My Dearest Sam, Sammy-Sam, Lou-Lou, Sammy Lou,
Somehow time has continued despite my urgings to just pause for a moment and you are TWO! Two entire years have passed since your birth and you have never given us a dull moment.
Oh where to begin...
I think you decided to let us know you were not going to be just like your brother days after being born, and you have continued to be your own man ever since. You are the funniest and most charming little boy around. It actually makes it hard to discipline you and saves you from being labeled as a bully. Seriously, you have these big brown eyes and a smile and laugh that are infectious. No one stands a chance when you flash that smile. Even your dad falls victim to it.
You are getting to be a big boy! We don't have your official stats yet as your appointment is next week, but I know that you are tall and much heavier than your brother was at this age. You seem like you'll have the Murray height but might be a little thicker than the rest of the Murray men. Only time will tell I guess! Either way-you have the cutest little build. You also have all of your two year molars already! You decided the birth of your baby brother would be a great time to do a little teething. Go figure right?
You're staying home with mom and baby brother this year while your big brother is off at preschool. I think you like being home, but you also thoroughly enjoy spending time with other kids. When we meet your friends for play dates at parks you will run off and play with them for as long as we let you. You are really the most independent little guy.
Speaking of independence- it can make you a bit of a handful as you don't like to have us help you with things and you prefer to be allowed to do things on your own. Just today I have been finding you with tools that you think you should be allowed to play with. Somehow you keep finding the screw drivers (time for a new spot) and you are walking around and jamming them into any exposed screw you can see in a toy. It's always something! There is lots of crying because I won't let you play with scissors or butcher knives. I really am just so unreasonable. ;)
You are super athletic and love to spend time playing outside. Baseball, soccer, basketball, you name it and you're into it. Not only are you interested in it, but you're motor skills are impressive for a tiny guy. Just like your big brother, you love to spend time outside instead of inside. You can be in the worst mood and your spirits lift as soon as we walk out of the house.
Besides sports you LOVE dinosaurs and trains. We are on round two of watching the movie Fast Trains over and over and over again as your brother also loved it. You get exposed to a little more dinosaur drama than I would like but that's the deal with being a little brother. You get to watch dinosaur documentaries way before we would have allowed John. Your verbal skills are not as strong as your motor skills, but you manage to say several dinosaur names like triceratops. I find that a bit comical.
Yes. Your verbal skills are a little bit less than what we have been used to. You are completely developmentally appropriate, but you are a bit of a lazy talker. We laugh because you are so guilty of only pronouncing the first half of the word and then sort of giving up because you know that we understood what you meant. You have a few favorite words that you enunciate very well though. Like popsicle. You're obsessed with popsicles and ask for them all day everyday. You also can say please and thank you very well, but you reserve please for when you are really trying to get a popsicle. You mostly call me, mom, and dad, dada, but sometimes you call him daddy which is precious. You call John both John and bubba and you call Kai, baby. You can repeat everything we say and make your own sentences as well. You really are talking just fine for two, but you're a little difficult to understand.
You are an amazing eater with a growing boy appetite! You have a few junky things that you try to eat all day (breakfast bars, fruit snacks, and popsicles), but you usually eat well at most meals and like at least a few fruits and vegetables. You LOVE vanilla almond milk and try to drink it around the clock. You are still allergic to milk unfortunately, but we have learned to make pizza and macaroni and cheese and all the good stuff with your dairy substitutes so you hardly even realize you're eating differently than the rest of us! We pray the day comes when you can taste real cheese though. It puts that fake cheese to shame.
I would be wrong not to document what a mess you are as well since it's a big part of who you are right now. Darling boy, you are a hott mess. You went into the twos with guns blazing. I mean we did make you the middle child three weeks before your second birthday so we're probably to blame. You can throw a fit like no other and you are so unbelievably demanding. The hilarious thing is that you're somehow very authoritative as John is afraid of you and I have to remind myself that you are a child and not my boss. It is a hard thing to describe though because you are such a mess while also being the cutest and funniest kid around so you keep us liking you regardless. Just yesterday you decided to bully your big brother by shaking your finger at him and telling him to go to his room all day. He is so sensitive and I kept having to remind him that he doesn't have to do what you say all while trying to tell you to stop saying that and not laughing like I desperately wanted to. You have a way about you that you can be so naughty and somehow so lovable all in the same moment. I just keep reminding myself that strong willed kids can grow into the strongest and most purpose driven adults. We just have to survive this time without one of us breaking.
Although you don't always communicate yourself well, I catch you doing things all the time that I had no idea you could do like singing your abcs, counting to ten, etc. You actually are picking up that stuff and seem like you'll perhaps go on to school one day after all. ;)
You love Peter Pan and pirates, sword fighting, and you can ride a plasma car so fast that we might enter you into the Daytona 500 this year. You are so full of life and live big! Big cries, belly laughs, and early bedtimes! You love your brothers and your family so much. To be such a bully, you can snuggle better than anyone. You are super affectionate and love to curl up in my lap and snuggle. You stopped nursing at 18 months but you still have a slight affection for the "boobah" as you call it and like to get a little grabby when you're tired. (I know you'll hate me for mentioning it but you'll never outlive your "boobah" phase. You were far too public with it)
You are our very favorite little rough and tough teddy bear! We cannot wait to see what this year brings. You learn new things everyday and it is such a joy to watch you grow. I feel like the first two years of your life just flew by so I hope you'll opt for slowing down just a little. There's no rush.
You keep us laughing little love.
You really are our sunshine.
We love you,
Mom and Dada
And here are a few pics from your 2nd birthday! They are cell phone pics. Forgive me for not having it all together but I was horribly sleep deprived and still recovering from child birth.
So your father hates to be the center of attention on his birthday and it appears you inherited that. This will never not be hilarious!
Opening presents with Nina and Nana before they left! Presents are better than fire lit cupcakes.
We traveled 2 hours on the interstate to take you to this Florida gem. A rather funny park full of fake dinosaurs of every shape and size. You LOVED it.
Show us two fingers for two!
Still working on those fingers. ;)
Dinner at T-Rex at Downtown Disney on the way back home!
On your actual birthday we met some of your pals at the park for play and cupcakes. You had so much fun and it was so sweet to have all the little guys together.
And then we celebrated some more as a family at home!
God love you! Happy birthday baby boy!