Happy Birthday Eoin!  You are two today.  We are amazed every day by you.  Watching all the things you can do and listening to all the things you are saying makes our hearts swell.

Today we spent the day spending time with you.  You got up nice and early to celebrate.  We made Mickey Mouse pancakes together; you helped measure and whisk the dry ingredients.  You drag your stool around the kitchen to wherever you want to help out. You opened your puzzles from Auntie Nellie, Sid and Matt and put them in your new rack.  You pointed out the O and the F to mama and told me all the farm animal sounds said "horse" and "oink," new words!  Then we went outside so you could see your new Strider bike.  You shouted "bike....geen" (green).  You knew exactly what to do, you threw your leg over to straddle the bike then started walking with it.  You were a little shocked when the bike tipped and then you recovered.  After that you wanted Dadda to stay close. You helped Dadda wash the car and we got ready to meet Grandma at Sara's for lunch.  On our way down, you fell asleep so, Grandma held you while we ate.  Then you ate a whole hotdog and finished off Mama's orange/vanilla twist cone.  You got the hang of licking the ice-cream but couldn't keep up with the drips! We went for a short walk on the peninsula.  Dada headed off to  Butler for the State Bowling Tournament and you and I went home to play in the water table and wind down for the day.

We are planning your birthday party on June 2 at the Erie Planetarium, more details later!
 

Chatterbox!

We are amazed listening to you chatter! You have so many more words...your new bathroom toys are all labeled now: turtle "durdle," beaver "beebea," seal "eel," and a frog "yock." You can even wind them up and watch them swim. You like the beaver the best...hmm some connection with Mama's mascot? You can name a lot of the Sesame Street characters too, Elmo, Abby, Oscar "yuck," Ernie "

Bathtime is a favorite part of your nighttime routine, you say "ba" and "bubble" when you are ready. You also think it is hilarious to rinse Mama's sudsy hands and then "DUMP!" it out. You were so excited to get into the bath this week that while Mama was getting you a towel and the tub was filling, you climbed into the tub with your clothes on!!!

Still fixated on the vacuum! At Grammie's you and Riley pushed each other around to wield both vacuums. When Lauren and I took you to Skippereno's their vacuum was in plain sight and it was very difficult to distract you; needless to say, you didn't eat much. You are the only little boy that I know of that has melt-downs over cleaning tools and not toys!

Up and down you go! You can go up the stairs, very quickly! You also have a one crooked leg and one straight leg method of going down the stairs. I'm glad we can gate off the stairs to the basement!

You are becoming an expert with technology! Every device is "Elmo" because you like to watch youtube videos of Elmo. You can unlock the ipad, Kindle and my phone and know where the apps are that you like and hit the play button to play videos. Unfortunately the power button is very tempting! Every night we watch Andre Bocelli singing goodnight to Elmo after our story. (As I'm writing this, you just clicked on a foreign language clip and started cracking UP!)

We are all looking forward to spring and summer so that we can go on walks and back to the zoo! We are going to have a great family summer!

Daduum!!!

Oh the things that you love... your favorite things to play with are the Dirt Devil vacuum, the snow shovel, or anything that you can use to clean with. You are very concerned when you see a mess, or "meh." At the Texas Roadhouse tonight you repeatedly pointed to the peanut shells on the floor saying, "meh" followed by "daduum." It took a while, but you did forget about the mess on the floor.
Your language is really exploding, you labeled all the veggies in your chicken stew, potato, carrot, peas and chicken. You can even fill in the blanks of your favorite songs; "wheels on the bus goes round and 'rounnnn,' ...all through the 'dowwwwn,'..."BACK" is your favorite part. Sometimes you will put your finger up to your lip and blow for "sh, sh, sh" and you to love move your hands in a circle for "round and round." You call Grammie "ahmie" and Grandpa "Buppa."
We have been reading Goodnight Gorilla for the last week before bed and you LOVE the anticipation before the "eyes" pages, then you giggle and turn it forward and back over and over again. You love animals and can point to many different types, you know the difference between the lion and tiger, a horse and a zebra and a whale and a dolphin...and so many more.
The last two weeks, you have made a big change in your sleeping habits. You are starting to sleep most of the night. We have limited milk to only in the morning and it seems to have helped your belly and gassiness at night. You also have been taking naps a Brooke's with no fuss! What a big boy, we are so proud of you!
Your giggles and laughs are the best part of our days. You and Daddy have a great time playing in the morning. You love to crawl between our legs to hide. Daddy chases you for a tickle and as soon as the tickling is over, you say, "gen." We love hearing you squeal in delight!

Eskimo kisses

Mama got her first Eskimo kiss from you yesterday! Today I said that I loved you and you leaned in and game me another! We love when you learn something new, especially sweet things!

Lions, tigers and bears...oh my!

