My baby is two! How did that happen so quickly?

He got cake on his birthday — Daddy cut it and served up some pieces for us. JR decided that he didn’t want a piece. He took the plate that had the rest of the cake on it. It was his birthday, we let him have it, and he wound up covered from head to toe in chocolate frosting. He loved it.

He insists on doing everything himself. He reads books all the time (and by read I mean he points at pictures, names them, makes whatever sound they make, and repeats). He can count to 14. He knows the alphabet song, and can recognize a handful of letters. He can sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Pat A Cake” and is trying to learn the hand gestures for “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” He’s 3 feet tall, over 35#, wearing 3T-4T clothing, says “thank you” for everything, reminds us to say grace at meals, reminds us to say prayers at bedtime, is starting to say “please” for things, loves to color (crayons and markers must be supervised if he gets to use them at all or he’ll color on the walls and appliances), and is generally the sweetest, most curious little guy we know.

Oh, and he has a new phrase: “I know.” Yep. Daddy and I will be hearing that one for the rest of our lives. “Please help me” is another funny phrase that pops up from time to time.

Yesterday he was looking at my belly, and I said, “There’s a baby in there.” He looked at me like I was absolutely crazy, but decided to indulge his insane mother by saying, “Oh! Hi baby!” Then he looked at me again with this surety that I was just nuts. It was cute.

He’s the greatest little boy around, and it’s such a joy watching him turn into such a sweet, smart, considerate little man.