It seems like our little man is changing literally, every single day. New words & new phrases, new likes & dislikes, growing opinions, and improving abilities - he's a different child every day.
I think I say this at every stage, but I LOVE where Hunter is right now!! He is soooo sweet and soooo loving. He is constantly showing us love and affection in so many different ways. Much of this attention is reciprocated when I'm 'loving on' him, but what gets to me the most are all those other unexpected moments where he climbs in my lap and wants Eskimo kisses or just pats my leg, or when he wraps his arms around my neck and squeezes so tight (he even makes the little "hmm mmm" sound). And one of our most precious treasured times - is first thing in the morning. There is just something amazing about snuggling between my two boys all night and then waking up to a bright eyed, smiling face. :) Hunter usually climbs up on my belly and lays his head on my chest for a brief but wonderful cuddle before he starts his good-morning kisses and giggles. (I will say there are pros and cons to co-sleeping, but so far the pros outweigh the cons because neither mommy or daddy want to give this special time up). Thankfully though, he continues to pour out his love generously to us, throughout the rest of the day. And recently he has even started saying, "Love You" when we say it to him or when I am leaving for work! Oh my goodness, how I love this little boy . . .
This look just screams precious-ness
those eyes . . .
"Love You, Bye Mommy"
His love & affection is so great, it is spilling over to 'Puppy'
Hunter's abilities are expanding at an astounding rate!! He is beginning to learn colors, letters, and shapes - at this point he's fairly accurate at blue and green, repeating the ABC's, and recognizing circles, stars, moons/crescents, squares, & triangles. He also LOVES to count to 1-2-3 "uhn, two, free" all by himself and counted 1-11 with only slight assistance the other day!! He will also try to repeat every number when we count together, even in Spanish . . . which I find to be very entertaining! He really enjoys putting coins into my piggy bank, so I use it as a great opportunity to work on math skills! (given the right mood, he might even be able to decipher between quarters, dimes, and penny's)
Motor skills and energy levels are at an all time high. Any kind of game involving movement such as ring-around-the-rosie, tag/chase, basketball, "Basssse-Ball", football, wrestling, frisbee, etc, are the activities Hunter wants to be involved in. The newest thrills around the house have been "swiding" around on our hardwood floors in my slick/fuzzy socks and taking all the pillows off the double chair and jumping on the "mm . . . pleen" (trampoline). Or really, jumping period - whether it be into our arms or off or over an object, and he even recently started jumping flat footed on the ground. I foresee many trips to 'Boingo Bounce" when winter starts keeping us locked indoors. He's also mastered climbing. This new skill can be very helpful like being able to climb in/out of his highchair or car seat but not so much when I come out of the bathroom and find him standing on his tip-toes on top of his rocking chair, digging through a candy bowl on the second shelf of my entertainment center . . . or when I watched him tree frog his way up onto our kitchen counters, using only arm strength and finger/tow grip to assist. He's quiet the little monkey!
We're still working on nap times. He's gotten really good at begging for "no pallet - no nap" but Mommy keeps insisting that it's necessary. Although I love this little mess-maker to death, I value those 2 hours in the afternoon and don't plan on giving them up any time soon. We are still working on the pallet concept, but when my little man is laying there with tears in his eyes begging me to "wok pwease" the Mommy in me that knows this time in our lives is soooo short comes out, and savors every second of my ability to still hold and rock my baby to sleep . . .
Everyone seems to agree that turning 2 has brought limitless joy from our little man. Therefor everyone wants to soak him up as much as possible. :)
And we are SO BLESSED to be able to share him with amazing grandparents and great grandparents.
Pa's visits are definitely something Hunter gets excited about. I've learned that I can't talk about him coming to play until shortly before his arrival or I'll be hearing about it non-stop or possibly create tears if mentioned too far in advance. And since he's started making trips to the farm with Pa, we discuss them feeding the deer, riding the tractors, building brush piles, and killing snakes - daily.
Pa accidentally got whacked in the eye by his Hunter-Bear (causing it to swell and blacken) on this day of babysitting fun - luckily though, Hunter's kisses have a miracle healing effect. :)
The moment Hunter realized that when Pa left just before nap time, that he wasn't coming right back after he woke up
A story that we hear repeated day after day came about after Dad aka Pa sent Hunter a picture of a Copper Head that he found and killed in the yard at the house. He's so cute with his exaggerated facial expressions and big brown eyes as he wrinkles up his nose and says, "Pa . . .BIIIIGG 'hhnnake, yard . . . POP! 'n tilled 'hhnnake"
His trips with Pa out to the farm are probably some of his favorite memories. He loves to talk about them, for us to make up stories about them, and he's even started telling us "Pa - farm - stories"
Hunter also loves to tell us all about his exciting trip that he took with Grandmommy and Pops, or as he tells us "Pops... take... me!" to see "Wions . . . (roar) 'n Bears". I love that he enjoys his Grandparents so much and has already started making so many wonderful memories with them.
He's also really into "choo choo trains" so this was a BIG DEAL!!
