Andrew the Very Talkative Two Year Old (29 Month Update)

Dearest Andrew,
Holy Talking Toddler Batman!  Andrew, you love to talk.  Like constantly.  It is adorable and at times I want to say, “Can Mommy say something?”  Hahaha!  :)  It really is sweet though.  Those of us that spend a lot of time with you are always amazed by how well you speak.  Do other two years old speak this well?  I have no idea!  I’m new to this all you see. :)   I do know that it is getting easier and easier to communicate with you and you are finding it easier to tell us what you want and/or need.   There are still plenty of times, especially when you get excited, that it is hard to understand what you are saying, and sometimes there is even still gibberish, but for the most part the communication lines are open and flowing.  Just one more way you are not a baby anymore.  Sob!

Okay, so as always, here is a list of some of the things you have done this past month.  Mommy couldn’t possibly keep up with it all. :)

• While singing “Jesus Loves Me” the other night we got to the part where the song says, “…and He is strong!”  We always make a motion like we are showing off our “muscles” and you said, “I am growing big!”  Haha, where in the world did you learn that?  Too cute!
• You tried something new…raisins!!! You loved them and said, “Mmmmm candy!”  HA!
• The other day I was cleaning and threw Thomas up on the table and you said very calmly, “Don’t do that Mama.  Don’t throw Thomas on the table.”  Yes sir! :)
• Mama went back to work for just one night and it made me even more thankful for my current boss.  He’s cute, he’s short, he lets me wear pajamas to work sometimes, and although he thinks it’s funny to toot on me, I still love working for him! :)
• I finally found you a desk just like the one you have a Mimi’s house!  I have it all set up and you can color, play with playdough (or as you call it, smush), or just sit and look at books. 
• We went to a local farm with Mimi and Pop and spent the afternoon playing all their games, picking pumpkins, and each enjoying a delicious fried pie that Pop got us.  Pop got Mommy two because I dropped my first one on the ground and threw it away.  Oops! :)
• We had Chrissy, Isaiah, and Olivia over to play and Chrissy and I enjoyed watching the three of you play together.  Isaiah and Olivia were thrilled to see an entire set of new toys, and you were thrilled to have company.  We seriously need to do that more often.
• We have you singing, “1, 2, 3” and “Read Your Bible, Pray Every Day” on video by yourself.  Yet when it’s time for you to sing with the other children on Sunday morning, you’re like, “I’ve never heard this before!”  Haha!  Booger. :)
• We got to celebrate Sky’s third birthday with her at her princess party.  Mimi did such a great job putting it together!  You loved seeing your cousins and their cousins and of course Mimi, Pop, Gi Gi, Papa, your great grandma, Aunt Renee, and Uncle Stevie.  Andrew heaven! :)
• This is SO sweet!  You and Daddy were playing in our room and you hit your chest (lightly) on the bed.  You stopped, got very serious, put your hand where you hit yourself, and said “Jesus!”  You were doing what Mama does when you get hurt; you called on the name of Jesus! :)
• We celebrated your third Halloween and you dressed as what else?  A train conductor of course! :) You looked adorable!!!  We took you to a Halloween party at the zoo and you got to go trick or treating for the first time.  They had lots of people handing out candy and you were amazed people were giving it to you!  It was such a fun night!  You even got to ride the train, but you weren’t too thrilled with the Halloween train. :)  You love riding the train at the zoo, just not at night. You also weren’t too thrilled with any Halloween decorations you saw.  We had a neighbor down the street that went all out and his house scared you!  It scared Mama a bit too. :)
• When it’s time to play, you make no bones about it!  You say, “Get up Mom!  Get up Dad!  Come on!”  Haha!
• One of my favorite games now is to take you to Target and head to the Thomas aisle.  I hold up trains and see if you can name them.  And not easy ones like Thomas, Percy, and James, but hard ones.  I am always surprised how many you can name.  Ones I have never heard of!  And you really don’t even watch Thomas that much. See, a little more proof that you can secretly read. Hehe! :)
• You are starting to show your independence a bit more by picking out your clothing, choosing what you want to eat, deciding what we will do, etc.  There are still a lot of times Mommy chooses for you, but you love to help.
• Speaking of helping, you love to help Mommy do anything!  You love to help move the clothing from the washer to the dryer and the dryer to the basket.  You love to help unload the dishwasher and you LOVE it when Mama asks you to get something for me.  I don’t do it very often, I want you to be a kid after all, but you get so excited when I let you help! :)
• Want to know my sure fire way of getting you to come when I ask you to and you don’t want to?  Just play a video of you on my iPhone and you come running!  Haha, works every time! :) You love to watch videos of yourself.
• You really enjoyed driving around looking at the leaves changing colors.  You kept saying, “They are changing color! Pretty!”
• You are using your imagination more and more.  You love to pretend like you are eating and drinking things.  You love to “serve” Mommy and Daddy cookies, drinks, sandwiches, etc.  One night you were pretending to eat candy and I asked for some.  You reached into your mouth and pretended to give me candy from your mouth! Hahaha!  Too bad you don’t think eating is that great in real life. :)
• You LOVE for me to hold you and dance around the room to music.  You laugh your head off and when I put you down, you reach up and ask me to do it again!  It’s a workout for sure, but I love it! :)
• Mimi gave you her Kindle Fire to play while she quickly went to the bathroom.  When she came back, you had found your way into the store, found some train games, and were about to purchase one!  Hahaha!!!  You sure knows your way around a tablet, phone, computer, etc. :)
• Daddy stayed home with you while I went to Ladies Retreat.  I got all sorts of pictures of you while I was gone of the two of you having a blast sans Mommy.  Pictures of you playing, eating ice cream at a local ice cream place (even after putting pepper on it, hahaha), and just having fun with your Daddy. Looks like Mama wasn’t missed too much. :)
• You started saying, “Thanks pal!” all the time like Daddy does. :)
• Daddy took the day off and we got to spend one of the last warm days (and it was a beautiful day!) at the zoo and then the park.  You got to ride the train and carousel.  On the carousel, you chose to ride a rhinoceros which Daddy called a hippopotamus.  Hehe.  I just showed you the picture I chose for this post and you said, "I'm riding a hippopotamus!"  Hahaha!  I said, "No, that's a rhino."  And you said, "Nope, it's a hippo!  Oh my! :)  So funny!  And the way you said "hippopotamus".. CUTEST THING EVER! :) 
• You love to type on my computer.  We open a Word document and type the letters and numbers saying what they are as we type them.  Mommy is teaching you the sounds the letters make as well.  Who knew a Word document could be so much fun? :)

Well, that’s this past month in a nutshell.  We enjoyed the last few days of warm weather and know that the cold is coming.  I can’t wait for it to snow so we can get out there and play again.  You loved it so much last year and I bet you will enjoy it even more this year!  I love you so much!  Looking forward to another wild, crazy, super fun month with you, my best buddy! :)