34 months

Dear Keaton,

Your brother calling you "da budo baby" and who knows what that means, but you get excited every time.  You will do anything for his attention and when you guys are in the same mood it is priceless.  You mesh in your "cute business" style.  You both will prompt my attention to be sure I catch the cute business.

You like using the word "business." You even seem to get it and will repeat what you hear your brother say - "Mom, there is inappropriate business on this show! Change the channel!" (usually if someone accidentally clicks on a show like the Simpsons)  You made us laugh with "mitten business" - wearing mittens riding in mall car and around in the nice weather in Florida.  You take off your "new globves" to cuddle and you ask, "Can you move the tickly hair bits I see a cuddle!" You love to get ready for some good cuddle business.

You walked around all month with a scratch on your forehead.  Who knows where it started, but I know how it got worse.  You wouldn't stop scratching it.  That's kinda a good metaphor for being two, little things can stick around for a while and become increasingly yicky.  Whoosh, your at-two-tude is really hard to predict!  But everything is a phase and I know it will pass - The scratch will heal, but inevitably there will be a new scratch to scratch.
"Mommy I have a piece of trouble!"  "Look mom I found trouble" - These are funny phrases as you were playing in the big packing paper nest and huge boxes where your brother created a space station.  You like to test out what words mean and how you can make them funny - You still like to misuse trouble or maybe you just really don't get it yet ;)

When you were pretending to be a birdie in a giant nest you were thrilled when I brought out some gummy worms for you to munch.  You must be growth spurting because you have been eating like a fiend lately.  You sorta understand which foods are healthy for you, and you know that having a side of pepperoni with your pepperoni pizza is silly.  You will still gobble noodles and rice - but the majority of your diet is fruits.  You like just about all of them, even raw grapefruit, lime, and lemon.

You love art time at school. You liked painting with colored ice cubes. You used shaving cream to paint puffy snowflakes.  You brought home what you call "my birdie coconut feeder" which is actually a pinecone covered in seeds and glue goop. You hung it out for the birds and cheered them on to come eat.  You were disappointed when the birds didn't listen.

"I'm captain handsome because my jammies say so!"  When the lady at PB Jacks said you were handsome you smiled sideways at her, shook your head, and gave her your classic pointer finger (like she has a good idea!)  Your teacher tried to get photos of different "feelings" for a poster and you were such a ham trying to match the expressions she mentioned like surprised and shy.

You are such a funny ham guy sometimes.  Like one morning you woke up late (7:30 instead of 6), and you walked into the room and declaring, "That's not what I'm talking about!" which is funny to hear out of the blue. The valentine's party at the chocolate festival with these live singers that invited kids up to back them up was a hit.  You were turning your maraca into an microphone and playing a wicked air guitar.
You like to talk about your favorite things from the past.  "Mommy remember when it snowed better?" "Did you remember to get another Xmas tree?"  "Daddy, I'm ready for Christmas!"  You are constantly trying to convince us that it's still Xmas because the lighted doggie is still up at the house down the street.  You like to plan for the future - which ideally you'd like to be tomorrow if demanded.  Like next Halloween you declared, "We are going to be a fly and poo!"

You were a good boy on our flights to and from Florida, although the delay in the airport was not anyone's idea of a good time.  You decided that you only wanted to walk backwards through the really crowded area, which went about as well as you can imagine. You somehow knew that my arms where too full to carry you.  So you fussed and we inched along slowly as you walked backwards and eventually got bored.  You were happy to play with these Bendaroo waxy sticks nearly the whole flight home (as long as I provided you with plenty of "guys" you could outfit with capes and eventually smoosh into a ball.

You've started actually playing with other little kids.  Like wanting to play catch with other kids at PB Jacks.  The only saving grace of our airplane delay was the other little boy that played cars and helicopters with you.  He appeared to only speak spanish, and you were somehow able to recognize that he was speaking spanish and you even told me, "Mommy he speaks Spanish?!"

You were pretty happy to be out on the beach and running in the waves this year.  You are both getting more independent near water which only means it will be more fun year to year.  You loved running to sand volleyball courts as your preferred digging spot.  You would eventually stick with us especially your brother as he was busy chasing birds.

You loved being with your baby cousin at the beach.  You were pretty constantly interested in what he was up to, and even calling to him in the night - You loved the funny nickname "Cam olin-cute-o" which sounds like olinguito (that cute animal they discovered this year that we joke looks like Cam).  You took to just babbling I love baby Cameron or using his name in your babble talk when you get giddy.
There was a lot of snow when we got back from all our fun in the sun. You do not like the cold for long. You want to be outside, but you don't want it to be cold.  Your two year old mind cannot wrap your mind around that Mommy does not control the weather.  Sledding and hoping your sled wouldn't crack were sometimes too much excitement for you.   You were saying your cold nose was hurt with a booboo and you needed it fixed.

After making at epic pile of static cling foam bits by crushing packing corners for our new bureau, while trying to clean it up I banished you to the other room, you came to me quietly saying, "I thought I was allowed to make the mess, I sorry!" I tried to explain that yes at first I let you do it thinking of the sensory table at school, but then the foam bits started multiplying and it got really messy, really fast. I vacuumed for over 30 minutes and emptied the vacuum three times!

You've taken to copying your brothers favorite expression: "Are you kidding me? What's the matter with you?"  Trying to play Simon says with your dad and he thought you kinda understood how it worked - so daddy asked, "You tell me what to do now," and you said, "Simon says, thank you?"
Your brother was sick this month (with strep throat the rest of us somehow avoided!) and boy you were peeved that the doctor only examined your brother!  You do love doctors, but not when they aren't examining you.  You even opened your mouth extra wide to try to get her to look at your throat.  You made us all laugh we you explained that if Aiden's medicine tasted like bubble gum they made it with your kisses!

I'm constantly amazed at the things you are exposed to compared to your brother.  You love the new play set we have in the yard already - and you are a climber just like your brother.  In other less desirable things, your brother did not know what a zombie was at this age, but you know how to imitate one.  It's either shoddy parenting or just an inevitable part of being the second born that you will be exposed to the big boy stuff a lot earlier.  You loved this water expanding brain dead guy that you found at the store.

You feel every moment with your two year old enthusiasm and that combined with near constant motion is what keeps me in the moment.  It's why I feel giddy and exhausted.  It's why I can't wait for another month or two of living with a two year old.  I do know there is even more fun business to look forward to...

Love, Mom