2.5 years old!

Oh my goodness that sounded old when I typed that title just now. I'm used to months, not years. This child is growing up too fast! H is napping right now, but I will take pictures of him and post those later.

Henry,

Today you are 2.5 years old! You have changed so much since you first turned 2 I told your Daddy today that I don't know what you'll be like 6 months from now when you turn 3!

You love to help Mommy (or anyone that asks you) around the house with chores and you love to have a special job. I really love this stage of joyful helping in you! You can help me with the laundry, you love to help me with the Swiffer, you put your toys and books away when asked (most of the time!)

You tell us about everything! You are very observant. You like to figure the world out around you because you will tell me what people are and aren't doing, "Mommy's upstairs, Henry's upstairs, Daddy's not upstairs, Rouge is not upstairs." You are repeating sentences we say or phrases and if I tell you to say something like "come back soon or I love you", etc. you say things without any hesitation. You have come so far in just the last 6 months. We are so proud of you! You know all your colors, shapes, letters, and numbers. You can also read your name as well as the words stop and go. You're a smart boy, Henry!

You can finish almost all the sentences in the books that we read. You are really into puzzles. You can do 24 and 48 piece puzzles with little help if any help at all. You can even do the puzzles you're familiar with upside down (your Daddy taught you that one) You love to play with trains and tracks and set up a whole set of tracks yourself. You love to give your friends sweet hugs and wave to people. You are always wanting us to sit down and do a puzzle or play with toys with you. You really love quality time with the people you love and get so much joy from playing with others. You love dancing and music. You know a lot of the different instruments. Just this weekend we were strolling down the street and there was a pair of musicians playing a guitar and violin together. We were too far away for you to see them but, you exclaimed, "violin!" because you knew what the violin sounded like. I was pretty impressed you knew the instrument by sound!

You are going through a shy stage- it is no surprise to me! Your Mommy and (especially) your Daddy were both shy at your age (and older). We encourage you to not be shy and you always seem to come around. You have weekly playdates with your buddy, Hudson, and you both get along really well together! You are definitely a person who needs to feel comfortable with others before you show them your fun, sweet, and silly side. But Mommy and Daddy are/were the same way too, so we know how you feel! :) You go to the two's class at Mommy's Bible study at GIG each week and you have a lesson and play. I love that you are getting such good time in church. You also go to your class at our church Sunday mornings. You go to playgroup each week and we also sprinkle in some playdates with your other buddies when we can. You love to go on errands with me and go to restaurants. You love to play outside. You take longer naps sometimes two hours or more and some days in the last couple of months you don't take a nap but still have quiet rest time in your crib.

You are in 3T and some 4T  for Fall/Winter. You trimmed up and got taller so you wore a lot of the same things this past summer that you wore the summer before and the same goes for the Fall/Winter this year for separates like pants and shirts. You are in an 8.5 shoe and wear size 5 (3T-4T) pullups. We haven't started the potty training yet, but you know what a potty is and you have one that you sit on if you want to. You know that everyone goes to the potty and we have books that we read about the potty. I wanted to wait to start potty training with you until January-February when we don't have much going on. Thinking about squeezing potty training in with our busy schedule just doesn't seem worth it to me right now. I don't even think you're interested in it enough right now anyway. You have started having timeouts in the past month and you have responded really well to that.

Henry, we love you SO much! Our lives are definitely more full because of you and I cannot imagine this world without you. You are our greatest joy! We are so proud of you and we're so thankful that YOU are our son!