Two years ago, you came into the world and our life just after lunchtime following about four and half hours of labor. You brought so much to our family, more than I thought you could. It is hard for me to believe that you have already been with us for two years--you are "the" baby of the family--but you have seemed to be two for so long.
To celebrate your birthday, we took you to the zoo where you loved the peacocks the most. You have this thing about ducks lately. You love ducks, so you chased this one peacock all around the zoo. The next day, we went to the Hunt Club to pet the goats, chickens, and go for a pony ride. I think you love horses even more than ducks. You are always looking out for "neighs," as you call them. You sleep with two stuffed horses, your stuffed dog (like our dachshund), and blanket. After the petting zoo, we had cupcakes, and just like last year, you went face-forward into the cupcake instead of using your hands. You may be a year older, but your cupcake-eating strategy is the same.
This year, you have grown even more independent. You're a very good sleeper and nap once a day for a couple of hours usually. You are as picky as they come regarding food, but you love to drink yogurt smoothies and you use silverware great. If you see a pizza or donut box, you run to get your own plate.
As strange as it sounds, you are very interested in good hygiene. If someone so much as mentions a "bath," you get excited and run to the bathroom. You love brushing your hair and letting me wet it with a spray bottle. You love having lotion and sunscreen put on you. You're crazy about brushing your teeth and sometimes hide in your room to brush them alone. You don't even mind getting haircuts, really.
You are our wild child, our feral boy. Your roar. You run. You kick and punch and wrestle everyone. I have bruises from you--many bruises. You do your own thing playing independently, but you also want to be involved in everything and always happily take my hand when I ask you to. I am thankful for how much you love to cuddle me and give me kisses.
Your language continues to develop and change every day. It is nice being able to ask you a question and get a clear "yes" or "no" to help understand what you want. It is hard to keep track of all you say because your favored words constantly shift, but here is basically what you say.
Directions: no, uh-uh, hi, hello, bye, outside, inside, garage (weird, huh?), there, that, up, eat, haaaailp (help), go, down, sit.
Animals and sounds: ball for dog (still), bat, moo, neigh, cat, baa, maa, whoo-whoo, arhoo (for wolf), growl (for dinosaurs, bears, lion, tigers, and so on), wrorw (dinosaur), bug, ant, fly, duck, quack, bird.
Objects: juice (for all liquids), pad (for iPad), evee (for tv), 'one (phone), bath, pool, d'nut (donut), boat, ball, book, slide, tree, stick, rock, shoes.
Body parts: teeth, eye, back, mouth, nose.
People: mom, dad, Tinky (my mom's dog).
Questions: What's that? Where's Mom? Where's Dad? Where's neigh (horse)? You want it off? (You say this when you want something off) See it? Want to go for a walk? Want to go for a ride?
I love watching you interact with the world. Your eyes are so full of wonder. You catch the rain. You chase fireflies in the grass at night and crabs on the summer beaches during the day. You tug at my hand and ask, "What's that? See it?" You are always ready to get dirty and then happy to take a bath. Whenever someone goes somewhere, you are ready to come too. You grab shoes for yourself, Eliot, your dad, and me--you make sure we are all taken care of. Happy birthday, Jack.
No comments:
Post a Comment