2.

Emerson is 2! I almost cannot believe I have a two year-old. Sometimes I still feel like I’m in my early twenties and then I remember wait, I’m actually closer to 30 than 20.

Emerson is such a fun kid. I have never seen someone more enthusiastic about life than him. My dad called today to wish him a happy birthday and he said “HIIII!!”… then I asked him to tell grandpa what he got for his birthday and he said, “A BALLLLLLL!!” Grandpa said, “Was it a basketball and a baseball?” “YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!”.

Other characteristics of E at age 2:

- Still the most active little boy I’ve met. He still won’t stay near me at the park. On a walk with a friend the other day we took the kids out of the stroller, and within a couple seconds Emerson was about 100 yards away from me. I love this active part of his personality, though it definitely is tough as I’m recovering from my surgery. I wish I could keep up with him! (Note in the picture above I couldn’t even get him to stay still for one second.)

- Loves to put things together and take them apart, and build structures. In this way he is so much like Mitch… a little math-minded engineer. He loves figuring out puzzles, blocks, structures, and coloring. When he gets into a project he is very focused.

- He has a really outgoing side to his personality, when he’s comfortable with people. He screams, shouts, sings, and tickles. He loves to head-butt Mitch and me (not sure where he picked that up from!) and loves to sing nursery songs with us. He especially loves when we do Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes really fast and he sings so fast you can’t understand a word he’s saying, as he tries to point to all the spots on his body as he sings.

-The quirkiest part of his personality is that he loves to rough-house—like he loves it when we throw our big Pilates/exercise ball at him, loves when we throw him on the couch, and even hurls himself onto the floor really hard and laughs. It is actually really strange.

- He has this really sweet side to his personality where he will give almost anyone that asks a hug or a high-five or knuckles. He hugged the Pediatrician at our appt. on Monday and she said he was the kindest 2 year-old she’d ever met! It melted my heart.

-Hands down, his favorite things in the word: balls and cars. When we drive past Murray Auto Row he points at every car and says, “Car, car, car, car, car” etc. as he points. It’s kind of hilarious.

This kid is just so smart. I know all parents feel that way about their kids but when you see it in action for yourself—how quickly they learn—you just cannot believe it. He knows almost all the sounds to every letter in the alphabet and just a couple months ago couldn’t even say all his letters. His language development is coming so fast and all the work I’ve done with him is starting to pay off in that regard.

At his appointment he was just over 27 lbs. (about 40th%) and almost 37 inches tall (98th%).

Sometimes he gives you this look like, “What are you doing? Let me play with my ball. Geesh.”

This little guy is my best friend. I love spending every day with him. He is so on-the-go that it keeps me active; every day I have to get out just for him—whether it’s to the park, museum, playground, or even our little patio. Thanks for being so fun and sweet Emerson. We love you.

More to come soon on the party we had for him last weekend with some of his little best friends.