Two-and-a-Half

Our boy is halfway to another year, and what a half-year it's been!  He's learning so much and speaking in amazing full sentences (sometimes with conjugation or tense!) and counts to ten pretty easily.  He's not too picky about eating, though he always wants to eat some of Baby's puffs.  He does great at Nursery, though the late church schedule is none to his liking, and he always likes to see and meet and play with little people his age (whether he knows them or not).  We introduced him to the Big Boy Bed a few weeks ago, maybe a bit abruptly, but after a few napless days and rough nights he started to figure it out.  The potty hasn't been quite as successful, but we're really not pushing it yet, so as to not force too many big adjustments all at once.  (Don't let's look forward to the day when we have to wean him of the binky...)  But he'll at least sit on it without much fuss, so that's improvement!  He's a bit contrary sometimes, and he can make himself heard quite forcefully (even if he's not actually using words or speaking fluent Whinese), and we've made use the naughty spot on occasion, but overall he's sweet and funny and loves life.  He's getting more and more independent and making his desires known -- what book to read, what shirt(s) to wear, what he wants to do and when he wants to do it.  He loves jumping on the trampoline, which is a story worth telling all its own, and he still loves anything with wheels, he loves being thrown up in the air, in any of its many varieties.  I'm always glad to see his enthusiastic face when I come home at the end of a long day.

Taken on his second birthday.  We love so much how he loves books.

The Wife's first Instapost.  Cool shades.

He loves mowing the lawn with Daddy.

At the now (at present?) playground at the mall while the girls take a shopping break. 

He loves commissioning sidewalk art. And he's a fairly reasonable client.

Who doesn't love a good splash pad?? 

He's really liking the water, and he always loves cousin Jack.

This shot is magical.  Nice one, Wife.

What did I say about that lawnmower??

Sometimes around mid-morning he decides to go night-night in Mommy and Daddy's bed.

He liked the carnival all right, but he was just barely too short to ride the train.  There is something so heartbreaking about this.  He was a good sport about it though.

We participated in a local activity!  There were lots of fun things to do there, including visit these lizards.

  And this hike!  He hiked most of the way all by himself.

You never know what you're going to find in the raingutters of a previously-owned house.  In this case, it was this train car that was an instant favorite (and which, apparently, is worth some amount of money).

Picnic!  It lasted all of maybe ten minutes.  But the important thing is that we had it.

The Bumbo might have been meant for Baby, buuuut...

New stroller!  It's feels a bit like pushing a limousine.

Father's Day surprise!  Doesn't that just say good morning?

These two sillies at bedtime.

Soooo we need to get one of these pronto.

Such a good napper on our way home from Moab.

It took him a few minutes to brave the tunnel but then it was all I could do to get him away when it was time to go home.  I love seeing this boy overcome his fears.

He looks spr srs, but he was really excited to get his face painted at the ward party and talked about it all the next day even as it hung on for dear life.

Hiking with Nana and Papa and the new balance bike!  It's taking a while but he's getting used to it, and he r.  At this rate he'll definitely be riding a real bike at an earlier age than his dear old dad.

When I was little I took a bite out of a cookie and called it a rocking chair.  With this kid it's French toast dinosaurs.

... and occasionally trains made out of any and every food.

Such a good helper for Mommy!  Missing things like this is one thing that makes working away from home that much harder.

Getting some perspective.  He loves to see or drive by the temple and always mentions Angel Moroni.

IIII don't think that's the best way to eat muffin batter.

Squish Mommy!!!

Always a good time at the park, and on this day the lucky kid had the run of the place.

He really was much more into picking blackberries than this picture might seem to suggest.  We also had to go back once we realized he had dropped that car at some point during his picking.

Hey bro.  Cool hat bro.

Hanging out at Daddy's old Timberline stomping grounds during a ward activity.  We should go up the canyon more often, it's just so close.

He really loves the produce from the garden.  Like, meaning they're his friends.

He likes reading to Little Sister.  Look how she loves him!

The best day of his life?!?  (Also our 6th anniversary.)

I didn't intend on giving him my old Pound Puppy quite yet, but once he discovered it he loved it so much I couldn't part him from it.

He really loves riding the pony.  He really does not love getting off the pony.

Finally hanging out at the cooool aquarium.

Future Goonie.

This is what can happen between spring and fall, but the important thing is, do you spy a secret Little Mister?

Again with the helping...

These two buds.

Drinking on the job.

He really likes to act out the actions and expressions from his books.

Why so serious?

Such a nice fat pile of crinkly leaves!

Thank you, H&M, for providing this furry Yoda hat moment.

This is happening, and after just a few days' adjustment, it's happening pretty well!  The toilet is taking a little longer, but at least he doesn't burst into tears when he sits on it anymore.

Those actions!  This is also a faaaavorite book.

Um.

I taught him the ways of the duct tape while working on a project, and eventually the piece I gave him ended up on his chest like a badge of honor.

He doesn't get babysat a lot, but when he does he insists on a bedtime story.  Dad's English accent was a thing of wonder.

This was a long and arduous process, but The Boy finally has his trampoline back (just in time for winter) (which, if it's anything like last winter, will mean plenty of jumping weather).

And on his very 2.5 day, I took him to his first real movie, to see my favorite role and his name twin on the big screen, and we both loved every second.  He laughed and gasped and sat still almost the entire time.  It's so fun to have little outings just the two of us. (Though we missed our girls terribly.)

Well, that was a lot of pictures.  But it has been half a year, and I do tend to like to overpost when it comes to the Insta-pour.

This sweet boy is learning and growing so much.  Sometimes we look over at him and can't believe how tall and big and strong and grown-up he looks.  There are also those times when we have to remember that he's definitely still in many ways our little baby, but he's on his way, and we're loving watching it happen.  I get sad a little bit when I think what kind of world he's growing up in, but we'll do our best and he finds so much joy in simple things that I am grateful for the perspective he provides.  These days he still occasionally happily says it's Halloweentime, but he's looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas too.

See you in six!

P.S.  Blogger, this template is still so awful, especially for uploading/rearranging pictures.  Has this seriously not been updated in ten years??  Just putting it out there.