nate is now 2.

Dude, I know I've said this before, but (in true first time mother form) THIS IS MY FAVORITE AGE.

We had a small gathering for Nate's 2nd Birthday at the house. Well, in the backyard. Where there were fans. And small pools for the swimming. And beer. And cookies. And the most delicious cheddar bacon dip on triscuts that you have ever put in your mouth. (No, seriously.)

I am not sure what to say about Nate on his birthday post because there is so much to tell that I know I won't get it all. I shall try and share a few glimpses.

He doesn't walk, he runs. Not gracefully. It occasionally makes my heart flutter as he careens narrowly by table edges and, um, walls. (Yes walls.)

He speaks in complete sentences (they don't always make sense but there is ALWAYS more than one word). Though I will admit that he speaks much more clearly than I thought he would at this age. His wordcount is WAAAAAY over the 200 words they "should be" saying by 2. (For the record, I wouldn't mind if he was only saying 2 or 20 words at this point... I try not to put too much stock into the "shoulds" but IT IS AMAZING the words he says. Like EXCAVATOR. And BACKWARDS... when he is actually going backwards... how can I not talk about that?) When he wants juice, he says "juice please mommy," when its milk, 'milk please.' ITS CRAZY HOW THIS COMMUNICATION THING WORKS! Occasionally, it's COOKIE PLEASE all day and night. Additionally, he still says the F word to describe the T word (truck). (I do hope that goes away soon.) He can identify every letter of the alphabet, most colors correctly and has memorized many lines from his favorite books. He's not so into numbers or counting.

He watches one movie - Cars and only occasionally. We've found that when we turn the TV on in the morning, Nate is whinier that day than when we leave it off. He had gotten to the point where he could identify specific episodes of Word World (PBS show) and would request them but we wouldn't always get it. (Like he would say "sand shark" and we were supposed to understand that meant the episode titled "Castle in the Sea." CLEARLY. And, when we put on the wrong episode, well, cue toddler MELTDOWN. So, now if he melts down we just turn it off. Or, better yet, we just don't turn it on at all. He does love Cars and I can assure you he knows all the characters names. (Mater Fuck is my favorite.)

He is becoming pickier in his old age regarding food. We eat a lot of waffles and fruit and the staple favs - mac n cheese, chicken fingers, etc. I can still con him into edamame, but most other green things are snubbed.

Sleep? Well, he still only sleeps 10 hours a night with a 1 to 2 hour nap... which is about what he did when he was one year of age... so, erm, not much to say about that. I'm thankful that he takes a nap at all. I wish it was more and I JUST KNOW my next child will be a marathon sleeper. HAHAHA.

He went through a brief phase were he would tell me to "go away mommy" when he and Karl were playing in the morning. (I look a fright in the AM.) It hurt my heart a little, but it has passed for the moment and now when I walk in he gives me a big hug and says "hi buddy" as he snuggles my shoulder.

Despite some meltdowns, he seems happier than he has ever been. He laughs a lot so I do too.

He has his 2 year check up next week, so I'll be sure to share any interesting details. (like the # of bowel movements he has that day. STAY TUNED!)

Here are some of the cutie pies at the par-tay:

Here are Nash and Nate sharing cake. Well, Nate decided that he wanted a cracker instead.