Hi again, sweetheart!

Tomorrow you will be two years old! It is so fun to watch you grow, but it also makes me sad to see your baby years fly by so quickly! I really feel like just yesterday we were cuddling in the hospital on your Birth Day, but I also feel like I’ve always known you and you’ve always been a part of our family.

You keep learning so many new things, I can’t keep up! It seems like every day you’re saying something new. Here are some of the new words/phrases you’ve started saying this past month: apple juice, aww man, bear, blue, cake, clue, cookie, door, Elmo, please, purple, red, see ya, three, toes, watch, and water. You’ve also started to pretend to count, by moving small objects or looking at your fingers and saying “two… three… two… three….” Your ABCs are very similar, and you imitate most of the letters but when you come across something too difficult, you replace it with “Eee” (which ends up being most of the letters at the end of the alphabet.)

You love your little brother and are such a sweetheart to him. You can also be quite a stinker! When Heron is doing something like crumpling paper or knocking toys around, you come to us and tattle on him. My favorite deception so far is when you framed him a few weeks ago. Daddy and I left an opened bag of chips downstairs and I had to run up the stairs for something quick, leaving Heron on the sofa and you to your own devices. As I walked back down the stairs, I heard the crumple of the chips bag and knew you were into them. Before I made it to the living room, you ran to me with a mouth full of chips, complaining and pointing to Heron. You had shoved the bag of chips in his hands and came to me to tell on him for getting into the chips! You can be such a naughty boy, sometimes! You definitely know when you’re doing something wrong. You were supposed to be asleep in bed one night earlier this month and Daddy and I were downstairs in the living room. We heard a crash of toys from upstairs and Daddy went up to investigate and scold you for being out of bed. He checked in your bedroom and didn’t see you, so checked the other rooms unsuccessfully. He went back into your bedroom and found you silently pressed against the wall behind the door, trying to hide. You can’t hide for too long!

You like to help out around the house when I cook or do chores. You love stirring and pouring, unloading the dishwasher and putting things away, and sweeping with your tiny broom and smiling dustpan. You also help yourself to the refrigerator to make your own snacks. A few days ago I had left you at your small table to eat some soup for lunch – and you were doing just fine, so I took care of something with Heron. When I came back, you were no longer in the kitchen, so I went to clean up your soup. I noticed a raw egg in the bowl. I didn’t see any shell pieces at all, but did find two perfect halves of an eggshell in the sink, right where I put them. I am still baffled at how you managed to perfectly crack an egg — I still get bits of shell when I do it! It is sweet that you like to prepare food and look forward to teaching you more kitchen skills.

It has been a very fun month with you, Rhino, and a fantastic two years! I hope you enjoy your special day tomorrow!

Lots of Love,
Mommy