Two looks good on you!

Oh my goodness, I can't believe our little mister man is two!  I'm so happy and sad at the same time. I love the little person he's growing up into....but, then I get sad that he's growing so fast. This has been a BIG year of changes for our little guy and we are definitely in full toddler mode. 

The stats:  Titus currently weights 22.4 lbs and is 32 inches tall.  In the last few weeks he has grown out of all of his 12 month clothes.  And this week he outgrew almost all of his 18 month pants.  Whew... He's wearing size 5 shoes and has been for quite awhile, so I suspect we'll be moving to the next size fairly quickly. Currently he is teething.  Those two year molars are a pain.  We've had many meltdowns due to not feeling well and quite often his hands are crammed in his mouth.  Poor baby!

Chatter Box:  I can't even begin to write down all the words Titus says.  His count is in the hundreds. He is very chatty and into repeating anything and everything.  He will continue saying a word until someone has acknowledge his new word.  Most of the time, he will repeat any word you tell him.  It may not be perfect but you can definitely tell what he's trying to say. He is an expert communicator.  He has started to sing multiple songs, The ABC's, Jesus Love Me, The Wheels on the Bus, The B-I-B-L-E.   We sing all of these songs hundreds of times a day.   Just this week he started singing with Daddy and me.  Normally, he likes to be a soloist.  ;)  This has been a fun and new change.  He can pretty much name all vehicles,  (including the different kinds of trucks and construction equipment), all the different animals at the zoo and farm, his body parts, anything related to food (surprise, surprise).  He's putting together simple sentences, "Coming Mommy.", "Daddy pray." "How are you?"  "I need a drink, please."  This has been a lot of fun!  He recently started experimenting with  prepositional words in his vocab which has been interesting.  Oftentimes they are correct, but sometimes they are just funny.  He also says please and thank you.  Bye is very heavy in his vocabulary.  He says bye to everyone and everything.  He also uses bye to let go of something and leave it. Yes, we tell many things bye.

Smarty Pants:  He loves letters!   He's constantly spotting letter on signs, books, trucks, stores and sharing with anyone and everyone what letter(s) he sees.  He recognizes numbers 1-10 and can count to twelve.  He sometimes skips the number 2 but for the most part he has it down.  He can spell and recognize his name.  He recognizes most shapes:  triangle, square, oval, circle, star, heart, wedge, trapezoid, octagon, rectangle, hexagon, and pentagon.  His memory is amazing!  He remembers things that sometimes shocks us.

Mover & Shaker:  He likes to dance.  Put on some peppy music and he will entertain his daddy and me for quite awhile.  He loves music.  And often requests certain songs and music now.  This boy NEVER stops!  Really he loves anything that requires agility.  Climbing equipment and jungle gyms are some of his favorites.  His new fascination is jumping and spinning in circles.  So fun!

Comfort:  The one sure fire way to calm Titus down is to sing Jesus Loves Me to him.  It's worked like a charm since the day we brought him home.  I love the fact that the name of Jesus calms him down and that he has heard His name  and this song since he was a week old at The Home.  

Faves:  His little bear that he's had since he came home is still his favorite.  He always knows where his bear is.  Even though he laid it down several hours earlier or put him inside something generally he can find him again.  He finally named his little bear this past week and he is now known as Mister Bear.  I pray often that we never loose this little bear...what a traumatic day it will be!  His newest craze is Elmo.  We aren't sure how that came into being; those creators are crazy geniuses.  His other faves right now are all trucks especially trash trucks and fire trucks.  We have quite a collection of cars and trucks in our house.  He also still loves books.  We read for hours everyday.  I'm so glad that he has a love for books.  The public library is one of Mommy and Daddy's favorite places!  :)  Drawing has recently become a new activity.  However, he despises coloring in coloring books.  Silly boy!  Give him a blank piece of paper and he'll go to town.  He's definitely a free spirit in the art arena.

 I am really enjoying this stage. It sometimes has it's challenges but overall I am just fascinated how one little boy can be such a baby in some senses, but such a big boy in others.  Usually at the same time.  Some moments I just sit and watch him and am amazed by how these two seemingly distinct beings are inhabiting the same little body.  Everyday brings new milestones, achievements, and challenges.  I wouldn't want to miss any of them and I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

  

Photos captured and created by my friend, Stacy Miller http://shineonphotography.blogspot.com