this little boy turned 2 today

(these photos were all taken last Sunday; birthday post to follow)

We spent a full and fun day with our little man for his birthday. We drove home from Everett tonight, exhausted from birthday spoils and treats, and now we're sitting in bed, thinking of what we love most about E at this stage in his life.

*his seriousness--maybe this comes from being around adults so much, but the kid just takes everything in and really understands it, whether he talks much or not

*his need to do things on his own terms--just this past week or two he finally started to really mimic our words and say them, including new words such as car or "gcahhh," one or "wuuuh," two or "tschew," three or "gggree," hi or "eyeh," dog or "gah"

*his acute audio sense--we think he's an audio learner because he mimics sounds and identifies things by sound rather than name (sirens, cows, dogs, horses, lions, cars, boats, planes, motorcycles, etc.)

*his obsession with cars--the kid could not be more like his father in this respect

*his love for taking rides in sports cars--he has recently fallen in love with a Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet and sticks his arms up in the wind on rides with his dad, and begs for more swerving back and forth as he giggles from the thrill

*how he kneels for prayers and tries so hard to be reverent and fold his arms, no matter what he's holding, and closes his eyes, making his eyelashes disappear (Jon insists I include this point because my eyelashes do the same thing and that's why he loves it so much)

*his love for the golf cart--Jon takes him on wild rides down at our house site and "jumps" it over a little hill; the bigger the impact, the faster, and wilder, the better the thrill for our kid

*his gestures and communication skills, though sometimes a pain because of limitations--like when he doesn't want to be picked up or go elsewhere, is trying to catch a ball, or wants to hold a cat, or just when he wants something (he has a specific gesture for each situation, all different, and all very Emory)

*his methods for giving hugs, waving, and giving kisses--we've all taken on the E wave, stiff arm and wrist, hand turned sideways

*he is Jon's mini clone--Jon says, "I love how he totally gets it when it comes to vehicles... whether boats or planes or cars or motorcycles. His ears and eyes are already tuned and he's only two. He just gets it. It's not something I have to teach him, it's just something we appreciate together."

*his head shakes--yes and no; adorable

*his decision making--when we ask him questions and he really thinks about it, like choosing between which 2 cars he wants to hold out of the 10 in his box (garage) or bag at the time, or which book he really wants to read, or what he wants for breakfast--he really weighs his options

*his insecurities about new shoes--we can't figure this one out but it's hilarious how much the kid hates new shoes; whenever he gets them, he refuses to walk until someone forces it and even then still whines his way through the first 10 minutes or so, and then he falls in love

*his routines--for instance, a couple weeks ago, he learned how to do a somersault and it happened to be right before bedtime, so now he has to do a somersault or two every night after we say prayers

*his attachment to things--his few favorite stuffed animals (Guillaume the giraffe, Ed the dog, and Eddie the puppy), his bed, his cloth diapers we used as burp cloths

*his facial expressions and love for being the center of attention, particularly at the dinner table where he acts as house comedian, so excited and talking about who-knows-what in gibberish

Anyway, we could gush for hours, because seriously, this little boy is our world. We adore him, and are so grateful to have shared the past two years with our Emory Shawn.