Mike, Shan, Crue & Tate: 2012

I love my two year old. I have to sometimes repeat this to myself multiple times a day. It's so funny I hold or look at Tate and I just get this calming feeling. I look at Crue and I just get this burst of energy...I'm pretty sure it's out of necessity so that I can keep up with the kid. He has more energy than anyone I have ever met. Luckily spring is coming and we have already had some awesome park days that seem to really help wear him out. We also frequent Kangaroo Zoo weekly which keeps both of us sane. Of course the slide he has to go down a million times is the one slide he can't go up by himself. Lets just say I get a pretty good work out hauling not only my own body up the crappy/flimsy stairs but his as well. The best part is when i'm on my 6th or 7th time hauling him up and I'm starting to grunt a little (because I hold him with one arm and have to hold on to the side of the slide with the other hand) and Crue starts to grunt like he's putting just as much effort into climbing up the stairs as I am! It cracks me up! Some other things he's doing lately that I don't want to forget are:

He says "Oh" before answering a question or saying something. Example: when I go in his room in the morning (we shut his door so he can't get out) and hes sitting on his night stand looking out the window and when he sees me he says, "oh hi mommy!" I can't think of a better way to start my day.
He ignores Tate except for when Tate cries and than he yells, "Tate, cry, sad" and freaks out and tells me to get Tate's bb (binkie)
Crue has been spending some time in time-out lately. When he gets in trouble he runs to put his nose to the wall and then after about 15 seconds (sometimes not even that long) he turns to me and says, "sorry mommy" or "sorry shrek" (for some reason he likes to kick Shrek...not Maggie just Shrek) and gives me a hug or will go and hug Shrek. Then he runs off. So I have to bring him back and tell him I'm happy that he's sorry but he has to stay in time-out longer. We usually end up repeating the above sequence 3 or 4 times until his 2 minutes are up.
When we get in the car he will yell "big bus" or "big truck" the whole time. Once in a while he will say "mommy church" or "mommy trees".
Crue is obsessed with trains and has way too many
Throughout the day he comes over and pats me on the back and says, "mommy u ok?" and he will do the same thing to anyone else in the room.
Even though he likes to kick Shrek (I think this has to do with Shrek constantly taking his food from him if it's within reach) he really does love the dogs. He plays with them and mauls them and they are so sweet with him. One of Crue's favorite things is he has a car that the seat lifts up and it's a storage spot so he puts food or the dogs toys in there. Then he runs around the house pushing his car and the dogs follow him which is what he wants because he LOVES when they chase or follow him. He's been watching Jungle Book lately and so whenever they are playing this little game Crue tells them to march just like the elephants march in the movie.
Crue also likes to take the dogs toys and throw them in the sink where they obviously can't get them. He will take Maggies bone and throw it in the sink too if he doesn't think she's eating it fast enough.
He is fearless and it scares me a little.
When you ask him to stop doing something he looks at you confused and says, "what?" and you can repeat yourself a million times but he'll still say what.
His favorite tv shows are Little Einsteins (pat pat), Micky Mouse Clubhouse (his favorite character is Goofy) and Chuggington (his favorite train is koko). I have so much fun watching him watch these shows because they ask the kids questions and Crue answers them right almost every time. I can't believe how smart this kid is!
In the mornings after he has had his milk, he likes to get ready with his dad. He has to put on his dads deoderant and hair stuff.
Crue wears his church shoes around the house all the time...yet when we are at church he takes them off....
If you ask him if he's naughty or nice he will tell you that he is naughty.
He makes me laugh everyday.
He will pat or clap his hands and then tell everyone in the room to do it too. He will also clap his hands and tell everyone to dance and if you aren't dancing he calls you out on it and you better listen. When you tell him to dance though he says "no".
Everything is "I do it mommy". This sentence may be the death of me.
He loves to clean and will say "clean mess?"
He loves his mommy, daddy, mimi, da, papa, c, z, zac, bo and kashi and is pretty good about giving us all kisses and a snug.
He has an amazing memory.
He still takes his naps and is pretty good about going to bed at night. Knock on wood.

Needless to say we love the little guy more and more everyday and are so thankful that he's ours.

yes, he's putting icing on his banana...he is his mothers child :)

He fell asleep eating

Its amazing to me how fast my little baby has grown! We went to dr. k's office and got little Tater bug all checked and his stats were: 64% for weight (15.5 lbs), 26% for height, and 6% in head size. Even though he may be tiny to some, to me he is huge! Crue was never as chubby as Tate...and I love it! I LOVE his chubby thighs and arms. He's such a fun little guy too. He goo's and talks up a storm and his eyes light up when he smiles. Unlike Crue he hardly ever has grumpy old man face, loves to snuggle and watch his older brother play with the dogs. The other night Mike was holding Tate and I was on the floor playing with Crue and the dogs. As soon as Tate looked over at us he started laughing! It was so sweet! He is constantly watching Crue, unfortunately Crue doesn't like to play with him. The most interaction they have had is when Tate was sitting in the walker and Crue started playing with the toys on the walker. Oh yeah, and when Crue steals his binkie or we force Crue to get close enough to take a pic of the two together. Tate is also getting his first tooth and it's been really hard on all of us. Thank goodness we discovered these natural teething tablets when Crue was little and they work like a charm!
The other night a friend asked me if Tate was rolling over yet or sitting up on his own or eating solid food....and the answer to all of those questions is no. I probably baby this kid waaayyy to much but he's my baby and he can pretty much do whatever he wants, when he wants :)