Jed and Heather: Chris at 2 years old

(Note: this blog post was written during the summer, though by written I just wrote down lots of thoughts at random times so I would remember to put them in a blog post. So here it is!)

Chris a fun toddler who seems like he never stops moving!

It seemed like Chris took a while to start talking, and then suddenly, he says a ton! He repeats a lot of what we say. Some of the words are:

Maga and Paca (grandma and grandpa)
Make (when I'm cooking something, usually when he wants to help cook)
Hippa or heppa (hippo)
Kennies (cousins or candy)

He often mixes up the first and last syllables of the words, like cup is usually "puc." He also is making two or three word sentences with some of the things we say often. In general, though, he still talks in a lot of gibberish.

Chris loves his baths. It's a great break for both of us, so sometimes he gets a bath at noon when the morning has been rough. He could play in the bath for over a half hour, and I throw some pillows on the ground and get to rest for a bit while I watch him. He also loves to swim, though mostly he just likes to sit on the side of the pool and splash his feet. Twice I have forced him in with me. The first time, he cried the whole time and clung to me. The second time, after some protestation, he finally let me put him on his tummy to swim, which he loved. We got a puddle jumper floaty (the kind that goes across the chest and on your arms). We love it! It kept him up the couple of times he has fallen in.

He still loves cars. He lines them up front and back or next to each other. His favorite is still the red cars. At the family reunion, Chris got a present of the firetruck from Cars, and for a good week, that firetruck never left his sight (and usually didn't even leave his hand).

Whenever we go outside, Chris digs. He loves the dirt and loves sand. He likes to push his hand into the dirt (palm down), then lift his hand covered in dirt, and then let it fall off. His nails get dirty fast!

He will pray by repeating words after us. He can only repeat one word at a time, so it takes a long time to pray. He also recently learned to close his eyes. Previously, when we would say "close your eyes," he would cover them with his hands. Now he can close his eyes and fold his arms at the same time.

Chris still knows his letter very well. He can identify almost all of them, if he wants to. He still can't say a lot of the names (like j, g, x, w). He can count to 4 by himself, however usually his counting goes something like "one, two, ten!" And however he counts, he always ends prematurely with and excited "ten!" He loves to say ten.

He's still a momma's boy. He still loves to cuddle, but usually only when I'm putting him to bed. He still sucks on his arm, too, when falling asleep or watching a movie.

He loves to sing songs. Anytime we are in a group of people, he wants to perform and sing one of three songs: Eensy Weensy Spider, Popcorn Popping, or Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam. At bedtime, he loves for me to sing at bedtime. He can name many Primary songs.

He's getting better with following directions. Usually, he will do it, but if he doesn't want to listen, he will generally stop what he is doing, and just stand there, glancing to the side at us. He has a bit of a stubborn streak right now, but we continue to work on that. Along with following directions, he has a hard time following where he point. We will point to an object he is looking for, and he almost never can find it! I hope this improves soon.

And now, a random smattering of picture from this summer!