Not only does Hunter share his love with family and "fwiends", he devotes much of his attention and affection to his sweet and fluffy kitty cat, Lily.
And though Lily may not be the center of my attention anymore, she takes up most of Hunter's. I think it's adorable to see his love for her, and her tolerance for him! HA! She is such a wonderful cat (I'd say purrr-fect, but we're all in agreement that her shedding is ridiculous). But regardless of the extra house work, Lily is a sweet friend and companion to our little man and has been a great teaching tool used to teach kindness & gentleness (I bet I say "easy Hunter, gentle" 100x a day), responsibility (he loves to feed her and give her treats), and even anatomy (he loves to name all of her body parts, esp her teeth which he now says "ohh sharp!"). Lily is also a great helper when it comes to calming some of Hunter's fits or encouraging him to do things he doesn't really want to do, just by talking about what she (and our imaginary 'Monster' who is also a large part of our family) is doing, or that she's hungry and needs Hunter to feed her, or that she wants to brush her teeth too, or that she'll have to sit on the naughty step if she doesn't mind mommy, etc. Hunter can be screaming and he'll just cut-it-off to listen and hear what I'm saying to Lily or Monster. He has even told me "Lily . . . miss . . . me" and "Lily . . . twies" when he is gone because I've told him similar stories so many times to encourage him to want to go back home. :)
Did I mention Hunter has now started playing pretend?
He LOVES pretending he is a kitty cat. Meow . . .
He LOVES pretending he is a kitty cat. Meow . . .
Reminiscent of my childhood, when Cassie and I drank our milk out of a bowl like kitty cats . . . Hunter thought this was soooo much fun.
"Meow" such a sweet kitty . . .
And he loves for me to 'pet' him aka - scratch his back & ears :)
Memorable Tidbits & Phrases from the last couple of months:
-27 months: Started forming sentences . . . with long, adorable pauses
-27 months: Started forming sentences . . . with long, adorable pauses
-Sunday mornings seem to always be rushed, but one particular Sunday in August kept us laughing for days. After rushing out the door and loading/strapping Hunter into his car seat he started begging to ride in Daddy's truck. We were not in the mood nor did we have the time to make the switch, but also not wanting to cause a major upset, I simply told him that Daddy's truck was broke and we had to take Mommy's car. Simple. He understood. No fowl. Except for the fact that later that afternoon when Daddy was leaving to run an errand, Hunter sharply recalled the conversation from earlier that morning and reminded us that "Daddy truck bwoke." Oops, our little man clearly proved he now has quite the memory recall and mommy realized that white lies are no longer the solution!! :)
-He wants to be included and help with everything "Me . . . hep . . . too"
-All day long I am sweetly asked, "what you doin Mommy?" "what dat Mommy" followed by the sweetest little "Oh" I am never going to get tired of that!!
-Still working with the potty. He seems to do best when he is naked and the only other option is to go on himself . . . But he now tells me his "biper" is "full and wet"
-28 1/2 months: Captain Repeat, literally overnight. He woke up and started repeating almost every word or phrase we would use, and singing songs like "itsy bitsy spider" and "the elephant song".
-28 1/2 months: Captain Repeat, literally overnight. He woke up and started repeating almost every word or phrase we would use, and singing songs like "itsy bitsy spider" and "the elephant song".
-Almost ALL of the things he says I realize derive directly from the words and phrases I speak to him every day, it's just so funny to hear them directed back me such as, "wait" and "Hold on Mommy" and "last one, okay?"
One Hot & Sweaty, Happy Little Boy
Eating Habits haven't changed too much. He varies day to day on the amounts and varieties of food that we can convince him to eat. Rarely will he ask for food, but when he does, you can bet he's hungry! I've started adding frozen shrimp to many entrees since that seems to be a healthy hit we've discovered. But his staples currently revolve around scrambled eggs, cereal w/ milk, several fruits, peanut butter, sliced bread, turkey, hot dogs, orange & apple juices, carrots, cheese, crackers/chips/cookies, spaghetti, mac-n-cheese, pizza, fries, and chicken nuggets.
Spilled Spaghetti - Oops!
I'm mystified by how fast he can make a huge mess and then even more so, by his ability to make me not care or get upset by it
First Ice Cream Cone !! Nothing beats Chick-Filets' trade your toy for a cone option!!
A few new Meal-Time Phrases:
"I chew Mommy" meaning he needs to finish chewing before I force another bite in :)
"No try it"
Loves his "Oornage - Juice" and "Bapple - Juice" and especially in a "Juice - Box"
"Bunch Mommy!" meaning he wants alot or all of something
"Bowf" or "Bowf two, free" when there are 2 or 3 things he wants
My favorite: "Mmmm, dat dood Mommy"
One of my very favorite new abilities - Praying.
He has become the Prayer Chief, and he will call you out if you slip up and don't take a second to thank the Lord. I love it!! And to hear him pray is crazy precious, "tank-choo . . . tank-choo . . . tank-choo - men" LOVE LOVE LOVE
Colossians 1:9-12
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