Who said "Oh Boy, its the Terrible Twos!"? There is nothing terrible about being 2! Mommy and Daddy are enjoying you being "2" so much! We choose the battles we want to fight with you, but looking back, there really aren't many. Usually we can ask you "do you need to go sit in timeout?" and you will either stop what you are doing wrong or go sit yourself in timeout.

You tell us on a daily basis that you are 2. I just laugh and say "how old is Daddy?" You answer "old". I then ask "How old is Mommy?" Your answer is "new". I LOVE IT!

Your 2 yr check up went great at the doctor. You weigh 28.5 lbs and your head is still in the 93 percentile :-) Lots of brains in there! I think they measured you at 33 inches tall, but I think that might have been a little short as you wouldn't cooperate with standing and getting measured. (a battle not worth fighting)

Your language skills have flourished in the last couple of weeks. You come up with new words every day. Some we are still not sure what you say, but most we understand and you talk non-stop. You also love singing new songs that you learn in school.

You try very hard to talk with your paci in your mouth and we get a little frustrated and tell you "we can't understand you with that in your mouth" in which you either take it out and talk, or just give us a look and go about your business. You do so well at school without your paci but as soon as we get home, you beg for it. It rips mommy's heart to pieces, you even say "my paci, please" and I give it to you. One day, soon, we will say bye bye to the paci, just not yet.

You still love airplanes and get so excited when you hear one flying overhead. You yell "Mommy, daddy, airplane, fly, bye-bye airplane". You and Daddy have spent many afternoons at the airport's observation park watching the planes take off and land.

You love to jump! In fact you will find anything to jump from....a little scary for mommy!

You still like playing in your kitchen, playing with your trains, trucks and banging on things. You still love to read and mommy likes taking you to the library to check out new books. Toddler story time starts at the end of the month and we can't wait!

You enjoy watching Sesame Street and Little Bill. In fact, you ask for Little Bill every night at bedtime. You have mastered the iphone and play games and watch movies on there. Your favorite game is a car racing game...You are your daddy's child!

You have done great in your new 2-year old classroom. I was a little worried because the kids in there are so much bigger and were talking complete sentences. However, you can hang with the best of them! Your teachers say you follow directions well and are quite the observer. I have a feeling that will all change before you are out of that room...you will be the doer, not the watcher. You are starting to use the potty at school too! It won't be long before I know you will be ready for big boy underwear and goodbye diapers!

Your eating patterns are about the same....Everyday is something different. One day you may like chicken nuggets, the next day, not so much. It keeps mommy & daddy guessing what we are going to fix for dinner. Your favorite meal right now is peanut butter and jelly! Its not too bad for you, wheat bread, organic jelly. You did surprise us and now will eat salad with cucumbers. I think it is the dressing you like!

We celebrated Grandpa Currie and Daddy's birthday this month. You get so excited and love to sing "happy birthday"! You really like the cake part too! We went to eat Mexican for daddy's birthday. You got super excited when they came with the sombrero and sang...your daddy...not so much...so you got to wear the cool red hat!

The weather is getting cooler and you couldn't be happier than to play outside! mommy & daddy can't wait to take you on more bike rides, trips to the park and another trip to the zoo is in our future too!

We love you sweet boy! Keep making mommy & daddy smile!!

Swim Lessons

You had your 1^st swim lessons this week! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Currie for such an awesome birthday gift! We placed you in the 6 month-2 year class as you had never had lessons before! Daddy was the special one that was able to get in the pool with you. I figured this was best as Mommy may miss some lessons due to work. Daddy was shocked by the way this brought back memories of his lessons at the Y as a child.

After tonight, we know we have a little swimmer on our hands. You have enjoyed being at the pool this summer, so needless to say you are the most advanced in your class!

Tonight you worked on getting in the pool, getting used to the water, blowing bubbles with your mouth, floating on your back and tummy, kicking and then at the end was your favorite part....climbing out of the pool and jumping back in! You weren't really into paying attention to what the teacher had to say. As I am sure you were saying “I know this stuff, lady” You showed daddy your skills of splashing and playing while the other kids got used to the water.

We go twice a week and I am sure you will enjoy it!

Play Dates!!

We have gone on a couple playdates and can't wait for more! I have noticed as you get older, it is easier for us to meet up with friends to play before lunch and naptime. Mommy loves keeping you home from school to go play!

