Two

Dear Brooklen,

2 years already?!!! I can't believe how much you have grown in the past two years. It seems like just yesterday, you were the helpless little baby that changed my life forever. Fast forward two years, and you are the handsome, active little man that I am so proud of.

One of my favorite things about this time in your life is that we can see so many sides of your personality. You are all boy and you are busy, busy, busy. One of your favorite things to do is turn on music (Gavin Degraw and Ryan Shupe are your favorites) and dance with your mom and dad. Often, when I ask you what you want to do, you will throw you hands up and say, "dance!"

You still love to eat. I think that there are few 2-year olds with as big and diverse an appetite as you have. When the doctor tells me that you lie on the left side of the weight growth curve, I always remind her that it would be difficult for me to get you to eat more than you already do. Thankfully, your favorite foods are healthy; you could eat strawberries and kiwis all day long.

At two year's old, you are almost completely potty trained. We are so proud of you for this! You adore your Thomas underwear and you can't wait to put it on when you wake up in the morning (we have not taken the plunge and left them on at night yet).

Your vocabulary grows everyday now. Recently, you have started to put words together to make sentences. The first sentences you created all started with the phrase, "I want." Watching you learn to talk is both amazing and adorable. Today, I took you to a park that only had one very narrow, tubular slide. I was planning on not joining in the fun, fearing I might get stuck in the slide. But, after you went down the slide, you pointed to me and started chanting, "mom's turn, mom's turn." Of course, it was too cute and I couldn't resist.

You have finally started to enjoy books and movies. We love to take you to the library every week to pick out new stories and dvds. You particularly enjoy Thomas and tractor dvds.

You are a very active little boy and you love sports. This year, we threw you a sports birthday party. You were very lucky to have both sets of grandparents and several aunts, uncles, and cousins in town (for Hurley's blessing) attend your party.

I adore you Brooklen. I am so grateful that I am able to watch and help you learn and grow. You make life so exciting and you remind me that I am so blessed.

Love,

Mom