Cohen turned 2 a couple weeks ago. Like last year, the celebration was low key. He had a DQ bday cake for dessert when we had Gail's and Carol's over for a cookout, and he enjoyed a special shopping spree at Target. He got a tricycle, which is still a tad too big for him, a Barney DVD ("purple Barney"), letters and numbers that stick to the side of the bathtub, an awesome FP Little People airplane from Pevestorfs, and an Elmo book from the Giffords. I'd say he faired pretty well.
For the past few months we've been experiencing a language explosion. He can say hundreds of words and seems to learn several new ones every day. He uses funny little expressions like "Aw, man," "Whoa!", and "Wow."
He knows his ABCs - the song - and can identify about half the letters by sight. W is his favorite letter. He'll spot it on signs, packaging, etc. and make a big deal out of it.
He knows most of the colors, but sometimes gets hung up on red and blue. Yellow is his favorite, followed closely by purple.
He can count to the teens. Around 16, it becomes an infinite loop.
He knows shapes really well. His favorite is oval. For some reason I always crack up when the word "rectangle" comes out of his mouth. He's still a little guy and "square" would suffice just fine.
At his 2 year appt., he weighed just over 30 pounds and was 36" tall. That's in the 90+ percentile for height... pretty consistent with how it's always been.
He does countless endearing, funny, or amazing things every day. Every day I go to bed amused and proud. Just to name a few...
He's in a phase where he hates what I wear to work. "No like Mommy's shirt" is the first thing out of his mouth practically every morning.
When we play with sidewalk chalk, the more owls the better. Right now our driveway is covered with fat owls, fuzzy owls, baby owls, you get the picture.
He enjoys reading his books to himself. He usually conveys the main points pretty well, even though every page is summarized in about 3 words. The exception is 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. He knows every word, complete with animation.
He also sings along with songs. Muppin Man is my favorite.
Rudy has become his best friend. He'll play with his toys and say "See that Rudy?" and "Watch this Rudy." In the morning, he loves helping feed the kitties and will follow Rudy to every room in the house to make sure she gets her 2 pieces of Pounce. When she eats it, he'll say excitedly, "She likes it!"
He calls Dominic "Dom" sometimes. Only when he needs to yell. I crack up when he belts out from the top of the stairs "DOM, COME UP HERE!"
He continues to be a huge Mama's boy. Only I can feed him, bathe him, put him to bed, etc. This could get very interesting in 3.5 months when his little brother arrives.
He's a clean freak. Whenever we go from one activity to another, he picks up after himself without being asked. "Put it way" and "Keen up" are common phrases in his vernacular. I totally thank daycare for this habit!
It's been a great summer. He's totally fun and easy and agreeable. We had many enjoyable evening bike rides or walks to various playgrounds. Such awesome family time. I'm sad the warm weather will inevitably leave us!
I'll post pictures soon. My new camera is rocking!
