And .... He's TWO!

How is it possible that our little AJ went from this:

June 11, 2011

To This:

June 11, 2012

June 2012

To this?!

An early birthday celebration on PEI with family

A brownie train cake... group effort from my mom (the chef), my brother (the designer) and myself, (I got the very difficult task of sprinkling on icing sugar and decorating with candy & cereal.) Thanks Mom & L for making a cool 'cake'!

On his actually birthday - June 11, 2013

He got a special delivery from Grandpa & Grandma which will allow him to help Dada cut the grass ;) Jersey Girl and her girls made his actually birthday a special day by hanging out at an indoor playground, providing balloons and making a very neat chocolate chip cookie cake :)

*Note the train theme on the cakes... AJ is very much into trains!

He's not sure how he feels about MJ getting involved ;)

mmmm... this tastes GOOD!

The first time "he" brought me flowers ... awwww

At Easter 2013 (MJ has changed A LOT!) - photo cred to Vince K.

Fun with Nana at a very cool playground on PEI in May 2013

He jumps off.... EVERYTHING.

Back to his actual 2013 birthday - at an indoor playground with Jersey Girl and her girls

And... he had a THIRD (NOT the norm in this household) birthday celebration... at a park with friends. 

Best buds :)

Some good friends who joined us to celebrate AJ :)

A walk to the beach with Daddy in June

Back to May... in Halifax... AJ copies everything Daddy does.

At the Sunday School picnic - June 2013

(Love my boys)

It wasn't long ago that I gave a snapshot summary of the stage AJ is in... but I will update it a bit here for his official 2 year mark!

Weight - 27.2 lbs

Height - 86 cm

His vocab took off around the middle of May. It seemed every day while we were back East for vacation that there were new words coming out.  He FINALLY says his name. Well, his version of his name - "Agik" ... He's been putting 2 words together now for about 2 weeks...  "Mama's phone" "Dada's iPad" (see a trend?!) "Agik's home" "Kiki's car" (his friend)  "More Yogurt" "Out front"... and the list goes on and on. This week he's said a couple 3 word phrases like "Yogurt's all gone."  When we're driving (or walking), he informs us of each green and red light ("Green means GO!"  "Red, DOP! (aka Stop)")

He loves anything that moves. Bikes, buses, vans, trucks, tractors, diggers, cranes (lots of construction around here)!  City buses are either shouted out as "town!" or "all around the town!" - He's obsessed with the Wheels on the bus song.... (I, on the other hand, may lose my mind if I hear it one.more.time.)

He loves music and singing... and action songs. Current favourites are the Wise Man, Wheels on the Bus, Jesus loves me, ABC's, If you're Happy and You Know it...   He does great with the actions. Mainly because these songs are repeated UMPTEEN times a day.  aaahhhhh

He is making a lot of associations. For example, when walking down the grocery aisle, he points to the Raisin Bran cereal and says "Dada"... we don't remember pointing out that Dad always eats Raisin Bran, so he's getting it by observing.  

His imaginary play is starting and it is so fun to hear. Some days he's making phone calls to Papa in PEI, other times making food with his friend "Kiki" (who is not actually HERE when this happens)... in his bed he has loooong conversations with his bear and monkey.

He's busy. Does not really stop moving when awake. He launches himself off anything - sometimes fine, sometimes OUCH. He wants to jump off everything. He climbs anything that's remotely climb-able. Now he can go in and out of his crib. yay. ;) Thankfully he can focus when slowed down... he'll play with his duplo for a long time. His train set. And he still loves to read books. He's still not a fan of playing alone and always wants one of us to go in the room with him... and usually that means being on the floor with him. We're working on having times of alone play... but it doesn't happen often. We go to a little gym class on Mondays, which he LOVES. He loves the singing, the routine of circle time, the teachers who are so good with him, the things to climb and slide and jump on, etc. It's a great activity for him!  But most of all, he LOVES outside. At the playground, in the yard at the cottage, at the beach... he's just all around happier outside playing.

He's now into the stage where it's difficult to share toys (and space) with friends. He knows what he wants and when he wants it... not very patient with waiting. (I wish I could say I have no idea where he gets that from, but...!!) He is a bit of a perfectionist (not sure if that's the right description) - gets very frustrated when he can't get something to work the way he THINKS it should go - building blocks, train tracks, getting something on his fork, etc. Usually whatever he's getting frustrated with goes flying. sigh. Something we're working on the most. I guess "impulse control" is a learned skill that we all need to work on. Some are just more visible than others!  The water-works are more frequent - usually when he doesn't get his own way...  He still has a high pain tolerance and usually cries over little things that you know didn't really hurt. It's the falls when he just pauses and/or laughs that concern us! :)

I still get a good afternoon nap out of him. Average 2 hours but sometimes up to 3! YAY.

Food? He's still not the best eater. If it weren't for yogurt..... (we keep yogurt manufacturers in business)

He's an affectionate little guy... we get lots of hugs and kisses from him and he likes being close. very.close. (Confession: I sometimes just hide in the bathroom for a few minutes of SPACE!) He loves his little sister and likes when she's awake and sitting/lying near him. He still brings her toys to try and engage her, and loves when she smiles at him. He wipes her drool (which is a lot), tries to burp her, and covers her with blankets. He REFUSES to call her by name and says her name is "Baby." Even when we try to trick him into saying her name, he doesn't skip a beat and consistently ends up calling her "baby".  Which means WE start slipping and calling her that! YIKES! ;)

We love our little man so much. He brightens our days and makes us laugh. He is a gift. And we thank God for these wonderful two years with him.  Happy 2nd Birthday baby boy -- I love you!