2 years old :)

Jonah is two TODAY!!

Two things capture Jonah at this age for me: (1) his communication and vocabulary, and (2) his curious hands and impulsiveness!

Curious Hands:
Jonah has to touch everything. He loves to push buttons and turn knobs. He opens doors, empties containers, and swipes things off of tables and counters. He wants to know what it is and how it works. He will throw it, step on it, and (if it's small) roll it around on his face. He likes to squish and splash and bang. And lately, he wants to touch everything that he knows he is not supposed to. He can't help himself! He almost always realizes immediately after his hand flies out to touch it: shouldn't have done it!  ....and especially if you catch him in the act - he drops whatever it is and RUNS away. He just can't help it! Impulsive. Baby Cora is the worst. He just wants to touch and squish her in the worst way. Her tummy is squishy, her cheeks are squishy, her head is squishy - and he just can't keep his hands off.  We're working on it.

Communications:
Jonah talks - A LOT. He begins the moment he is awake and continues until he tucked into bed - the conversation falling off only the instant he collapses into sleep each night. He sings songs. He names objects and sounds.  But mostly, he narrates what he (or others) is/are doing. Baby Cora crying. Listen Papa 'Tut. Dump it out. Stack it up. Turn it over. Make a six! Daddy go work. Mama's cookin'. Most of his language is mimicking what he hears, so he often refers to himself in the third person: Thank you, Jonah. Good job, Jonah. You found it! Hi, Jonah! And a few other phrases I must say often, because I frequently hear them coming out of Jonah's mouth: Good idea! That's fun. Mmm-kay. Day go! (There you go).  He certainly doesn't have a self-esteem problem, he is his best encourager :)

As his language is developing, Jonah has his own unique way of saying certain things. My favorites include:
Babby Co-uh - for Baby Cora
Open IN it - not sure why he adds the extra syllable
Hoss-a-BUH-dull - where Daddy works :)
Carry up! - when he wants to be picked up
Fix Mommy's hands!!! - The other day I was cold, so I pulled my shirt sleeves down over my hands. This was really distressing to Jonah, for some reason. He won't drop it until we "fixed" my hands. Something else that causes Jonah much distress: Cora's pacifier. One of her pacis has a picture of a heart on it, and sometimes I give it to her with the heart upside down. The pacifier itself is flat, so it doesn't matter which way you insert it, but it really stresses Jonah out when the heart is upside down :)

Loves his daddy!

And his baby sister :)

At two, Jonah is an extrovert, feeding of the energy of others, especially older kids. He just loves to be around others and interact with people. He can be a bit of a ham in front of people other than Mom and Dad. He has started throwing some serious fits when things don't go the way he planned or expected. Our little boy loves music, letters and numbers, reading books, anything to do with water, and being outside.

We have a fun outing planned this morning to celebrate the birthday boy!  And then the celebration continues for the next few days - who says birthdays have to be just one day?  Brandon is off all day tomorrow (for MATCH DAY!). We'll start the morning with a doctor's appointment (at least there's no shots this time for the birthday boy), then head over to the medical school for the big reveal! Then we have the whole afternoon free to spend together as a family. On Saturday we have a little party planned to celebrate again! I guess we're making up for last year's lack of birthday hoopla.