We went to The Ridge Road Pool in Raleigh to celebrate Fiona's 2^nd birthday. She was born only 2 days before you! You may not realize it now, but it will be really special having a friend so close in age! You loved the pool! We hung out in the kiddie pool area, which was much different than Papa's pool. They also had a splash park that you enjoyed running in. (Sorry no pics! We barely got out of the house in time to party!)

We ventured to Smithfield last week to meet Leslie and her little boy Parker. You guys enjoyed their indoor water park at their aquatic center! We had a picnic lunch and then played on the very hot playground. It was fun watching you boys play, nevermind the extreme heat! (no pics from that either, sorry!)

This past weekend we met Michelle, Gage, Isaac and Eden at the train yard in New Hill to ride the train. Trains have become a new love for you! We rode the train for about an hour, from Bonsal to New Hill. You loved it! I think at times you forgot you wore on a train, then the engineer would blow the horn and you would yell “Choo Choo”. Hey, look...PICS!!

Watching you play with your friends has reminded mommy of all her many child development classes she took. Toddlers use parallel play. You all are aware that each other are there and will play side by side but could care less to interact! It is so funny to watch! Can't wait till the day you get as involved in play dates as mommy does!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Wow! The Big "2"! You are no longer our baby anymore, instead you are our ever growing "Big Boy"!

We had an Elmo Pool Party over at Nana & Papa's today with many family and friends. You loved playing with the beach balls, splashing all your friends and getting thrown high up in the air by daddy in the pool. Papa and Nana gave you mommy's old musical recorder from when she was younger and I think that was your favorite gift.

You loved showing off to everyone your beautiful music. You got so many great gifts....a tricycle, helmet, lots of Thomas the train stuff, trucks, books, and lots of elmo toys! Too much for you to even realize yet!

You are talking so much more each and every day. You repeat a lot of what we say. My favorite is when I lay you down at night and I say "I love you" and you say "wuv you". It just melts my heart. Keep that up and you can have anything you ever want :-)

Grandma Currie bought you a great potty seat and stool so you can reach the potty. That's our next challenge...Potty training! You already have big boy pants, their Thomas the train!

You opened so many fun gifts! Everything from Thomas the Train trainset, elmo toys, toys for the bath, trucks, and so much more! You will be finding new toys to play with for a long time to come!

As you turn 2, we can say that you are more adventurous with the foods you eat. We can at least talk you in to trying new things. You only eat red hotdogs...you know, Nana's kind. You will eat chicken as long as it is off the leg. You aren't crazy about veggies right now, but I am hoping this is a stage. Right now, your favorites are peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a side of yogurt!

You still love to dance and will dance to just about any music!

You love going to the park, especially on the weekends that mommy works! You are getting so brave, wanting to do things "all by yourself"!

You have mastered the iphone. Daddy gave you his old one and you have your own games and videos that you watch. I am shocked you have it all figured out, but you will be like your daddy. Loving technology!

Well, Little man, the last 2 years have flown by faster than I can even describe! My goal for the next year is to slow down. I know you won't slow down, but I will try to capture the fun times with family, play dates with friends and spend every free moment I have with you!

Mommy & Daddy love you and love every minute watching your grow into a big boy right in front of our eyes! xoxox

Ariana's 1st Birthday

Your little cousin turned '1' on July 10th and you were right there beside her to help her celebrate! You had a blast in the pool and playing with all of her toys!

We love that you are getting more and more used to the water. You were really brave today and started jumping in from the top step. You scared mommy at first because you went under despite your life jacket but you came up laughing and wanting more!

And to think we get to do this all again in 2 weeks for your birthday! Wow....you are turning 2! Time has really flown by!

(pics of Ariana's party have to come from Nana's camera....later!)

23 Months

So much has gone on since we last posted! Of course, time flies by way too fast and I don't even realize it was the beginning of April since I last posted! I'll first write all the details, then we'll post pictures at the end!

One thing I forgot in our last post, in March, we went to your friend Isaac's birthday party at Marbles! You had such a good time! Lots of firsts for you that day as we had never been there before. You were not crazy about wearing the party hat but you really enjoyed the snacks and cake! You ate goldfish and fruit snacks for the 1st time and those have stayed a staple in your snack menu! You love fruit snacks, we just have to make sure we get the one that are the healthiest for you! (if there is such a thing!) There was so much for you to do at marbles! Lots of things that were too small for but you were able to run around and use your imagination at all the stations! You loved the slide, the fire truck, blocks, garden and more! We are looking forward to spending more time at Marbles as you grow bigger and we'll make it a weekday AM instead of a saturday!

