Shaw 2 1/2

Tomorrow, this silly boy turns 2 and a half, or 30 months. I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT!! Wasn't he just a newborn? Didn't I JUST get to stay home with him until he was 5 months old?! It makes me so sad that his life seems to be flying by but I am so proud of him every single day. Of course I think he is the smartest 2 and half year old out there. :) I gleam with delight every time he says a new witty phrase and want to pull my hair out with every tantrum he has. He will start 3 year old preschool in just 7 short months and I keep thinking surely he is too young for that? I can't wait to see how much more he learns when he starts.

 (He wanted a turn during brother's monthly picture this morning. Excuse the pj's)

• The last time you went to the Dr. you had gained about 4 lbs. in 4 months. You are now is the 20% for weight! Woohoo the highest you've ever been, and the 40-50% for height. You weigh about 27 lbs.
• You have gotten sick once this past year. I believe you and your brother both had the flu. That started the week of Thanksgiving. I am so thankful we have been a healthy family thus far.
• You are hilarious and say the funniest things. Your go to saying is, "OH my word!!!". You are always putting a smile on our faces. You have great communication skills and love to tell stories about monsters, hunting, and people in our family.
• You have really advanced in imaginary play over the last few months. From making me the best cup of coffee to catching yellow butterflies that are flying in our living room, you love imagining. You also have an imaginary friend that you talk about often.
• Still not too interested in TV. Even though you usually only get to watch one episode of Mickey Mouse a day, you are only interested in it for about 10 minutes. You also enjoy VeggieTales, Elmo, and a few Disney movies.
• Your favorites things to do are: color/paint/draw and you always request for us to draw certain things for you. Today, it was raccoons. Haha! Lets just say our artistic skills aren't that great and your image of certain animals will probably be distorted for a while.
• You also love to play with cars/trucks, your play kitchen, your train table, anything outside, and anything that your brother is doing.
• You are THE BEST big brother. You are always the first one to comfort Sutton when he cries or gets hurts, and you love to share everything with him. Sometimes sharing isn't all that easy but for the most part you do a decent job.
• You can count to 20, have been saying your ABCs since you were 2, can spell your name, and you know important info like your parents' names and where you live.
• You know all your colors and most of your shapes
• You can draw a circle and love to copy stick people
• We have recently had an issue with you being scared at night and going to sleep. After much deliberation we finally decided to start leaving your bedroom door open. You go to sleep great most nights now but now you come get in bed with us at some point during the night when you never did that before. Pick your battles, huh?!
• You are a great eater and love all food. The only foods you refuse to eat are mashed potatoes and eggs.
• You still take a good nap every afternoon.
• You adore your babysitter and love going to see her everyday. This makes me SO happy and makes it easier on me going to work 4 days a week.
• You have finally taken to your classes at church over the last two months. We are so thankful for this.
• You have been completely potty trained for a little over a month now. This was super easy for you. You had been partly trained for a few months and we sealed the deal over Christmas break. It only took 48 hours of reinforcing continuously.
• You still have great hair and man does it grow fast!
•  Love your paci and it's still very much your best friend. We are hoping to get rid of it by August.
• Man, can you throw some tantrums. You are very expressive when you don't get your way and have a strong will when it comes to what you want. I have noticed a big difference over the last few months, in a positive way.

Shaw Michael, we are so proud of you. You have taught us what it means to be a parent and have unconditional love. We have learned so many lessons from you and we are so thankful that you have such a kind and forgiving heart. We have made some good decisions and some bad decisions in this journey so far, but we are thankful to be on this parent-child ride together. What a fun, joyous, crazy, and sometimes frustrating ride it can be! We love you, big boy!