Huston - February 2012

Huston,

You are 2 and a HALF! You have grown up so much since your 2nd birthday. You are a very smart, funny boy and constantly amaze us.

You have already started learning your ABC's, numbers, shapes and colors. You shout out YELLOW GREEN (which I'm sure A's fan Dad loves) and 496 randomly and are very proud of yourself. I guess those are your favorites, but when asked you usually get your colors right and you can count to about 8 before you start throwing random numbers in. The other day you even spelled your name for me, but I think that was more from memory than reading it. You are also learning your shapes, which you demonstrated to me by showing me a graham cracker and saying square....then taking a bite off the edge and saying triangle. You also get very excited when you get to "X" in the alphabet and scream it out with all your might.

You are really enjoying school and you talk about your friends the whole way home. You are learning a lot there and they even taught you about prayer. Not only do you say "Amen" after thanking God, you also like to throw it at the end of lots of other things. In the mornings as we are leaving I say "Ready?", you say "Ready!" I say "Let's go" and you say "AMEN". I enjoy our time commuting together, we get about an hour each way. You sing and tell me all about your day. But you absolutely HATE the sun in your eyes. You will put on your sunglasses and start hitting at the air saying "SUN IN EYE, SUN IN EYE!" Most the time your sunglasses aren't enough and you will put your hoody over your face. Luckily it's only a small stretch that we face the sun.

You do not want our help with anything anymore. "Suston do it". We hear that a lot. You try and dress yourself, make your own meals, clean up your toys and pretty much anything else we try and help you with. This is great for us, we are getting some freedom! But sometimes it does take a little longer to get around

You are also talking in full sentences now and have some pretty cute sayings:

• "No, no, no momma/daddy" - complete with shaking finger
• "I"ll have one" - you raise your hand and say anytime we have something you want
• "It happens" - when you dropped something
• "More again" - when you want something to happen again
• "Lookit!" - this you get from your father, he says it to when he wants you someone to look at something
• "C'mon, follow me" - this is never good
• "Suston go?" - anytime we go anywhere

You also want to be sure you are saying it right, so you will repeat what you are saying until we say it back to you. If we say it a little differently (with correct grammar or tense) you will repeat it back the right way. I can just see your little brain ticking away.

Some funnies you've recently said.....I asked "Who do you think you are?" when you tried to steal the remote. You said "Suston". I asked "Are you my baby?" You said, "No, I'm punkin."

You also have started your own routine. If we change this routine up, you notice. At the end of each night, you get down on the floor and do your stretches with Dad. Then you play "Ready, Set, Go" which consists of you tackling him and saying "Allllll Night Babyyyyyy" in this gravelly voice.

You absolutely LOVED Valentines Day. You kept a box that you made at school with all of your valentines and looked through it every night for a week. When your box "disappeared", you looked for it for another week.

You are also starting to do quirky little things. You've always held onto one of your ears when you are drinking your milk. Now you love it when we run our fingers along your back. If we stop, you will say "TICKLE BACK" and put our hand back on it. You are very, very insistent on it. You also use your big toe and push down on the toe next to it.....your Dad does the same thing. You do this a lot, it's funny you do the same thing.

The terrible twos haven't hit you full on yet, but we are working on your throwing things and saying "no". You are pretty willful and will stare us down if we aren't telling you what you want to hear. We make you go sit in your room when you are in trouble and you do not like it at all. But you will sit there for a few minutes and then come back when you are calm.

You still sneak into our bed about 4-5am every most mornings, and I love it. Yes, I am a very tired momma, but I love you cuddling with me. Lately you've been putting your cheek right on mine when you sleep. It is very uncomfortable, but I wouldn't dare move - I love it too much.

We love you so much and are so so so proud of you!