Auntie Toni graduated nursing school in May and mommy was able to pin her as she walked across the stage. Such a wonderful achievement...now we have 2 nurses in the family! I was a little hesitant taking you, knowing you would have to be quiet for quite a long period of time. You didn't let mommy down! You were a perfect gentleman, sitting nice and quietly in your seat or in daddy's lap. It helped that we let you watch Mickey Mouse and Yo Gabba Gabba on the iphone. You were a champ that night, staying out till 11pm with the rest of the family!

In May we also celebrated Mothers Day! You helped Daddy make it extra special with delicious breakfast in bed and a beautiful pair of earrings. I always enjoy sharing pancakes with you!

In June, Uncle Billy came to visit! Those are always extra special visits! He doesn't stay long but you enjoy every minute you get to spend with him. We have all learned lately how special family is and how important the time you spend with them really is, so we have been doing a lot of that lately as well! You are still quite the little dancer and will dance to just about any beat....Making your Uncle Billy proud!!

On that note, in the end May, Grandpa Currie started his fight against lung cancer. Right now, you are much too young to know what all is going on, but you certainly enjoy the extra time we have all spend together! Know now that this was a huge shock to everyone as Grandpa is never sick and also know that he is strong and fighting this nasty bug called cancer! Anyone reading this...we can all use your prayers!

We also celebrated Fathers Day in June. You are definitely a daddy's little boy and he loves spending every minute of every day with you! We let Daddy sleep in on Sunday AM and that was probably his favorite gift! Then we all went over and spent time with Grandpa Currie. Your grandparents could just watch you 24 hours a day....you make them laugh watching you run around, dance and be silly!

You have had a stretch of many visits with Ms. Catchings at the doctor. Ever since you were sick in March, we have been on multiple antibiotics trying to keep your ears clear. We are praying tubes are not in our future, but all we want now is for our little man to be healthy! Hopefully this last 10 days on antibiotics will be our last for a while! On a side note, all these visits to the doctor have kept us up to date on your growth. You are 28.5lbs fully clothed! What a big boy! We will have all your stats for real next month at your 2 year check up.

You still love playing with balls. With the world cup going on, you have watched several games with daddy. You are perfecting your "Goooaaaaalllllll" chant and we may have the next soccer player on our hands! You love kicking the ball around! You have quite the arm on you as well. Which you show us with things other than throwing balls. You also throw your paci and anything else you can get your hands on! (**when are we going to be able to get rid of that thing?!)

You are trying more foods as we venture through what you will and will not eat. I have recently learned you may be tricking us with your "no meat" ordeal. Daycare has always said you eat meat there but we didn't always believe them! But, I caught you eating a chicken leg for daddy when I wasn't looking! You also love ribs as long as you can eat them off the bone! You still love fruit and watermelon has become an all new favorite. Watching you eat corn on the cob makes us laugh because you really dive right in it!

I guess eating has gotten easier as are getting more and more teeth! I think as of last count you have 15. Your eye teeth have come in and you let us know it! I feel so bad for you when you are teething as I know it must hurt! I am just glad you are so passionate about brushing your teeth as you are!

As you are quickly approaching turning 2, we have become well adjusted with the "terrible 2" fits. We catch your attitude every once and a while and boy we just can't figure out who you get it from! :-) You are learning and using more words every day. With that I think the fits will be less as usually your frustration comes from us not knowing what you want or need.

You have many favorite things right now. You have started with a new fascination for Elmo. You have never even watched Sesame Street but that furry red monster has become a best friend of yours. It's "my elmo" as you put it. You also love trucks! Big trucks, little trucks, all trucks! Firetrucks are #1 right now, in fact any red truck is a firetruck. You also love trains and I love listening to you say "choo choo" anytime you see one! You still love having reading books read to you and we love that little bit of quiet time with you!

Well I know that was a long update. The next month will be busy as your cousin, Ariana turns 1, you turn 2 and the normal "crazy" of all summer activities! As always, and especially as you approach the big "2" we can't believe how big you have gotten, what a big boy you have become. Can you please FREEZE and stay mommy's little boy!? xoxoxo

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