William is 2

I described William's birthday weekend already, but I wanted to give a yearly update on William in general. I've already posted a few noting the changes like talking. But really wanted to describe him as a 2 year old! A monthly update equivalent if you will. Just funny William-isms that I don't want to forget!

• Loves the playground and running. He can run around until he passes out! He's into the monkey bars - either hanging from a bar or having someone hold his legs while he goes from bar to bar with his hands. Jumping is another favorite activity. He likes to jump off EVERYTHING. He jumps down a stair (not multiple, thank goodness), he jumps in the tub, he loves jumping at the open gym time - another favorite activity. I think it has to do with Peter Rabbit, which I will mention later.

• Ball! He says "ball" a thousand times a day. He's starting to separate the type of ball - football, tennis ball, basketball with the hoop. I think he's very sporty. He actually makes several baskets and will sit outside "practicing" for a while! The neighborhood has a soccer team that plays in the park and I don't bring William outside when practice is taking place because he runs into the thick of it. He's also known to interrupt a game of football asking the older boys to throw to him.

Crafting, sliding and football

• Big fan of drawing, but wants his crayon wrappers off. He pulls the wrapper off all by himself - every last one of them! He's into playdoh, crafting, stickers, but not so much finger painting. Anything that sticks to his fingers or gets very messy is not up his alley. He uses the word "yuck" very often when it comes to anything messy or even the messes Miss Maggie makes outside. He won't step foot in the grass after he spots a Maggie mess! Sorry - that was quite the tangent!

• Eats great with a spoon and a fork. Yogurt is pretty well contained and sometimes he even has cereal. If he gets distracted while he has a spoon full then he may drop what's in the spoon, but he doesn't throw food or drop food purposely (unless Maggie is nearby then he may hand over some goods to her).
• A big hugger and kisser. Such a little lover. It isn't unusual for him to stop what he's doing and give me a kiss. He wants to hug too. Animals included. He sometimes will spot an orange cat walking in our backyard and he'll look at the window saying, "Cat. Hug?" He will run outside (to presumably try to "hug" the cat) and of course, the cat will run off - without a hug.
• Super sweet to baby Grace. She gets a lot of hugs and kisses too. He likes to kiss the top of her head or rub her head sometimes. I really can't think of any time he has purposely tried to "hurt" her. Little toddlers obviously don't know boundaries very well and try to test them, and so when the baby comes into the pictures I have heard lots of stories of toddlers hitting or throwing things at the baby testing their limits, if you will. Who can blame them?? This creature is suddenly demanding attention too! William really doesn't try any of that and when he has accidentally hit her with a toy or stepped on her then he looks very upset when I tell him to watch the baby. He still calls her only "baby" and we still often call her "baby" ourselves. He said "Baby Grace" a couple days ago for the first time, but hasn't said it since. 
• I have to go back to the big hugger, kisser, and super sweet. William genuinely is so sweet and loving. I have to tell another story of me putting his shoes on the other day. As usual we are rushing to get out the door and I'm strapping him in his shoes. A few hairs were in my face from my messed up ponytail and he started to gently take those hairs and pull them back out of my face. Then he kissed me. WHAT?! Where do you learn these things?? It was the sweetest thing ever... My little love bug.

Hugging a statue!

• Green blanket is EVERYTHING. He knows the difference between original green blanket and backup green blanket. Peter is a close second to green blanket. They MUST be available at nap time or bed time. Or it's a big cry fest till they're found. He likes to bring them downstairs and car rides, but he's actually getting better about leaving them at home. If we're going on a trip to Seaworld or a just a long drive in general then I purposely bring them along. I know they're comfortable for him and I like that he's relaxed if we're going to be containing him for a long period of time. He knows full well they don't come to school and they don't go to the Y daycare either. He throws both of them to the side and says, "Bye blanket! Bye Peter!" The times we don't bring them on car rides he'll ask as we pull out the driveway, "Blanket home? Peter home?" Just double checking that they're safe and sound at home until we come back :)

Coming home from Seaworld. Green blanket and Peter Rabbit
make him happy to fall asleep.

