Guess who's 2!

DISCLAIMER: Of course, life with a toddler is mostly unexpected and impossible to plan. We think Ryker got a nasty case of heat sickness last week from school, because our kid is a fish and needs insane amounts of water. I wrote this post the night before his birthday and am just now getting around to posting a week later! He's all good now and his teacher makes sure he always has access to water, that kid could drink the ocean after play time. Enjoy!

My baby boy is going to be two tomorrow! I can't believe the way that time has flown by. The first year was a lot of fun, but I think that even with the trials that come with having a mobile toddler in the house, this last year has been pretty amazing. Watching Ryker learn new things every day and really seeing the ways in which his personality is starting to blossom has been absolutely amazing.

My little guy still loves to eat like he's trying to catch up to his Daddy in no time. He regularly eats as much, if not more than I do and is still my skinny little guy, but don't be fooled...he's super heavy when you go to pick him up! He's sitting at about 30 pounds these days, which spurred us to finally get him into a new car seat about a month ago. We went with the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 and have really liked it, so much so that we bought the same one for each of our cars. I've learned that the easiest way to try and have a happy ride home from school (he's usually pretty fussy after a day of playing with his friends) is to make sure that his cup holder is stocked with a drink and have a snack ready for him. The kid is a water fiend, just like his daddy! Since his school provides his lunches and snacks, I try to make him the best dinners possible but lately he's been obsessed with green beans, so his dinner diet has comprised of lots of green beans and either frozen fishies from Dr. Praeger's, chicken nuggets or whatever we happen to be grilling that night. He also lovingly refers to bananas (his favorite fruit) as "nannies" and God forbid he sees one that you don't intend on giving to him, he'll lose it. Be careful when you peel it too, he doesn't like it when they break in half!

His vocabulary has absolutely exploded and he's pointing out things all around him as he learns their names. Lately, he's been finding stars and cars everywhere and last week he pointed out an airplane that was flying by while we were driving! Some of his other favorite words/phrases include: what's that, uh-oh, oh no, bye-bye, Mommy and Daddy, baby, Ah-Ah (the name of his monkey toy), night night, I don't know, and many more that I can't think of right now. He sings and dances, which I think is just the cutest thing ever and just last night I got him to repeat back his version of "I love you" and it totally melted me. He can point out his hair, nose, eyes, fingers, toes, shoes, belly and ears and loves to find them on his stuffed animals as well. 

The kid is OBSESSED with books. Sometimes I just have to hide certain ones so that I can get a break from reading the same thing over and over. We just got him a basketball hoop for his birthday and we're hoping that he enjoys that, recently he's had a lot of fun throwing a ball around the house and yelling "ball!", so hopefully he'll love the hoop just as much. We also got him a lego table because he loves the one at our local Carter's store so much, which makes shopping there really easy!

There are so many other amazing things that he does and says every day. Sometimes, especially as this pregnancy progresses, he might make me doubt my abilities to stay sane with two children, but more often than not he's cracking me up and making me tell Vic how cute his is and how I think he's a genius. I can't believe it's already been two years since that little guy came into our lives and shook everything up. He's changed me in so many ways, the biggest of which has been my patience and my obsession with making sure our bed time routine happens. No, it isn't a strict bath and book routine. Every night I lay him down, we sing a song or two with our faces cuddled up on his stuffed owl, he kisses me "night night" and I say "I love you sweetheart, have sweet dreams". Some nights he won't be as stoked about bed times as others, which is mostly rare, so I'll sneak back in once he's asleep and make sure all of that happens no matter what. Tonight I may hold him a little longer, our nights of him being my only baby are numbered! He'll always be my first child, and only now do I see how special that is. I love you, Stinker, happy almost birthday!  

I can't believe it's been a year since this picture! I bought him another blue cake for this year, new pictures to come!