Liam,
The last two years have been the best of our lives. You have filled each day with more love, more happiness, more laughter, and more messes than expected. Keep making us proud to be your parents and we hope that we will keep making you proud that you are our son.
Oh, what a difference a year makes.
A year ago, I blogged that you were just barely walking. At two, you run like a lightning bolt, often out of our sight in a flash.
A year ago, I blogged that you were using sign language to communicate. At two, you are telling us what you want, where you want to go, and how to do things, ALL DAY LONG.
A year ago, you had just learned how to throw, catch, and kick a ball. At two--oh, wait--at two, you are STILL doing that! Now you can make baskets from "far away" as you say, hit a ball with a bat, and kick a goal. I'm not sure that your love for balls will ever change:)
At two, you have a great imagination. Your latest thing has been to pretend like you are a dog--fetching, barking, getting puppy treats, etc. You even named yourself..."Pup." When we say: "Hi, Monkey" or "come here, Monk" (one of our nicknames for you), you correct us: "Me not Monkey, Me Pup!" You like dressing up in your Tigger costume. And the last day, since you got your new play BBQ, you have been pretending to grill us breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
At two, you have a love for music. You can't stay still when you hear it--your booty shakes, your hands go up in the air and you start dancing. You wake up wanting to play rock-band with daddy. You don't want to drive unless Pandora is cranking the "Yo Gabba Station." And my favorite....every weekend at church, we get you checked into your classroom and before we drop you off, we take you into service with us. You wait (fairly) patiently for the "jin-jins" (guitars) to come out and you worship God with us for about 20 minutes. It is so sweet to watch your face, and know that the words of each song are sinking into your heart. I pray that you will sing those words from your heart and it will impact your faith someday soon.
Your sweet spirit and snuggliness that you had SO MUCH of at age one is still there; albeit at a lesser level. It has to compete now with your adventuresome spirit. But I like the mix...I think it is the perfect mix for a little boy growing up these days.
Here are some pictures from your birthday morning. You woke up to balloons covering your floor. You blew out candles on your birthday oatmeal. And you opened presents and cards from people who couldn't come to your party. Your Papa Soran wrote you a very nice letter explaining why he couldn't attend--it involved a rocket ship, so you have re-read it multiple times:). It was a fun morning and a fun day to celebrate you--to celebrate TWO! We love our two year old.