Two!

One week.

One.

Two.

He's two! Unbelievable.

The other night Christopher was a reading a book and we heard him talking. "E! Y! O! C!" he said. Ben and I looked at each other, shocked. Could he really know these letters? We asked him to point to the letter Y. He did it. Same with E, O and C. This is partly surprising because Christopher has a lot fewer words than Clare did at this age. He is in the normal range, though, so I am not worried. Clare was (and is) just crazy verbal.

His new words this month include blanky, home, Daddy, moon, Ernie, Bert, piano, balloon, door, shoe and plane . When I give him a snack or a toy, he says "Thank you, Mom." I love it. He is so polite.

Here are a few of Christopher's favorites at two: blanky, anything with wheels, balls, slides, swings, the sandbox, fruit of any kind, books (especially if they have pictures of anything with wheels or babies), babies, running, making animal noises, playing the piano, ECFE (especially Teacher Ugo), waiting for the bus with Clare (he actually shakes with joy when the bus turns the corner. "Beeeeeepppp!" he yells), snuggles with Mom, coffee, and Cookie Monster. Most importantly, he loves his people: Daddy, all four grandparents, Aunt K, Uncle Andrew, Josie, Uncle Robby and Aunt Andri, Uncle Andy and Aunt Meg, and Clare. Clare most of all. When she gets home from school, she runs to him and wraps him up in a huge hug. It is my favorite thing. He has a running list of people he asks for in the morning, too. Right now it includes Daddy, Clare, Aunt Katie and Josie. (Meema and Baba make regular appearances on the list, too.)

He is less enamored with sitting in his car seat, going down for his nap, the opening credits to Super Grover 2.0, and carrots.

Christopher's personality is a lot like his dad's: laid back, smart and so funny. Not much bothers him, except Mom leaving and Super Grover. And even if he does get upset by something, he gets over it within seconds.

We celebrated birthday number two with a small party. We had pizza and cake (homemade!) with one set of grandparents, Aunt Katie and Uncle Andrew and Josie, and Uncle Andy and Aunt Meg. He got several trucks, a helicopter, an airplane and a baby doll. Oh, and a My Little Pony and Mr. Potato Head from Clare. He couldn't have been happier.

Happy birthday to my sweet, cuddly, adorable little boy. I love you so much it hurts.

Clare opened most of his presents. He didn't mind.

Mommy and Christopher and a new dinosaur.

Aunt Katie and Christopher and a new helicopter.

Applauding after "Happy Birthday." For the first time, I made a layer cake. It is chocolate with a fresh strawberry buttercream frosting.

Best buds.

    Cheering on the 10 mile runners on his birthday morning. Go Aunt Katie!