Happy birthday my two-year-old!!!
You bring me so much joy every day. You are a wild, rambunctious little man. Or should I say, dinosaur? You are obsessed with dinosaurs right now, and it’s taken over most of your imagination and play time. Eliza has adopted the trend and plays along. Your favorite game right now is “baby dinosaur” where you and Eliza both pretend to be baby t-rexes and I’m a dad t-rex that marches around trying to find you while you hide in obvious places. We play this for up to an hour at a time, which is a long time for me to march around and roar, but I can hang.
Your dinosaur obsession translated into a dinosaur-themed birthday party today. Your Mom will forever remember the day as one of bad traffic for our guests. Uncle Scott graciously picked up Grammie and Popa at the airport and they took two hours to get to our house after an already delayed travel schedule. A couple friends couldn’t come to the party due to traffic. We’ll also remember this as the night when Greta got really sick from some combination of sneaking party food and fireworks anxiety. And now we have a spot cleaner.
You took forever to go to sleep tonight, likely from so much excitement in the day. We can no longer predict when you want to nap or call it a night. We only know that your little motor runs at full speed and you sprint, imagine and explore until a great crash into sleep. You still cuddle your way into sleep every once in a while, and your Mom and I enjoy the expiring moments of a baby in our parenting careers.
I don’t know how you can hang so late in the day. You’re developing in so many ways, and that requires a lot of energy. You’re constantly playing ball sports. You’re learning how to use the potty and a stand-up urinal that Uncle Ty and Aunt Amber wisely bought you. We keep it in the shower until you improve your aim. You can count to 13. You love to play “sneak” and get scared when your Mom jumps out behind a corner or closet. I personally don’t love when she does that to me, so I’m glad you’re a willing target. You can ride a scooter on our family walks. You’re not as fast as Eliza and say “Wait for me!” when you get too far behind. When you are frustrated about anything, but especially being denied the TV or a bottle, you yell “yes and no,” and we try not to laugh because you’re so serious and the phrase is so nonsensical.
At night we’ve gotten into a good habit of reading books and you can hang with the more advanced books that Eliza prefers. I sit between you and manage the stereo effect of both of you asking “Who’s that? What do they say?” about every illustrated character on a page. I burst into laughter the other night because I couldn’t keep up with answering both of you at your rate of questions. It was one of those moments where I was truly overwhelmed and happy to be in that position at the same time.
You may one day find yourself as a young parent dealing with a hyper-active, highly intelligent two-year-old who is always a step ahead of you and surprising you with language, actions and disappearances that trigger major anxiety. I hope you do. It’s a blast.
Love always,
Dad