• Still sucks his thumb when he's tired. He has never just walked around sucking his thumb. It's always been when he's tired/cranky. He's still a little baby though he looks like such a young boy already :)
• Cars, trucks, trains are the best! His favorite books are definitely the ones with cars, trucks and trains. He has several that we bring in the car too that he just stares at page by page. I'm also amazed at how he remember WHERE the train in Winter Park is located. Any time we pull into the area he asks, "Choo choo? Choo choo?" wondering if it will appear. In general, his ability to tell where we are from the backseat is amazing. When we pass Matt's new office any time during the day he says, "Dada work." Or when we pull into the parking lot for open gym time on Fridays he already has his shoes off and says, "Jump! Jump!" 
• Speaking of gym time he loves running around like a crazy man at open gym. It's essentially the playground, but better. This past Friday there was a huge, huge bounce house and he was in heaven. He is even known amongst the breakfast club group as the serious bounce house jumper. No one takes more time in the bounce house than William. He loves to say he's jumping and it all started with Peter Rabbit. 
• Peter Rabbit is his favorite t.v. show. I've turned on a couple others and they don't stick as well as Peter. He does kind of like Thomas the Train, but gets distracted. He walks away and does something else then comes back to it. Peter pretty much glues him to the set.

Loves stuffed animals

Such a happy laugh

Loves the water

• This is probably more of a toddler thing, but he's a little reserved for a couple minutes when he's in a new situation or meeting someone new. Couple minutes and he runs into the scene. You can see him observing and checking out the situation. Hopefully he stays that way! For safety purposes, I hope he's always a bit hesitant and checks out what's going on first before jumping in.
• Really enjoys books. In the morning, after nap time and before bedtime, he requests a book. Sometimes he wants me to read them, but sometimes he likes to flip through the book by himself. He sits there studying each page and will "talk" about what's going on. I love that he loves books. I have no problem picking up as many books as possible instead of toys! 

• Into "cleaning up" and I think it's because he learned it from school! The teachers have the kids pick up after themselves and sing a song. I don't know any other words of the song than "clean up! Clean up!" but it works! We play with puzzles then William will say it's time to clean the puzzles up and put them away. He even walks Matt's shoes upstairs to his closet -- since Matt isn't as into the "clean up" song as William is :)
• Sticks with me everywhere I go around the house or outside. I don't worry about him straying too much. I always have an eye on him, but several times at the playground when he's running around with kids and the kids leave the general area of the playground, William stops in his tracks and looks at me then runs back. In the house he follows me from room to room, and if I have to go upstairs to quickly do something like put Grace to bed, he waits for me at the bottom of the stairs yelling, "Mama! Mama! Baby nap? Mama up." Stating that I'm going upstairs and the baby is going to nap. If I'm not back in one millisecond then he will cry. He won't even go to the playroom by himself to play. He may run back there to grab something quickly, but whoever is nearby he will grab their hand and lead them back to the room. No venturing alone!
• Can identify body parts from chin to eyes to head to hair to toes - most everything.
• Big sweet tooth. I wonder where he got that from.... Daddy! Cookies, ice cream, cake are all in his vocabulary and don't dare eat one without offering a bite or we have a major meltdown on our hands.

• Crocs are his favorite shoes - I think because he can put them on himself and has been doing that for a while. He's pretty good at pulling on his own shorts too. Shirts are tough. 

I could go on and on about William. He's fun loving, a laugher, observant, the energizer bunny in toddler form... He's quiet sometimes, but then he can yell louder than the rest. He will run till he too exhausted to run anymore, but has no problem taking a nap or going to bed. He is such a great balance of both sides of the spectrum - that's probably the best way to describe him. 

This is such a fun age and I know we have so many more good times to come. We love our 2 year old William!