You have become a Noah for a collection of animals. There is no arc though and only one of each species. Your first was the elephant and on a trip to A.C. Moore with Daddy and Grandma you added 8 more to your collection (giraffe, gorilla, lion, leopard, zebra, polar bear, cheetah and) You put them on the bottom shelf of the bassinet for night-night fir their first night at home. We are working on making new sounds to add to your roar. The elephant's trumpet is hard for Mama to model; so we are focusing on beating our chests like gorillas. Can't wait for our future safaris!

Silly boy!

Oh, Eoin!
You are always entertaining us with your antics! Ripping paper is so amusing...to you! You love to snatch daddy's newspaper and then rip it into long strips. You also like to rip up wipies and put them into a pile after you have "cleaned up" your spot at the table. Sometimes you even use your teeth to rip the paper.

You are becoming more and more of an imp! You know exactly what is off limits and what you are not to touch but, it is a thrill to push the limits! You love to pull the cords out of the computers, reach for our drinks on the end tables and play with the outlets! The best part is that you are so cute when you are caught, tipping your head to the side and then smiling and shrieking in delight that you were caught red-handed! Then, it is so hard to not scoop you up and tickle you -so most of the time that is what we do.

Daddy, Grandma, Grammie and I are keeping track of all the new words and sounds that you are making. Grandma taught you how to do a fish face reading the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" for the goldfish picture. You will imitate that face as well as smack your lips. When something is heavy you grunt and make this strained face. You asked for a banana by pointing and saying "nana"! Daddy was so excited to tell me, then you did it again for me.

You have taken a liking to your lambies! You drag the big lamb out of the bassinet and carry it around, though it is pretty heavy for you to carry! When you are tired you will snuggle with it. I put the baby lambie on my shoulder and you will cuddle with us. Auntie Nellie brought them over from England with her and they were in your bassinet at Mama's baby shower. You also love to look at the nakie picture of you with your lambies that is hanging in your room on the wall.

We have been going through your closet and there is so much "baby" stuff that we have to now pack away; your swing (Our life saver for some rest for all of us. We dragged it on many of our trips to Harrisburg. Daddy and I reminisce when you are having a rough night, wishing you could still fit into it!) your mobiles, Gdiapers (best laid plans-I think we saved some space in the landfill but, still not a perfect system), Baby Bjorn, bouncy seat, your Chicco restaurant seat (the most complimented piece of baby equipment that we had- servers loved it and so did we! You could sit right at the table with us. Now you are too heavy and we have to use the restaurant high chairs), my pump, Medela bottles and My Breast friend pillow. Grammie has been helping Mama wash and pack everything away. It is sad to admit that you are not an infant anymore but you are still a baby, just with a little toddler mixed in.

Shake it baby!

You have learned to boogie! Grammie captured you dancing on stage (her bay window) gettin' down to the Cars song on the riding toy. You tap your feet, wiggle your butt and even get down! Sometimes you want something so badly that you dance and wiggle until we figure it out! Maybe tap classes are in your future.

Sidney, Aunt Nellie and Uncle Matt came home this summer so we got to have several play-dates. People thought the pair of you were gorgeous boys, blond and blue eyed! We went to the Erie zoo together on a very hot day. We walked through the exhibits, ate our packed lunch in the park and then rode the train and the carousel. By the end of the day you both fell asleep in your strollers and Mama and Auntie Nellie were exhausted and soaked in sweat so we blasted the AC and got iced coffees while you both slept in your car seats. We also tried for a picture together, we got a few, but it was a challenge! Santina was patient as ever!


We have had two appointments with Early Intervention to check out your speech. Mama and Daddy agreed to wait for 3 months after your 1 year doctor appoint to see if some words began to appear. We think that you can say a few words but you will only give us one shot at them. I think that you have called me Mama several times and Daddy "Dadda." After eating you breathed "all done." Grammie heard you say "out" when you wanted to get out of the bathtub. You have said "ball" several times. We have hypothesized that you are resisting talking because you don't really need to, maybe we are too good at anticipating what you want. We have decided to be proactive though and make sure that we do all that is possible to make sure all is well. You outperformed two year old skills in fine motor and cognitive problem solving. All other skills tested were at age level or above, so we know you understand us. You can bring us particular objects- you even walked across the room to get me the triangles for the sorting game, point to body parts - nose, eye, ears, hands, feet, belly, you can "water" your belly and your head with your blue bath pitcher after you fill it up with water, you "brush" your teeth and hair, can take off your shoes, and can get a book to read and lift the flaps. We know that you are always thinking and problem solving but we are anxious to hear you tell us all about it!

Mama found an owl knitted hat at the babyGap at the Galleria Mall for you for Halloween. Grammie is putting pieces together to create a costume for you to be an owl. Wise and observant, so fitting for your personality right now.


In the last week you have also really taken an interest in the stars on the ceiling that your turtle projects. Several times you have turned over after your bottle to point and look at them. We sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" and point to the moon. My favorite part of a busy day is cuddling with you before bedtime. You snuggling into my neck. Watching you pull at your ears and tuck your hand under your check. Your face as you sleep. My sweet baby is growing into a little boy.