2 Years Old

Eben is two years old!  Although he can be a typical, difficult toddler, he is honestly the best little boy we could ever ask for.  He is caring, so lovable, adorable, and has a wonderful giggly personality. Watching him develop from a baby into a little boy has been a blast.  His speech is now progressing at lightening speed as it feels like I have a little parrot in the room with me all day long.  He says small phrases at all times now, sometimes even forming sentences. He identifies all letters and knows most of their sounds (thanks to Leap Frogs Letter Factory DVD)...and he counts...well sort of - 3, 4, 5, 9, 8, 3, 4, 5, 9, 8 - always in this order. He runs, jumps, leaps, spins, wrestles, flies (with Daddy), and does somersaults (sort of).  He is the best big brother to Bode and loves him dearly.  He also loves his extended family and talks about each and every one of them throughout his day.  I wish he could understand better where they all are and why we can't see them very often.

Eben loves anything with wheels and putting them on ramps, in the windowsill, on the dishwasher door, on Bode's belly, and anywhere else he can think of.  He reads book after book with us and loves finding things he can name on each page.  Any type of ball provides much entertainment and he is just starting to show signs of imagination play (which the child therapist inside of me gets very excited about!). 

He is still the best sleeper in the planet and LOVES his crib - so much so that he gets so upset when we take him out of it.  Also, before he falls asleep, he sits in his crib, talking, laughing, rolling around, and playing with his stuffed animals sometimes for up to 90 minutes, totally content. Same thing once he wakes up - he doesn't care how long I take to get him up.  Can you see why I am in no rush to get him in his twin bed?! 

Eben is still a tall boy, in the 99th percentile in height.  This is great, but also tough because people expect him to act like a three year old.  He's a great eater as always and loves his juice.  He wouldn't drink any milk for the longest time, but now we finally got him on diluted "chocolate drink," which makes me happy.

The past two years have been the best two years of my life.  Tough at times, but worth every frustrating/annoying/exhausting moment.  Parenthood has brought an amazing amount of joy to our lives that we wouldn't give up for anything.  I love you, little buddy.



And now for MANY pics, some that I didn't put up on Facebook:

I set this up in our "backyard" as a surprise for Eben...he thought it was pretty great.





The only picture I got of him in the basket.  Soon after this picture, it tipped over with him in it...and let's just say he was terrified of it after that.














Dane trying to convince Eben that the basket won't tip over again...Eben didn't believe him.













































So proud of his balloons.

















He thought it was hilarious letting the balloons go and then watching us catch them.





He did, however, start getting upset when we would catch them, wanting to see what would happen if we didn't.  I love this shot of "Nana" catching the balloons.


And this is what a 2-year-old looks like when his balloons are taken away because it's time to go eat.