My precious boy is getting more and more precious by the day. He is growing into such an amazing kid, but still has a few traces of the baby that I have loved (one is a little more tangible and called his pacifier...judge not lest ye be judged).
So at 23 months, he's more into climbing than he used to be. He is becoming quite proficient. He still has not mastered the art of the jumping, but he's working on it. He doesn't know that he can't jump so he constantly says he's jumping, but he's really just picking one foot off the ground and then the other. He is still a little funny looking when he runs as well, but it's so adorable.
He is talking up a storm! I mean I feel like he can pretty much clearly communicate anything that he wants to. I can't even name his new words because there are new ones everyday. He is VERY into repeating things so we've had to watch ourselves so closely. Apparently I say "Oh Lord" a lot because he spends a good bit of the day saying "ohhh lowd" to himself.
He has also become quite the devout little Catholic. He can say "Father, Son, Holy Spirit" and almost cross himself correctly. He can say a lot of the Lord's Prayer. He is pretty into pausing for a moment to bless people that he loves and then end with Father, Son, Holy Spirit which he says very quickly. And at mass the other day he actually repeated "Lord have mercy" with everyone else at mass. His favorite book at the moment is...you guessed it..."Jesus book" and he knows that Jesus was "ba-tized by John." Of course he also likes to point at that "Jesus nakie!" during the baptism. In all honesty, my faith has been strengthened by watching him take interest in our church. I know that he may not remain this devout forever, but I feel like we're doing the best we can to show him a faith full of love and joy.
We've finally gotten three out of four eye teeth and the last one is giving us fits! Come on in tooth! We're sick of sleepless nights and whiny days!
As far as eating, his current favorite is "mac and cheese" which he hated last month. Who knows?! He is also still a big fan of chicken prepared almost anyway. And he has never lost his taste for fruit, fruit, and more fruit.
Lastly, after being around a lot of kids, I feel like one very special thing about John at this age is that he is just so dern sweet. I mean he is genuinely a sweet child. At first I thought it was just where he was developmentally, but as we get closer and closer to the terrible twos, I'm learning that it's just his personality. He is just so kind hearted. Don't get me wrong...by sweet I do not mean perfect. He can throw a good fit just like the rest of them and he can even be aggressive when he's way too sleepy. Recently he's started saying "hold you mommy" and when I pick him up, he'll lay his head on my shoulder and say "I love you mommy." Just spontaneously and like he means it. It makes me want to squeeze him like crazy. He also wants to hug other kids and will gladly share his stuff with them (this may end soon...I'm aware of that). When he's really excited about doing something he'll say, "mommy so cited! Thank you!" And call me a blushing mother if you will, but the little sucker means it. He expresses his excitement and thanks me for the experience. It makes me so proud to be his mom that I may cry just thinking about it. I reiterate. He's busy...so, so busy. He'll push the boundaries when he can. But he is so good natured.
Here are some of my cell phone shots that tell the story of what he's like as a 23 month old!
Just another day at home with my darling bossman. Looking a little diva-ish here. Are male divas divos?
When you hear "Good helping John!" you should be afraid because his version of helping is not usually all that helpful. This was him helping with dinner!
John thought Matt needed a nap on his afternoon off. He was right, but poor Matt probably would have preferred it elsewhere.
Making new friends!
John got really into putting Elmo in time out for awhile. Poor Elmo lived there! Now he's into singing to Elmo and putting him in the crib for a nap. It's much nicer than the scolding that Elmo was getting.
We inherited this awesome train set from a young man down the street who had outgrown it! This would be like inheriting a million dollars to an adult. He LOVESSSS trains and is so excited to have this set!
And lastly...this was too cute not to share. When daddy is on call (like every fourth night for four more weeks...ick), John likes to tell send him goodnight videos. This was a recent one.
And one month from this moment we'll be waiting on the night parade at Disney world! That is assuming that John hasn't passed out on us yet!