How Sweet the Sound: Matthew, 2 years old!

Matthew Jay you are TWO years old!

How, my precious baby boy, did you grow up so quickly???

What have you been up to these past couple months?

Head circumference: 19.75 inches (88th percentile) You are finally back on the growth chart!

Length: 36.25 inches (93rd percentile) No wonder your pants are getting so short!

Weight: 26 pounds (23rd percentile) You have actually lost a little weight and have really plateaued on the growth chart. Your doctor isn't worried but wants us to try to pack a few pounds on. No wonder your pants are falling off your waist! Wish I had that problem.

You are still an amazing sleeper! You sleep at night from 7:30pm to 7:30 or 8am. You take a 3 hour nap from about 12-3pm. You love your crib. Before we put you in your crib you ask to turn on your white noise machine and "dance" for a couple of minutes. At night you also ask mommy and daddy to "jump" together while holding you. Silly, but you love it and it's our little routine!

You are a pretty picky eater. I have to be a little creative to get veggies in you. You go through phases when you eat everything in sight, and other times I feel like I'm forcing food down you. When you are hungry, you are a wonderful eater. If you aren't hungry, you will not eat, even passing up sweets and treats! You also don't much milk. We even try to tempt you with a little chocolate milk, but am lucky to get an entire glass down you in a day. You love water. Your favorite foods are blueberry pancakes, waffles, goldfish, strawberries, apples, pears, peanuts, marshmallows, cookies and suckers!

You are constantly making us laugh by the funny things that you are saying, the silly faces you are making or the naughty things you are doing.

You call your cousin "Joshie". There's something so sweet and endearing about the way you say it! You and Joshua love to run and chase each other at church. Let's face it, you two like to get into mischief! One day at Papa and Grandma's house, you and Joshua were downstairs in the basement playing. The door was open, and we finally noticed that it had been quite for some time. We went down and found that you and Josh had emptied Grandma's cupboard and put all of her canned goods (lots were even in glass jars!) on the stairs. Thankfully nothing was broken, and you two thought it was as much fun to put the jars away as it was to take them out!

I'm seeing glimpses of the "terrible twos" starting to roar! Thankfully, you respond very well to discipline, and as trying and exhausting as it is sometimes, I am confident that it is worth it. You have been whining a lot lately as well. I think I hear the words "Mommy pick up" about a million times a day!

You take your daily vitamin (go figure it's a gummy one), and you love to brush your teeth at night. You like to try first, and then Mommy or Daddy takes over.

You have gotten much better about changing your diaper. After we take your diaper off, you always say "No poo poos!"...even if you know you are poopy. When we change your diaper and you are poopy you say "Ewwww!" You've probably heard that one a lot. The other day we were at Fred Meyer, and while we were waiting in line, you crouched down and were red in the face. A few minutes later an older lady was talking to you and Sissy. The first thing you said to her was "I poop!" Thanks for sharing buddy.

Speaking of poop. One evening you were running around the house without a diaper on. Next thing I know, you are telling me that you went poop. I didn't believe it until I saw it. Sorry, is might be TMI, but I couldn't help but show the proof!

You love going to the grocery store and Costco. You say either "Fred Meyer" or "Costco", depending on where we are, when we pull into the parking lot. If I'm not in a hurry, you love to walk at the store and help me push the cart. You are so much fun to take out and about these days, and usually follow directions really well in stores. You're two years old, so usually is the key word!

You are all about climbing and jumping these days. Climbing on chairs, climbing up on the counters, jumping off of the ottoman or couch, or jumping out of a little box. You keep us on our toes!

When you open the cupboard at Gabby's house, you say "Hmmmm", contemplating what you want to snack on.

You always sleep with your head entirely under a blanket. You usually take at least one of your socks off when you are in your crib. You will ask for us to put them back on when you wake up. You also like to take your socks off and play with them like puppets.

When we ask you how old you are, you say "Two".

You love to play on our I-pads. You know how to turn them on, scroll over to your file, and open and play all your activities. You call it a "hi pad"

You moved up to the 2-3 year old class at church. You love it, you are doing really well. Of course, you need lots of reminders to stay on track, but I'm not surprised! Grandma Sherry is your teacher! What a special time you get to spend with your Grandma.

You absolutely LOVE to play with Trevin, Jackson and Shila at church.

You went to your first Valentine's party at Gabby's school. Go figure your favorite part was the sucker.

You talk ALL.THE.TIME! You will use up to 6 word sentences.

You love to sing songs. Some of your favorites are "Skip to my Lou", "Twinkle Twinkle", "How much is that doggie?", and "Church Church".

Where it's raining outside, you will sing "It's raining, It's pouring" nursery rhyme. Only when you sing it, you say "Raining, pouring, bump head, ouch!" Too cute.

You love your Gabby days on Fridays while Mommy works.

You call the garbage truck the "mail man truck" no matter how many times we tell you otherwise. You love to spot buses, tunnels and "big trucks" when we are driving.

Your favorite activities these days include playing with water, coloring, stickers, painting, playing in the cupboards, shaving cream...basically anything that doesn't include playing with all the toys sitting in your playroom. I'm hoping it's just a stage because you have some pretty awesome toys that are just collecting dust!

Your favorite TV show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. You also like Octonauts, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Doc McStuffins and Oso. You have started to take an interest in watching movies, especially if you aren't feeling well or right befor bed. Lets face it, you are one busy boy, so sitting and watching a movie doesn't happen too often. Your favorite movies are Up, Bolt, and Toy Story.

You are always getting into mischief with your Sissy. I have a feeling this is just the beginning!

We are working on giving up the binkie but haven't quite gotten there yet. Actually, I just haven't been up to pushing it. We'll get there soon! Until then, you are always trying to sneak your Sissy's boo boo.

You are infatuated with vacuums. You prefer that they aren't running, but you think it's silly when Mommy chases your toes with the vacuum. You talk about the "heavy vrumma" and the "little vrumma" all the time. You always get Gabby and Bumpa's vrumma out of their closet, and anytime we go to Banna's house it's the first thing you ask for, if she already doesn't have it out for you. You point out a vrumma anytime and every time we see one on a box in a store, or anything that even resembles one. Yes you love your vrumma's, but it doesn't really come close to how much your cousin Caleb loved them as a little boy!