Catching up, part 1: Christmas Eve

Inexplicably, my tiny baby boy is now two years old. It is amazing to think of all of the ways he's grown and changed over the past year. A year ago, he'd only been walking for a month and was working out the finer details of not falling on his face. Now he can walk, run, walk using silly steps, jump, climb, and moonwalk. When he was one, he communicated by crying and grunting. Now he's busting out all kinds of words, in English and Spanish, two and three word phrases, and even showing us simple sentences. ("No more nigh-nigh, Daddy. Daddy up.") He developed a fierce loyalty to his stuffed tiger Roary, saw the ocean for the first time, and got to give Elmo a hug at Sesame Place. He can scribble with crayons, sing to himself, dance like a loon, climb into a chair, and eat an astonishing amount of pizza. He can climb up the stairs to the big slide at the playground, then rush down face first. He can indentify most of the things in pictures in his books, and he can even fill in words in books that he reads often. If you ask, "How old is Jack," he gives an enthusiastic, "Two!" Oh, and did I mention that he can fall asleep by himself and sleep all night? Because believe me, that's a big one!

Our celebration of Jack's second birthday didn't go exactly as planned. The poor little man was sick the day before (in spectacular technicolor in front of the entire family) so we decided to take it easy. We spent the day doing Jack's favorite things around the house -- watching Sesame Street, playing, and going to the park. Then he opened his presents. His big present from us was a kitchen, and he absolutely loves it. Jack has since spent many the hours making us fries in his oven, then cutting me off with a "No more fries, Mama."


Although he seemed okay all day, Steve and I decided to play it safe and not go out for pizza for dinner or to Build-A-Bear. I did, however, make Elmo cupcakes for him. Jack absolutely loved his cupcake... right until he threw it up, again in front of everybody.

You've got to admire his tenacity, though: As I grabbed him so we could go upstairs to clean up, Jack said, "More cake?" He's going to be great in college.

Happy birthday, big guy. I love you and am proud of you.