The Big 2!

Our sweet Trevorman turned two this Christmas! We celebrated it on Christmas Eve which I much preferred to Christmas or the day after. Ben only had to work a half day, which worked out perfectly. We played all morning then had a birthday lunch of pancakes, eggs and strawberries - his favorite. He didn't feel all that great starting a few days before, but after a killer nap he woke up ready to party. We ate a delicious birthday cake and he opened presents. The rest of the day was spent doing Christmas Eve-y things, but I don't think he minded even a little bit. We had such a fun day.

birthday lunch

construction site cake - it was much cuter in person

Opening up some toy tractors - his dream come true.

He got a basketball/hoop! My dream come true.

Trevor is just the best. This year has been so much fun, as we've watched him really develop his own personality. Here comes a terribly long and terribly written paragraph/list of some of my favorite things. Feel free to skip it. I do it mostly for myself.

He is extremely shy around strangers, but give him time and he will be bouncing off the walls.  He is very smart. He's known his letters and colors for a several months now and he loves to read. He is good at playing by himself, but he definitely prefers to have someone there with him. The past month or so he has also learned to love to color. He got some markers for his birthday that he absolutely loves. He has recently taken to a big box that he likes to pull out into the living room and color, and then make into a bed for him and his animals.

getting the lids off the markers is sometimes a struggle...

He loves to run with Ben, back and forth across the apartment, over and over. He would do it for hours, laughing and squealing the whole time, urging Ben to keep going "Det's doh, Dad!". His favorite colors are, and have always been, blue and brown. He loves to eat, but gets bored sitting at the table, so meal times are always a bit of a struggle. When asked to do something, he almost immediately drops whatever he was doing previously, says "awwight, mom" and hops to it. For most of this year he has taken about a 3-3.5 hour nap everyday, but he's currently whittling it down to more like 2 hours. He loves Matthew ("Naanew"), his teddy bear, and has added another stuffed animal, Sheep ("veep"), to his bedtime requirements.

He loves to go to the library. Between story time, endless reading material (especially about trains and fire trucks), a play kitchen, and an amazing train set, Trevor would live at the library if we let him. His favorite songs are I am a Child of God, the Superman Theme song, Once there was a Snowman, and The Wheels on the Bus. Hide and seek is a favorite pastime, though it mostly consists of him hiding and then running out to surprise me. He loves to help me cook, unload the dishwasher, sweep, and do the laundry. He is really good at buttering bread/pancakes. Seriously.

 He talks a lot. We still need context clues for a lot of what he says, and I'm not really sure if anyone other than me can understand 75% of what he says, but he is a big talker nonetheless. He lives for 5:15 when Daddy walks in the door. His favorite movies are The Incredibles and Kung Fu Panda. He also enjoys Dinosaur Train, Curious George and Mr. Rogers. He loves to be outside - the winter is killing him as much as it is me, I think. We have made it out a few times in the snow though.

I love listening to him wake up in the morning. He is so happy. He'll just sing and play back there forever. He's developing quite the imagination too. I walked in the other day to get him up and he had made a "car" out of his blankets and pillows. He thinks it is hilarious to bonk people on the head with things. He'll randomly run up to you, yell "mmbonk" and then laugh hysterically. His laugh is very contagious. I love it. He loves to pull out all the pots and empty spice containers and make "cookies" or "soup" on the kitchen floor, sample the concoction, spit it out everywhere, add a little more "salt", taste again and it is "delicious".

He likes his personal space, wrestling is not his favorite, but he'll occasionally put up with it. He is not big into sweets (with the exception of chocolate candy). He ate maybe two bites of his birthday cake. I love that he still lets me rock him for a few minutes before bedtime. It's one of my favorite parts of the day, where I can just sit and cuddle him for a second. He is such a perfect kid, and Ben and I are incredibly blessed to be his parents.