2 Years Old

Today, Elijah Luke K. turns two-years-old officially. Starting today, through May 7, I will have two boys who are both two-years-old. Craziness. This list is mostly for me and JB -- a highlight of our boy and where he is at. I recognize it is much the same as any other two-year-old with slight variations. I'm not one of those moms who thinks my son is more brilliant than all the others and especially equipped to be President above and beyond all other two-year-olds. But he's still our little two-year-old. I am truly in love with him. I am amazed by him. I feel so lucky to be his mother. And in fact, it is his propensity to be a regular ol' Joe that we love so much. He loves food. He loves coloring. He loves movies. He loves books. He loves toys. He loves cheeseburgers. He loves his Daddy and Mommy and his brother and his dog and his best friend William.

Here are just a few of the fun things he is currently into that I want to make sure to remember for years to come:

• If we are reading something and he sees cheese or milk or some other favorite food, it will remind him of what he is missing. "Need. Cheese. Please," he'll say. Then we have to stop reading to take a food or drink break.
• Calls his brother I-zee. Calls himself "Lijah." Knows that Mommy's name is "Wenni" and that Daddy is "Don."
• When you ask him a question, he loves to say, "Hmmmm..." Then he might say, "Help me," or "I know know." Other fun phrases included "need" (for anything he wants), "read da book", "gam-cacker" (for graham cracker).
• Loves magnets on the fridge -- loves finding the one you ask for and bringing it to you.
• Starting to sing ABC's with help.
• Can count to 19 in English with help; can count to 10 in Turkish with help.
• Doesn't cry anymore when I leave him at church or with friends and doesn't even seem to care so much that I am back.
• Enjoys sitting in church for the first 10 minutes before going to nursery. He loves the music and loves to clap whenever anyone else does (or even when they don't.)
• Absolutely LOVES LOVES LOVES music. Dances to anything and everything. This reminds me of JB who has always had a love for music.
• If you ask him for a kiss, and he agrees to give you one, he will have to give three kisses: one on each cheek and one on the lips. If he misses any of them from hitting square on, they must be redone. We aren't sure where this came from since JB and I don't intiate lip kisses with our kids. But he loves it nonetheless.
• Recognizes family and friends in pictures and on Skype. Anytime he hears an airplane he says, "Pane! Sky! Go Gama Di's house."
• Loves puzzles. Is getting quite good of them. Can nearly put together a 9 piece jigsaw puzzle by himself and the block puzzles for toddlers no longer challenge him. He can do a 0-9 number puzzle by himself and can do most of an Alphabet puzzle but he gets bored with it.
• Recognizes the American and Turkish flags and can point them out.
• Has selective hearing. Isn't really phased by punishments. Just likes to have fun.
• Says a lot of words but still speaks in 1-2 word phrases. For instance, last night for dinner he laid his Mickey Mouse doll down and said, "You. Stay. Here. I. Eat." He also grunts his words a lot like, "Funnn," or "Hereeee."
• Can do most animal noises. Yesterday he and Isaac were running into the room saying an animal name and making the noise. "Duck! Quack!" and then "Hosre. Neigh." Suddenly Elijah said, "Giraffe!" But what do they say? He had no idea so he just started hopping around and trying to look tall.
• Has done a lot of pee-pee in the potty. Once of the other. I think we will try to train them both together soon and see what happens. Lately he's lost interest in the potty.
• Loves to read books: favorites are his Mickey, Cars, and Little People Flap books. He could read those over and over again. When he brings me one flap book, he brings me all three.
• Loves all food and all drinks. Will try and eat most anything. Has started eating sweets a bit, but they still aren't his favorite. If he hears the word food, he goes to his booster seat and starts begging to get up in it to eat.
• Loves watching TV or videos -- especially Mickey Mouse
• Loves to take naps -- will go down and sleep for 3 hours without a second thought. Will often ask to go to sleep.
• Still wakes up too early for my taste -- 6am is a good day!
• Still allows Isaac to run the show. He seems to recognize that he is the alpha male between the two of them. Will often give up his toy willingly to share with an upset Isaac. (Isaac usually has no desire to do the same for Elijah.)
• Have to get his weight/height measurements. Will fill this in when we do. Our appt. is in two weeks.