I can't believe my little man is TWO! My mom just pointed out that is half-way to four, and that made me even sadder about how BIG he is getting. I confess, I was dreading the "terrible twos," but they really haven't been that bad so far.
Yes, he constantly challenges boundaries. But, that is his way of asking if we are going to keep him safe.
Yes, he never stops talking. But, after years of wondering what he is thinking it is fun to hear it (until it gets incessant and I want to bang my head into a wall!). No really, it is usually great. I love his exclamations. "Wow" when my mom gave him a ice cream sandwich. "Oh gosh, CJ fall" when he fell today. I love his questions (usually). "Daddy is?" and when you ask him he will tell you, "Daddy at work." I love when he can really tell you what he wants. "No go old gym. Go A Dace (Anna Grace) gym" when we recently changed gyms and I had to stop by the old one to pick up my metro pass. Or, "Will Baby ride on CJ" when he wanted Will to ride on his back while he crawled. It is funny to hear his commentary. Yesterday he was playing on the playground and said, "Chase Lilly!" ""Run Fast, Run Fast" as he tried to catch her."Mommy chase CJ please." "No ride that car...hot. Move car over there" as he moved a toy car into the shade to cool it off. It never stops, and every day he says things that just make me laugh... there is a really funny one at the end (a teaser to keep you reading!).
And with being two come a strong will. But like I have said before, I look at that as his future ability to stand for good and not fall victim to things that can easily distract him. I'm not saying it is all roses when we are working at shaping that will, but parenting is work. It is hard to do the day in, day out work that evolves into shaping character and helping a little person find his or her voice in the world. But, there is no vacation, big house, or car that would be worth me letting anyone else have that role in CJ and Will's life while I worked. But I digress.
Having a two year old is actually fun... most of the time! I love how he is growing, learning and becoming a real person. So here are some of the things CJ has been up to lately...
CJ's bestie is still Anna Grace (more on their super fun party in a later post). They really are a great example of what friends should be. They love each other, are always excited to see one another, but fight, get over it, fight some more and then get over it and keep right on playing and loving on one another. It is such a blessing to have her, and her whole family in our lives. The other day AG came over for a play date because they were both about to drive their mommies crazy begging to play with each other. When she got there, all the toys were put away. This literally took two minutes...
While I was fixing their lunch it suddenly got quiet. And any mama with little one's will tell you, it's not noisy play that makes you worry, it's the silence that send up alarm bells. I looked into the living room and didn't see them. I looked in the office and didn't see them. They weren't in the kitchen with me and the door to the back of the house was closed. So I panic. I check all the doors and they are still locked. I really panic. And then I see this... LOVE IT!
Earlier I mentioned CJ has developed quite a strong will. One of the things we are currently fighting is CJ wanting to sleep in our bed. We aren't giving in, but one night, he snuck out of his bed and this is what we found...
Two has also brought lots more boo-boos at our house. CJ is a go-getter and while he is really coordinated for his age, he's gotten some doosies! This was a double bandaid day!
CJ is also really good at sharing (for a two year old that is!). When we play with friends I try to make an effort to work with him on taking turns, but many times, he is just a good sharer (is that really a word?) If you notice in this picture, he is splitting his play dough into three parts... CJ's, some for mommy and some for Will baby. So sweet.
This is our new fun game. Don't judge my pants or the fact that we are all in pjs. Some days there is just too much fun to be had to change clothes. :) This game basically consists of CJ grabbing onto my legs and me shaking him around until he falls off. It's a great workout, and distracts him sometimes while I am feeding Will and he needs a little attention. And in case that didn't resonate, yes, we play this game while I am feeding Will. It's amazing what you can learn to do at the same time. :)
And look who is SO BIG that they can use a big boy cup. He calls cups without lids, "big cups."
And CJ's favorite place to eat is 100% Waffle House. Don't hate on the awful waffle... it's awesome. If you ask CJ what he eats there he will tell you, "sup" or translated, syrup. We just got family pictures taken, and when CJ told our photographer he liked the Waffle House, her eyes lit up with an idea. Yes, we did take part of our family pictures at the Waffle House, but like Jessica said, "black and white makes everything more classy." We haven't gotten them back yet, but I promise to share. Here is CJ enjoying his syrup and waffles.
And here is a big brag on my big boy and another funny CJism. Notice his two pacifiers or nooks as we call them? He's a mess.
But he totally understands the concept of one, and then one and one more is two. This is the first time he told us, "one nook (holding out the blue one), one nook (holding out the yellow one), two nooks (holding them both out)." If you can read this then you obviously understand one-to-one correspondence so the fact that this is amazing for a two year old probably passes you by unless you are a math teacher. Usually kids don't get this until they are three or older. I see genuis in his future!
But enough bragging, here is a funny. The day before CJ's birthday party we were driving to the gym talking about what we were going to do that day. I told him, we were going to the gym, going to the store, eating lunch with daddy, and then taking a nap. But after the nap Gran would be there and then after that Nannie and Papa would be there. Without missing a beat he held up two little fingers and did a happy little wiggle in his car seat while chanting "two nannies, two nannies." I laughed so hard I woke Will up.
If you made it this far, know that now party planning, buying a new car (more on that later), and traveling (more on that later too!) are all almost done, I promise to be a better blogger. That way you can read a few short posts insead of a novel like this one!
