Who is this 2-year old?

It's 1:00pm and two years ago on the dot I would be meeting my little Andrew for the first time. Just two years ago he was this 8lb 7oz wide eyed tiny little thing that didn't know his own hand belonged to him. Now he's this wide-eyed tall little man whose imagination blows me away sometimes. Andrew, I can’t believe how fast this time has gone. When you (or I) look back 5, 10, 15, 40 years from now, will we remember how perfect you were at this age? I know they say you are two and should be terrible. But baby, I love you just the way you are.

Your favorite things right now are:

- Trucks. They have been your favorite since you figured out what your hands where for. We have more than we can count throughout our house and carpet tracks from one end of the floor to the other. Many of them make noise and flash lights, which you think is cool. But your trusty ol' standby is your big yellow plastic dump truck that you can race behind at high speeds taking out anything in your path (including adult toes and a 70lb black lab).
- Applesauce, Yogurt, Cheese, Peanut Butter and M&M’s. These are your staples and you would happily live on these alone. Applesauce is by far the first thing you request whenever I ask when you would like. And lately you often pretend to eat it and offer me some even if we are nowhere near the kitchen. You are a little pickier with your yogurt. You pretty much stick to raspberry and blueberry and don’t like the fruit chunks. Any cheese is a winner and well, peanut butter is best eaten directly from the spoon. And who doesn’t love M&M’s.
- Movies (Moo-Bees). You get very excited when we let you watch a movie. You love full features such as Monster Inc, Nemo and Ice Age (your daddy is looking forward to taking you to see your first movie in the theater when Ice Age 2 comes out after your baby brother is born.) You also love the shorter flicks such as Veggie Tales (especially the “hairbrush song”), and Thomas the Tank. Of course, Sesame Street and Elmo's World are still staples in your life.
- Trains, Fire Trucks, Ambulances. I know these probably could fall under the truck category above, but lately you've taken a special affection with these. You sport your fire hat (big plastic bowl) on a regular basis and point to every Ambulance (sounds like “elephants” when you say it) that we see, which is quiet a few daily. You even know the differences between the sounds of the sirens.
- Books. You have fulfilled my dream of allowing me to rock my child and read to him my favorite books to a fault. Earlier this year, you really weren't interested in books or anything that meant holding still for more than 23 seconds. But now, you love them. Any of them. All of them. Although you do have your favorites that frankly, your father and I are sick of. Go Dog Go remains the number 1 book to be read. As well as the Monkey Book, Foot Book, Hooper Humperdink, and a set of shape/color/numbers books that you can read yourself. But I am very thankful for your love of books and hope it continues well into adulthood.
- Tubs/Showers. You love the water and would be willing to stay in until your fingers shriveled down to nothing if we let you. You seemingly have no fear of the water (which can make me a little nervous) as you happily stand directly under the showerhead or dump buckets full of water right on your face. Toys in the tub are like icing on the cake as really just a tub full of water with some plastic cups is all that are required for hygienic joy.
- Daycare. We’ve really been blessed with a fantastic daycare. The teachers are great and the stuff they do is super cool. You’ve learned so much and the things your bring home simply blow me away sometimes. You know you ABC’s and can count to 10. You can sit at a table to eat, drink out of cup without spilling and clean up after yourself. You are learning your colors, although your first guess is almost always blue. And most importantly, you are learning to share, how to be friend, and how gym time is the most fantastic thing ever invented (better than applesauce).
- Telephone. You love pretending the talk on the phone. You have my old cell phone to play with and are constantly imitating me by holding it just with your ear and shoulder as your walk around talking. Whenever I ask who you are talking to, you say “Grandma”, but of course whenever Grandma is on the real phone your chattiness dissolves.
- Snuggling. Even though you are two, you still like snuggling and I like that. A lot. You like to sit close during a movie or while reading a book. You give hugs at random times and instantly solve the world’s problems. You like one of us right next to you at bedtime. I ask you how much we love you and your stretch your arms and say “MEEESE MUCH”.

Things you aren’t exactly fond of at this age:
- Drying your hair. You love the tubs and love the ‘naked’ time afterward, but hate having your hair towel dried with a passion. You would think we were drying each hair one by one with a scouring pad not a nice cozy soft towel.
- Vegetables. This is my constant battle with you. You love French fries, which really don’t count in my book. Sometime mashed potatoes will fly and other times not, depending on your mood. Other than that, we keep offering and you keep refusing. You do a little better with fruits (i.e.: applesauce and yogurt – again not sure how well those count), but you do like your orange juice and I can sneak some other fruits into you when I make a smoothie as long as it’s not too banana-y.
- Your car seat. With this one I totally agree. I don’t agree with what would probably be your desire to sit on my lap and press all the buttons while driving. I believe you should be restrained. However, the car seat that we chose really truly is awful and I do feel sorry for you each time we buckle you in it.
- Diapers. You definitely prefer to be au natural and have long figured out how to take off your diaper (though it still takes you a while, so we usually have a small window of time to intervene). Because of this, you always have pants over your diaper, even at night. No, there are stories I could tell and have told, but that is not for this post. We would love to have you potty trained and you are showing slight signs of it, but not enough I am comfortable starting to push it. Especially with a baby on the way here shortly.
- Lack of attention - enough said. Even to the point where you will put you hand on our face and direct it to look at you if you feel we are not giving you adequate consideration.

Miscellaneous things I love about you… (Not an all inclusive list…. never will be)
- Your sweet little sing-song voice, that can be wishing me a lovely “Good Morning, Mama” one minute, but can turn into a monster truck voice as you request that I sing the B.I.B.L.E. in the same deep scary voice the next.
- Your giggle. When you and daddy get chasing each other, I can’t help but stop and watch and listen to that sweet sound better than anything found in our CD collection.
- Your excitement every time Rocky barks because you are convinced that “Dada’s Home!”
- Your helpfulness. You are truly at an altruistic age when it comes to helping. You will glad pick something up and bring it to us, or throw something away or in the sink at our request. I know I need to cherish that time, for it will pass, I am sure.

I am sure I could go on and on, but I will wrap this up. Andrew, I am so thankful for these past two years and even though there were some hard times (not sleeping, sickness, tantrums, etc…), I wouldn’t trade them for anything imaginable. For the good times are so good and the joy is so great, that I am so thankful to have been blessed so richly with this kiddo, I call Andrew.