my baby boy is two years old

Dear Ryan,

You’re TWO! Mama can’t even believe it, where’d my baby boy go? That picture seems like yesterday and so do all of my memories of our first two years together. It has flown by… please, please, please don’t get any bigger!

You are quite the chatterbox now! You repeat everything you hear and you say and learn something new every day. You name things that I’m not even sure where you heard the word before! And you say some super cute things too like “oopsie daisy” when you drop something and “upsie-doodles” when you want to be picked up–obviously mommy is the nerd that you learned that from.

Most words are clear (to us, anyway) and we know exactly what you’re saying, but “la la” is still your word for water.

Speaking of water, you shower by yourself! I always puts you in the bathtub while I shower, but you started taking some showers with daddy and then one day you just stayed in there by yourself. We have soap in a pump bottle so you get in the shower, soap up while saying “head, pee pee, feetsies,” rinse off, and you’re ready to go! You loooove brushing your teeth, too. Oh, but you despise washing your hair because of “soap eyes” that happened once… or twice…

Your favorite food of all time is “MAC AND CHEEEEEEESE!” You run around and sing those words like a song and you ask for it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And you’re a big “choc-ey” (chocolate) nut, just like mama!

You’re an absolute sweetheart. You say “please” and “thank you” regularly. If mom or dad gets hurt and says “ow” or even if I say I have a headache to daddy in the other room, you come running to give a kiss and make it all better. If you get hurt, you “cry” and say “mama, kiss it!” and once I do, you go immediately back to playing… mama’s kisses are magic 🙂

We read 25 books a day, seriously. Some over and over, but you’re starting to like to pick out a “new book!” once we’re done reading one. We read plenty before nap time and bedtime, too. Favorites are books with Elmo and Big Bird, Goodnight Moon, the ABCs, or anything with big letters so you can practice spelling–like the book that spells your name.

We used to sing “twinkle twinkle little star” at bedtime, but now you insist on the ABC song. All.the.time. But the good news is that you know your entire alphabet and you can point at and pick out any letter. AND you can count to 10! You’re my lil smarty pants 🙂

Things you love: keys and locks, play-doh, Elmo and Big Bird, books, choo-choo trains (& Thomas), cars, tractors, tools so you can fix things like Daddy, putting on lip stuff like mommy, playing in the “la la,” the moon, feeding the cats, doing laundry and dishes, vacuuming, tumbling class (the trampoline, zip-line, and rings, mainly)….

Yes, you love to clean. That is, of course, unless mommy or daddy asks you to clean and pick up your toys–then you love to say “NO!” But if we just let you be? You pick up your toys, you put your books back on the bookshelf, you throw away garbage, you vacuum the floor…. and you’re obsessed with turning off lights we aren’t using, closing doors/cabinets…. I actually worry a little bit about you being Mr. Perfectionist, lol, but you sure are a huge help around the house!

You’re mommy’s goofball. You make us laugh all the time and you know you’re adorable and funny and cute and smart. We say, “Ryan, love you!” and you nod and say “yea,” like – I know that, mom, geez.

You’re basically in size 2T clothes, but size 24 months still fit–especially in pants, you’re tall and skinny! You weigh about 23-24 pounds and you’re about 35 inches tall. You’re still in cloth diapers, but you do love using the potty! We don’t push potty training though, we have just been letting you ask for the potty whenever you feel like using it. You still prefer to hide in the corner while pooping 😉

You took a break for awhile from breastfeeding and I thought you were totally weaned, but you randomly started again. You ask for “milkies” about twice a day, usually at nap and bedtime. This pregnancy has me sooo sensitive though, it hurts a bit to nurse and we don’t for long. I wonder how you’ll handle that once the baby comes!

Speaking of the baby, you’re excited for your sister to come! You know her name and where her room is. You love to help me hang up her clothes and you like to rub and kiss my belly to say hi. You have a couple shirts that say something about being a brother and you wear them proudly! You’re going to be a wonderful big brother and I’m so excited 🙂

Ryan, you’re the best in the whole world and you’ll always, always be my baby boy. You make me smile and laugh every day, you’re so smart and funny and sweet, you always amaze me. You’re my whole world and I love you so so so so much! Now don’t get any bigger! 🙂

We love you to the moon and back 9,999,999,999,999,999,999 times,
<3 mama and dada