he jumped right back in, literally. (He says "bath" so sweetly now that he has to work extra hard to enunciate that "th" sound!)

 

Happy birthday, Second Son! We hope you have a wonderful and exciting third year, but this time without losing any teeth!