Today Gavin, you are two years old. And I can’t even believe it. It seems like yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital. And then you rolled over, started crawling, then walking and there was no looking back.
Your development in the last year is staggering, as with most kids heading from one to two. Here are our current favorite things about you:
- You are my snuggle bunny. You wake up and want to sit and snuggle in my lap and if I don’t take the time to do it, you often come find me, take my hand, and lead me to the couch so that we can. You give me kisses when I ask for them, tell me "love you" after I tell you that I love you, and I am still the person that can heal everything for you with a kiss on whatever hurts.
- Yellow blankie is your must-have when you need comfort. You can’t go anywhere without yellow blankie and you won’t go to sleep without it. Lambie ranks right up there, but Bear, Doggie, and Kitty & Other Kitty are now interchangeable. But nothing replaces yellow blankie.
- I have never seen a kid so into stuffed animals. You love snuggling with whichever one needs the attention and it is adorable to watch you hug them tight.
- You also love your goggles that came with the power tools bench we got ages ago. You ask for help to put them on your face and then move them up onto your forehead and walk around with them up there. We have made trips to the store and everyone LOVES it.
- "See ya!", or "I’ll be right back" whenever you go somewhere (different room, leave the table), you wave and say "See ya!" and run off.
- We have FINALLY weaned you from binkie. About two weeks ago I decided to try putting you down for a nap without it and we haven’t looked back. You sometimes still ask for binkie, but thankfully you aren’t phased when I say no to you. It has added on about an extra hour to you falling asleep though, but that is a small price to pay. Especially when you just sit in your crib and chatter until you get tired enough to crash.
- You love Diego, Dora, Bo on the Go, and the Lorax. Sadly you have moved away from Leap Frog and Super Why, but we still try to get those on as well.
- And because you love Diego so much, we often here you yell, "Ayúdame! Ayúdame! Help! Help!" as you pretend to get stuck somewhere. Now we all say it.
- I am amazed that you know all the sounds to all the letters and will tell us what they are. Your favorite thing to do is to have someone write out the alphabet using both big and little letters on the etch-a-sketch drawing pad ("Big A, Little a, Big B, Little b").
- You really really really want to use the bathroom like Carter. You yell "NO DIAPER!" And every time we have you try, you tend to make a giant mess, so we are going to wait another few months to see if your concept of "aim" improves.
- When you take a bath, you line up your squeezable bath toys and call them out by name. "Shark", "Boy", "Hungry Hungry Hippo", "Boat", and so on.
- When we go shopping you always tell the cashier thank you and yell "BUH BYE" and wave your little hand. This is such a cute age and you have so many admirers everywhere we go.
- You love your big brother – if he asks for something, you typically give it up with a "Here you go Carter." When we drop him off at school, you are always sad you won’t see him and then you are always so happy when he is home. And you copy EVERTHING with him. You guys are best buddies and this makes me sooooooo happy.
- "Gavin’s turn!" and "Share Carter." We try so hard to share things and sometimes it ends up in a shouting match between you and your brother where you tell whose turn it is or who has to share.
- Your vocabulary is scary – you will try to say anything we ask you to and you are enunciating better each day. We still have "huh??" moments where we have no idea what you just said, but you are getting better and better. And you pretty much speak in phrases or short sentences as well, stringing together six to eight words at times.
- We need to post a video of you speaking because your voice is adorable. It is that sweet, high lilt of someone just learning how to speak, there is no whininess yet, just experimentation with intonation and it is SO CUTE.
- Singing is your new thing, you started out with, "Jingie Bells, Jingie Bells, Jingie All Way…" and have moved on to singing Ring Around the Rosie and the theme songs to some of your favorite shows. Every time we get in the car you yell "HEY HO!" to listen to "Ho Hey" by the Lumineers. Both you and your brother love singing the chorus to that song.
I could easily go on and on about you – this is one of my favorites stages where there are so many cute things about everything you do.
Your dad and I love you so very much, Happy Birthday Gavin-o!
