I cannot believe
it’s taken me almost two months to write this, but…Happy 2nd
Birthday Mitchell!
Buddy Boy – I
can’t believe you are already two! I can
remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. You took us by surprise that day in more ways
than one. You came 10 days early, were
born two hours after we checked into the hospital and, since we didn’t know,
hearing ‘It’s a Boy” was a little bit of shock. I wasn’t sure what it would be like to have
a son, but I honestly cannot imagine my life without you now. You keep us on our toes with your boundless
energy. You, my son, do not walk
anywhere. You run full speed ahead into
life. You almost always wake up happy,
gifting us immediately with your sweet smile each day. You give the best kisses and tightest hugs,
and when you come up to me and say “Me wuv you Mama” it makes my heart feel
like it could burst. You are loved so
deeply by your Daddy and I, and your sister Evie absolutely adores you. You two can fight like nothing else, but if
anyone else tries to mess you with -
look out! Big sister will swoop in to
protect you.
So what are you
like at two? Well, you love trucks, cars
and trains. Maybe love isn’t the right
word…it’s more like seriously obsessed.
I’ve never seen anyone get so much joy out of seeing construction
equipment out of a car window. What’s
funny to me is that you know all of the names of the trucks and equipment. I say “Look Mitch – It’s a digger!” and
you’ll respond “No mama.
Excavator!”. You know all about
dump trucks, bull dozers, steam rollers and cement mixers, but your enthusiasm
for things-that-go extends beyond construction.
If I let you, I think you’d stand in our front window all day watching
the mail truck, garbage truck and school buses go by. You always get excited to see an airplane in
the sky or hear a train whistle in the distance. You’ve gotten to ride on some
real trucks, the zoo train and construction equipment this summer and you were
thrilled. You might not know it from the
pictures though – you were dead serious about it!
What else about
you Mitchell-Man? Let’s see… you love
storytime and we have to read you a minimum of 4 books at bedtime. You like to be rocked at night, but at a
certain point, you ask me to put you in your crib. You’ll look at me and say “Mama – me go in my
bed and you stay right here”. You never
want me to leave the room. You still
suck your thumb and I don’t see it stopping any time soon. And you still have a fascination with your
belly button, especially when you are tired.
You want to do most thing yourself now and you are so
stubborn. You like to put on your own
shoes, brush your own teeth and do the buckles on your car seat. You’re a good eater, but somewhat picky. You will scarf down tofu and black beans with
rice, but you won’t touch broccoli (or most other vegetables). I still give you baby food pouches
occasionally so that you get your veggies.
You love popcorn, cereal and lollipops, but most of the time you won’t
eat spaghetti or pickles. You talk so
much these days and in paragraphs. The
‘Ages and Stages’ questionnaire that I filled out at your 2 Year checkup said
that you should be able to string around 2-3 words together, but you far exceed
that. You know some shapes and we are
working on colors (you like yellow and purple).
You love to sing – ABCs, Happy Birthday and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
are current favorites. You ask ‘Why?’
constantly and about everything. You’re
not crazy about the vacuum cleaner or anything that makes loud noises. You hate the air vents in the van and we have
to keep the ones over your car seat shut.
You are a busy
boy and you never stop moving. Pretty
much from the time you wake up until your head hits the pillow at night, you
are a little Tasmanian devil. It’s not
that you behave badly – although believe me you have your moments. You are just very curious and you like to
make messes. Big ones. I can have the whole family room picked up
and, in the span of 5 minutes, you will whirlwind your way through,
fingerprinting every surface you can reach and getting out all the toys you’ve
ever owned. Another thing that you like
to do is follow your sister around. If
Evie does something, you want to do it too, and you two are so
competitive. That’s partially my
fault. I often try to entice you both do
stuff by making it into a competition.
Like “Last one upstairs is a rotten egg!” or “Who can put their pajamas
on the fastest?’. Most of the time, it’s
all in good fun, but sometimes it turns into a fight, usually over the silliest
things. Like when you argue over who
gets to shut the door, turn off the TV or stand on the step stool in the
bathroom. For the most part, however,
you and your sister are two peas in pods. You call her Sissy and she calls you
Buddy. It’s pretty cute!
You are
definitely a Mama’s boy and I Iove it (although I know it can frustrate your
Daddy sometimes). However, as you get
bigger I can see your bond with Daddy getting stronger. He understands you in ways that I can’t and I
look forward to the Father/Son moments that you will share in the future. You love all of your grandparents so much and
have such special bonds with each of them, but you and your Pops are great
friends. You love it when he tosses you
up and holds you upside down, and you will follow him anywhere. You pester him constantly, but I don’t feel
sorry for him because he encourages it.
You make us all laugh Mitch and I thank you for that.
You are loved,
Sweet Mitch, absolutely and completely by so many people and you bring us such
joy. Anyone who sees your twinkling eyes
and mischievous grin can’t help, but smile too.
