Two years old.
*insert lots of really big mama tears*
I'm going to try to hold myself together for this post otherwise I know that it will never get done. But come on, look at this face and tell me that it doesn't make you want to burst out in big happy tears:
I just love him so much. I can't believe that it's only been two years since this little man came into our lives. It seems like he's been part of our family forever. He's happy, he's funny, he loves his family, he's everything a little boy should be.
Okay, if I don't move on from the sappy part - I'm never going to even get started with this post because I could go on for hours about how darling, and sweet, and adorable this boy is.
So, stats:
(Official Stats coming soon....)
He's wearing size 6 shoes, but I'll be honest - they're a bit big. I've been saying that he's in 12-18 month shirts, which is true. But when I went to buy Austin a new shirt for his 2 year pictures - I ended up buying the 12 month outfit instead of the 18 month because it really just fit him best. Sooo.. 12 months shirts. (The 12 month pants still drown him - he's happiest in 9-12 month pants.)
(Sidenote: I had these pictures taken by my friend and I love the way they turned out!)
Other things to remember:
--His vocabulary went through the roof this month. I was lamenting to David that I want to record every single thing that he says because I love all his words and I want to remember them all. But it's not even possible to record all the things that he can say and does say. Most often 3 word sentences, it's not uncommon to get up to five words.
"I hep, too" (I help, too) He just really wants to help. And he's determined to help exactly the way that you are doing it, no small task that doesn't really help but will get him out of the way. He wants to help! It's darling and frustrating at the same time (like, when I'm trying to do something quickly and he wants to hold what I'm holding (spoon, spatula, broom, rag, you name it) and makes any effort I'm putting forth pretty ineffective). But, mostly darling. Case in point:
Other words
-"Hep, mama, hep" (Help, mama.) Oh my gosh. This melts me. He says it so sweet.
-"Mysef!" (Myself) Obviously he's just so big that he should be able to do everything by his self and if you make the mistake of trying to help, he'll start all over so he can do it all on his own.
-"Iss a biiig one" (It's a big one) SO funny. The way he emphasizes "big" makes me laugh every time. -"Uck book" (Truck book). Talking about the Little Blue Truck, he flips through the pages till he gets to the Dump and he says "Honk!" then he closes the book and points to Blue on the front cover and says "Beep." In that order.
-"Lih-jah, Mama, Daddy" Points out all the members of our little family when looking at pictures and is so proud.
-"Choo-choo, Daddy!" Every time the train goes by he excitedly points and says choo-choo, immediately followed by "daddy" because David rides the train to work sometimes and Austin has completely identified the train as taking David to work. It doesn't matter whether it's a passenger train or a freight turn, or what time of the day, it's a thing for him.
--The selfies! It's his favorite thing to do. I think he's getting better at it, although he gets frustrated if I try to move his finger away from the camera lens. So... I'll just let him figure it out and enjoy the time adoring his sweet finger-filled selfies.
-Speaking of selfies. Austin and I take a lot of selfies. I just love them. I'm recently realizing just how many I actually take - but he's so happy to sit with me and take pictures of us. I love them.
--For a long time, Austin seemed to have a much more reserved personality but he's definitely come into his adventuring side. He explores, he climbs, he does everything that Lydia does, and he definitely does a lot of adventuring on his own, too.
--He loves our new baby. Okay, he loves ALL babies. Baby dolls and real little babies alike. He carries baby dolls around, and he makes sure that all the real babies have their pacifiers in their mouths (even if they don't particularly want/need them) and he just sits by them and touches their hands and giggles if they touch him back. He is going to make the best big brother. (He loves them and he's pretty soft, other than the occasional smothering body-hug.) I love that he already seems attached to this new little baby of ours. We've had the ultrasound pictures hanging on our calendar in our kitchen and everytime he sees them he says "Baby!" Or anytime we mention our new baby he runs to the calendar and points and says "baby, baby!" I love that he was there for the first ultrasound for our baby, and I just know that he and this new baby are going to be so close.
--He likes to read books. "The Little Blue Truck" is his most-requested, but he really only likes to look at the dump truck. His real favorite is probably "Five Little Monkeys" because he loves to wag his finger and say the words when the doctor says "No more monkeys jumping on the bed." He does that and then giggles and giggles.
--We went camping! And it was super fun.
--He still naps most days, but there isn't really a set time. Just whenever it fits in with our schedule or when he seems tired. My mom was watching the kids and she asked Lydia when Austin takes his nap and Lydia responded "Whenever you want him to." Wow, kids are observant! I'm sorry, Austin, for being so unstructured - but thank you for being so flexible! You're the best.
--He follows Lydia around everywhere she goes. I would say he's like a little puppy, except they are such good friends that it's not really a lost-puppy arrangement. It's like they are two best friends, but that it takes Austin a little bit of extra time to keep up with Lydia. He wants to do everything that she does. She loves him and is so sweet with him, and he adores her.
--He also knows that Lydia can get into things that he can't. For example, he was making it very clear that he wanted a popsicle and I told him we could have one later, and kept washing the dishes. I watched him as he tried to get into the freezer by himself, then watched him realize that he couldn't do it on his own and turn to call out "Lih-jah... Lih-jah! Pop-le!" He then recruited her to come and open the door for her. (Her response to me, "Mommmm, he just wanted me to open the door so he could get a popsicle! I was just trying to help him." Ha. *sigh* They make a good team.
--They love their dad. And he loves them. A great example of what a good dad David is: He doesn't actually like most vegetables, but he wants our kids to grow up liking them/healthy food in general and he knows that his example plays a huge role in that. So he eats every vegetable put on the table before him and he makes sure the kids see him eating it and enjoying it. He's even created a Zucchini game where we all hold up a zucchini in the air and say "zucchini, zucchini high in the air - dive into my mouth and ... mmmm.....". The kids love it and they eat loads of zucchini all meal long. That's just one example of how amazing David is, but a good example because of everyone - Austin probably loves the zucchini game the most of everyone. And he adores his dad.
--Church. He's finally going to nursery on a regular basis and it's amazing! David has to drop him off or it's a tearful disaster. (Even so, he still cries at the drop off - but he calms down much faster.) We don't usually let him play with the phone during church, but sometimes desperate times.... (The selfie thing... really... he loves it.)
--He likes food. I'm trying to figure out what to make for his birthday dinner and can't think of anything in particular because he eats everything so well and he enjoys it all. Probably I should make some Chinese food and teach him how to use chopsticks because he loves the process of eating and when he saw me eating with chopsticks the other day he was SO excited and sat on my lap and "helped me" finish my meal. I think he's going to be a foodie when he grows up. (I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but he's so particular about the way he eats. He prefers to stab cherry tomatoes with a fork over a regular cut tomato, he likes silverware, he likes all the things that surround eating food.)
--Oh and he LOVES treats. Like, his favorite word is "treat". He's got a sugar radar a mile wide and he loves nothing more than eating something with loads of sugar in it.
--I mentioned above that he's really still in 12 month shirts. I was looking at his 1 year photo and laughed when I was like "he's still wearing that shirt every other Sunday". And looking back through his 12month-23month pictures I was like... "He still wears all of these clothes." We are going to have to buy zero new things for the fall/winter. Ha. But... the other day was first time that he was wearing a 12 month shirt and it was obviously too small. (It might have been that it's been through 1+ year of washings and has shrunk - but still... it was small!) He's growing. :)
-I love him. We all love him. He's just the best of the best.
Happy Birthday our Austin-boy!
We love you!
