Happy 2nd Birthday!!!

Our little sunshine turned Two Years Old last week!
We celebrated on the night of his birthday by having a nice family dinner. Then, James opened his presents from Mommy and Daddy. He really got into the "opening of the presents" and loved his birthday gifts- more trains!
On Sunday, we had some friends over for a pool party/cook out to continue his birthday celebrations. James' friends are the same ones that he has been playing with since he was three months old and I joined a New Mom's Group (desperate for support and comradeship.) It's been wonderful to see the boys (and Fiona) grow up into happy, healthy, rambunctious toddlers!
At two years old, James:
~can and will climb onto just about anything. He will not hesitate to stand up in his high chair and scale down the side if you don't get him out as soon as he's done eating. He is not a patient child. He has YET to climb out of his crib, though.
~favorite mealtime is breakfast and favorite meal is Oatmeal. Yogurt is a close second. Followed by pasta.
~vocabulary is really developing nicely! Except for a few weeks of lispy "s's", resulting in some colorful "I see it!" or "I sit" expressions, we can pretty much tell exactly what he's saying. He's using full sentences for some things and surprises me with a new word each day. He will ask for his specific cartoon (Thank you Tivo!) and is now repeating the last word or two of EVERYTHING we say!
~asks us to kiss his "Ow-wees!" every time he gets a bump, bruise or scrape. It's okay though, I don't mind. I love how a mommy or daddy kiss automatically makes all the pain go away. One day, our kisses won't be enough to protect him from danger, but I'm holding onto every memory of the ones that do now!
~still loves the water and loves to swim! Lately, he enjoys having us push him to the bottom of the shallow end so he can retrieve whatever rock, car or toy that he has purposefully sunk. He gets so proud for getting it himself!
~ has a personality that lights up a room! I call him my "Future Walmart Greeter" because he loves to wave to people and say "Hey!" until they look at him and acknowledge him. He doesn't mind if it takes 2 or 3 or 5 "Hey's". Then, he smiles from ear to ear and will tilt his head to one side as if to say, "Aren't I cute?" I have no idea where he learned this from! This child truly does not know a stranger. For now, it's really cute, but one day, I will have to educate him on Stranger Danger.
~has taught his daddy and I the wonders and the joys of Parenthood. As successful adults, we thought we knew a lot about our World. But, then James came along and opened our eyes to so much more.
Thank you, James, for filling our days with sunshine and filling our hearts with love. Yes, you drive us to exhaustion and exasperation whenever you get the chance, but we love you all the way to the moon and back for it! Happy Birthday Sunshine!

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