I am embarrassed to say that I have had this post written for quite some time, especially since Jay is fast approaching 2.5 years old!  I kept waiting for Jay’s two year old photos to be finished (something that took forever since it kept getting trumped by other things) so I could post some along with the update.  Well, needless to say time has passed and MANY things on this list have changed; however, I didn’t want to forget any of it so here it is a few months (eek) late but better late than never…

Jay turned two a little over a week ago- two, two whole years old and since I haven’t written a proper update on him since this one I figured that I was due.  Especially since there are so many things that he says/ does that I don’t want to forget…

Stats- here are his stats from when we were at the doctor last week.  They measured him on a big boy scale and got his height by asking him to stand up against the wall- such a big boy he is.

Height- 33 inches

Weight- 26lbs

Both of these put him in the 25-50% making him a little smaller than the average two year old.

Things of note-

-He can count to five reliably; however he occasionally will go until 7 or 8.

-He knows his colors with the exception of red and orange which he mixes up from time to time.  He also knows silver and that it is the color of both Mommy and Daddy’s cars.

-He can name almost all of his body parts including (but not limited to) head, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, toes, belly button and elbows.

-He knows his right from his left and when you ask will hold either his right leg or foot up as high as it will go.

-He still can’t jump but man o’ man does he sure give it his best effort.  I love to watch him bounce around the house and will probably be pretty sad when he can actually jump.

-When you ask him how old he is he will enthusiastically tell you “2!” and then he holds up both hands showing at least 6 fingers but most often holding up all ten.

-He blesses people when they sneeze.  He even tells himself “Bless you Jay Bird” when he sneezes.

-He thinks that his name is Jay Bird.  When anyone asks him his name that is his response, one that I usually have to repeat and explain to people who don’t know him.  It will be an interesting day when we have to explain that his name is actually James and that we call him Jay and that Jay Bird is in fact just a nickname.

-We are working on learning the alphabet; however, he is having a hard time getting past the fact that his name is Jay but it is spelled – J-A-Y.  I think it would confuse him far less if his name wasn’t also an initial.  He can sing part of his ABC’s but it usually comes out sounding like just a jumble of letters smooshed together in no particular order.

-He can name every single car that he owns… some of them have names from the movie Cars, for some he will tell you their given name- coupe, Porsche, jeepster, and then the rest have an assortment of random names that he has given them .  One of which is “new car”… it’s not new at all but that is what he started calling it form the get go and that is what it has stayed.

-He hooks EVERYTHING.  He has four cars that have tow hooks (three Maters and one “big guck”) and not an hour goes by that some car is not being hooked or towed by one of them.

-He frequently says- “Jay Bird needs” when he is looking for something or wants something.

-He likes to look at the DVD’s and Blu-rays that we have.  Frequently he will sit there for a few minutes (this equals forever in the toddler world) looking at the covers and taking in all of the details on each one.

-He is thrilled when Jamie gets home from work.  As soon as he hears Jamie’s truck in the driveway or the garage door opening he starts squealing “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” while doing this circular skipping dance.  It is really one of the sweetest things and really brightens my day, which frequently feel long by that point.

-He has been sleeping in his big boy bed for over a month now.  He can get in and out on his own and has not had any problems with it thus far.  There were a few weeks at first when he realized he could climb out on his own that he would get up and play with his cars quietly in his room after we put him to bed.  He would play for hours without making a peep until we went in and told him he needed to sleep.  He always turned his bug light on so he could see to play.  Thinking that we were smart we put a timer on his light hoping it would stop him from getting up.  It surely did not, he just found another light in his room to turn on and when we unplugged that one he turned his closet light on to use.  Clever little boy he is!

-We are currently working on potty training and not because we pushed but because, you could say, Jay wanted to.  We started by putting him on a little potty every night before his bath (since he always peed as soon as he got into the bath) and it didn’t take long for him to catch on.  Well last week he started taking off his diaper on his own and after having a few accidents on the floor I started putting him on the potty during the day and asking him frequently if he has to go.  Every time he has been put on the potty since then he has gone and gotten a treat (one skittle… his favorite part) for going.  This is as far as our training has gotten but it is major progress in the right direction and we understand that it isn’t going to happen overnight, especially at his age.

-He loves, loves, loves his little brother.  He is frequently asking where baby Charlie is or telling me that he is crying.  He usually offers to share his snack, cars or whatever he has at the moment with him.  When we get in the car he always points to Charlie’s carseat and tells me that that is where Baby Charlie goes.  He can barely stand for him to take naps and I have to watch him like a hawk because otherwise he will sneak  into his room and ‘accidentally’ wake him up when he pulls up on the side of the crib and yells -“good morning baby Charlie!”

-He knows when he isn’t supposed to be doing something or if he has something that he is not supposed to.  If he grabs something that he isn’t supposed to have he always puts it behind his back and walks away from us (so that we can see whatever he is hiding).  And when you ask him what he has he will without fail announce whatever it is that he has with no reservation.

Favorites-

-Foods- he is picky from time to time when eating (most simply put: he is two) but without fail you will always scarf down a bowl of yogurt or a handful of blueberries or a waffle with butter and syrup.  When we ask you how many blueberries you would like your response is always “5!”

-He loves to color and use stickers.  Almost every day he will ask to color and frequently he asks multiple times a day.

-Song- Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys.  This started a few moths ago when he was walking around saying “bob, bob, bob” and in response I started singing Barbara Ann.  He frequently will sing it (and dance along) on his own while he is walking through the house or eating breakfast or anywhere for that matter.  His other top favorites are Frosty the Snowman (which he knows the majority of the words too), the Itsy Bitsy Spider and we are working on I’m a little Tea Pot.  He loves the “washes the spider out” part of Itsy Bitsy and he loves to tip himself out when we sing I’ m a little tea pot.  Just today he was singing Barbara Ann and Frosty while we made our way through the grocery store.

-Toy- by far his talking matchbox Lightening McQueen although Finn McMissle is a very close second ;)

-Books- The Little Red Caboose, One Yellow Lion and Little Blue Truck are probably amongst his top right now although he loves so many that it is really hard to specify a favorite.