Daniel is TWO Years Old!

So, can you believe it? Neither can I! Daniel is TWO years old today! Doesn't he look so adorable and SO BIG?!?! That's his Elmo shirt- too cute for words. He looks like such a big boy in this shirt. And he is actually saying "cheese" for this picture- but I think you can hardly tell; it's actually a pretty good smile. It's also all we got from him- he was off that chair two seconds later! He is TWO after all- and let me tell you, two year olds are very busy.

Our biggest news this month is that Daniel has been saying three word phrases/sentences. How awesome is that?! We are super excited. His vocabulary is HUGE. Daniel will repeat almost anything you ask him to, if the mood suits him. He talks ALL the time, mostly in two word phrases which is great, and more often lately, even three word phrases. And he still surprises me with a word every now and then- a word I didn't know he knew.

We are also super excited that Daniel can finally say his name! He still calls himself "baby" from time to time, but when we ask him what his name is, he will say it and he says it better each time.

Sadly, but proudly, I also have to break the news that "helicopter" is no longer heli-l-l-l as Daniel so cutely demonstrated in a video not too long ago. He is actually very close to saying all the syllables, quite clearly too. It's another one of those words he says better each time. I knew this day would come, and I'm so glad I caught the cuteness on video before it did!

Another awesome update is that Daniel is starting to recognize letters in other places, not just with those foam blocks we started out with. He's also learned a few new letters, including lowercase letters- T for truck, M for mommy, and H for home, to name a few. Daniel also says the letters now, too, not just what they represent. The other day he saw the letter B on a button we were playing with and he immediately exclaimed "B Brian"! Daniel also found the letter C in a crescent moon shape he saw in a book and the same thing happened, he immediately said "C Titi" (remember C is for Christina, whom Daniel calls Titi)- I have to say this one took me a minute, but sure enough, the moon was c-shaped! Yay, Daniel!

And I don't remember if I've mentioned that Daniel is also learning a few colors. We're really working on them lately. He definitely has blue down, and mostly black, too. He knows green means go and red means stop, but we're still learning to identify those colors along with several others. I'm just glad we've got my favorite color down- blue! And black works for me- we do have a black cat after all. We'll keep at it!

Daniel's doctor visit this morning was not a very happy visit. He just really did not want to be poked and prodded, poor little guy. We've been having days like this lately (and I know there'll be more- he IS two!)- if it's not on his terms, it's not gonna happen. With a little creativity, we got through everything, although there were many tears by the end, tears that continued all the way home. Poor guy. We could tell he was just so frustrated and felt so helpless. Daniel is 31 1/2 inches tall and weighs 21.2 lbs (that's with clothes and shoes on). He's actually at the 2nd percentile for height! So, he's doing great and he's growing, and the doctor could not believe how much he looks like a little boy now. And she loved his Elmo shirt!

More birthday fun to come...Daniel still has to open our presents! And there's another cupcake left to enjoy, too! Birthdays are so much fun!

Here's a video of Daniel saying his name and how old he is! So cute.



Here's a video of Daniel having fun with his party blower yesterday...he sure figured it out quickly! And I love that he thinks he has to make the noise. You know, the noise it makes if you blow it out hard enough- and since he doesn't have that much oomph yet, he makes the noise himself. I love it. So turn your sound up!