Walker is TWO!

Happy Birthday to you, Walk-a-doo!

He will wear anything that his sister tells him to.

Including this ladybug headband/antennae thing.

"Uh-oh."

my most favorite 2-year-old

Loves:

• yelling for his sister - "Nay-nee!!" When we watch her perform at dance and gymnastics, he pounds on the glass window and calls to her over and over again. 
• playing "hide seek" and "ba ba boo" (peek-a-boo)
• "helping" me pick up Reagan's poop (or anything that resembles poop) with a napkin or paper towel or a plastic sack 
• Ben's "eyes" trick that makes him laugh and smile (Ben pulls down the skin around his eyes to make a crazy face and the kids crack up)
• arts and crafts and painting and he's so excited to show me what he's made at school
• my iPhone
• dancing
• pencils
• books
• making sure gates/doors are closed...he has a bit of OCD
• singing along with us, trying to sing songs, trying to repeat words that we sing... (His "singing" is just making sing-song noises and trying to follow along with the tune and our voices and words.)
• saying "ticka ticka ticka ticka ticka" when trying to talk or explain something to us
• saying "Wheee!" when we go over bridges
• Ainsley ("Ay-ee!")
• Elmo

Is likely to:

• get very worked up over stuff – when he’s in a mood, nothing makes him happy
• get frustrated
• not be distracted very easily
• say "ah-beh" or "ah-boo" over and over if he wants me to "open" something (including peeling stickers off a sticker sheet)
• turn off the TV if he doesn't like what is on
• beg for "seows" (TV shows)
• not eat much breakfast
• put his hands in his mouth all the live-long day
• use the correct intonation and correct number of syllables when trying to say a word or phrase (Example: "Help, please" is "eh, ee," repeated in the same pitch as he heard it.)
• get disturbed by seeing things that are not complete - like a semicircle (versus a whole circle)
• get disturbed when things are out of place, like writing in a library book or writing inside the tunnel of the playset at the gym... This is ironic because he is generally the one who writes where he's not supposed to!
• become impatient (his teachers at school confirm this)
• get really excited to flush his "poopies" down the toilet
• get upset if his snack is mixed: fruit snacks cannot be combined with pretzels
• attempt to put two words together to form a phrase - most are simple, like "Bye-bye, Mama" or "Bye-bye, Daddy."
• say that everything is "lella" (yellow) (We are working on those colors. They are hard to learn!)
• play independently, even in a group of kids

Interesting Facts:

• His left ear tube is out. Good times. The right one is still intact as far as we know.
• He is finally not crying when I drop him off at the gym.
• Walker grabs our hands and drags us to show us things or to get us to help him with something.
• He's able to do the "sprain" dance like Lainey when she was his age (turns in circles, puts more weight on one foot than the other).
• He likes to hop and ribbit like a frog. Crazy boy. Especially when I'm reading The Princess and the Frog to Lainey...this book inspires Walker to start ribbitting and hopping around like a frog and, of course, Lainey immediately hops up and joins him. This leaves me reading the book aloud to myself!

Mommy's Favorite Things About Walker:

• his smile
• the way he follows Lainey and will play and play and play with her
• how he says "Memmy" when he's really trying to say "Mommy"
• how he says "Daddy" now instead of "Da da"
• when he sings
• the way he puts his head on my shoulder when I hold him
• when he insists on saying "nigh-nigh" to Lainey and me before going to bed
• his sweetness and shyness
• when he sits in my lap
• his love for his rocking chair and books
• He seems content. At birthday parties or at playdates or at the park he'll just kinda do what he wants...play with the other kids, play independently, or hang out by me. His sister is always with her friends.
• when he shakes and clenches his little fists and just can't stop smiling when he's excited about something

Happy, happy birthday to the sweetest little boy I know. I hope you have enjoyed your playtime at the gymnastics place this morning and your birthday lunch at Chick-fil-A. :) You even got a balloon. You so love balloons! Thank you for bringing such joy into our lives. We love you!