Happy Birthday TWO You!

Asa's SECOND birthday was yesterday, June 23rd.  I cannot believe how quickly 2 years have flown by.  I am amazed when I think of how much he grew and changed from his BIRTHday to his first birthday and from his first birthday to his second birthday.  In the past year he's learned to walk, started to talk a lot more (he was talking some on his first birthday, but nothing like now!!), moved (again), developed his own likes and dislikes, developed a hilarious sense of humor, continued to be absolutely in love with books--some the same as his first year and some new ones, learned to have and express his own opinion, stopped nursing, learned to like new foods, moved from a infant bucket seat to a convertible carseat (but still rear facing), moved from a high chair to a booster seat with a tray to a booster eating at the table.... I could go on and on. :)

Asa had his 2 year old well visit today, so here are his stats and other fun bits of information about Asa at TWO.

weight: 26.2 lbs.
height:  34 in.
wearing: 18 month clothes... some 12-18 pants if they are extra long, b/c some 18/18-24 mo pants are too big in his waist often, and size 5-6 shoes, depending on how they are cut.
teeth: all the "first" year teeth and he's currently working on his first 2 year molar (his bottom right)
hair: still light brown with lighter strands in the summer.  Starting to lose some baby fluffyness and become more of a toddler texture (more coarse, not as baby fine).  Still grows FAST and needs trims every 4-6 weeks.
words:  too many to even begin to count.  He hears something once and you'll hear him use it again correctly days or weeks later.  Amazing. We love it!  I love having an idea of what's been going through his mind now that he's talking all. day. long. :)

favorite friends:  He is currently very attached to Blanket.  He still cuddles with Mr. Owl while we read stories, but Blanket (a big lamb blanket) is whom he wants to bring downstairs with him.  There is usually a sidekick involved in Asa & Blankets cuddles, and that rotates between Neigh (a horse), Puppy (a little dog), or whatever other stuffed animal he's recently spotted or rediscovered and can't get enough of.  He is sooooo sweet to his stuffed animals, telling them good morning, giving them hugs and kisses umprompted and out of the blue.  He is a very nurturing little guy.  He must have learned that from his daddy. ;)

favorite foods:  Asa's favorite foods are breakfast foods.  He wolfs down pancakes, waffles, and muffins.  He usually eats 3-4 pancakes, sometimes I think he'd eat 4.5 if we let him (4 is our limit).  He out-eats both of us when it comes to pancakes.  They are his faaaaaavorite.  In addition, he enjoys toast, bagels, banana bread (but not bananas) and French toast for breakfast.  He loves Clif Kids graham cracker flavored bars as a treat ("graham bars"), and for snacks he also really enjoys pretzel fish, Ritz crackers, Beech Nut fruit chews, and Beech Nut banana cookies.  For lunch, his favorites are deconstructed homemade lunchables of crackers, deli meat (turkey or ham), and a fruit (peaches) or veggie nuggets with fruit and crackers.  He is still mostly dairy free.  A big treat is pizza on the weekends.  I started making homemade pizza on Fridays again, so he is exposed to dairy through that cheese.  It often does a little number on his stomach, but he gets SOOO excited about pizza and it's helping us continue to encourage his digestive system to build up the enzymes that will help him break down dairy.  For dinner, we offer him whatever we're having if it's not loaded with dairy.  He enjoys shredded chicken now with a number of different flavors.  He still loves spaghetti and sloppy joes.  His ALL TIME favorite is mashed potatoes.  Good luck getting him to eat anything else on his plate if you offer him "taters!"  He really enjoys bread (especially yeast rolls) as well, will occasionally eat green beans, and he loves several other types of beans--black beans, refried beans, baked beans, chili (kidney beans or white beans).  He does not particularly like sweets, including cake.

favorite books:  The Jesus Storybook Bible is a perennial favorite.  It never goes out of style. :)  Not only do we read it just about every day (sometimes multiple stories per day), but we occasionally watch "videos" of the stories online (it's pretty much just a zooming in and out of the illustrations from the book with a narration), and Asa requests the audio cd of the Bible when we're in the car as well. :)  He also likes Goodnight, Gorilla; lift the flap books; mommy & daddy oriented books (about mommies and daddies with their babies... usually animal centric), Hooway for Wodney Wat, We're Going on a Bear Hunt, and his "cousin" book (he calls it the "Cai" book)-- a photo book of his TN cousins we were given as a gift.  There are always a handful of other favorites that enjoy premier status for a week or so and that we read ALL the time in that week.  But those seem to rotate.  You never know what he'll fall in love with (and need to hear over and over) next!

favorite activities:  Asa LOVES cars and trucks.  He has a Little Tykes mountain he enjoys racing his cars down, and he has recently shown increasing interest in building "roads," "ramps," and "tunnels" with his blocks upon which his cars can drive.  That prettttty  much means I build them and he drives his cars all over them.  It's neat to see his imagination take off with it though.  He loves stuffed animals, and he not only cuddles them, but tells me they're playing cars or eating lunch too or whatever he is doing and will act out the stuffed animal doing what he's doing.  He loves to set up the animals ("bunnies") and furniture from my old Sylvanian Families sets (nowadays they are called Calico Critters).  Not only does he loves cars and trucks in general, but he also loves McQueen, Mater, and Guido from the Disney Cars story.  He hasn't seen any of the movie, but he was introduced to the characters through one story book and is completely enamored.  It's pretty cute. :)  In our basement, he loves to play in the ball pit and slide down the slide.  Outside he loves to go for a walk riding in the stroller, just walk around the house in the grass, or play anything with water on the back deck--his splash pad, the water table, or even a bowl of water and some utensils.  He also likes to chalk on the deck.  He loves to watch Daddy kick or throw a ball HIGH in the air in the backyard, and chasing Sammy around the yard (or house) is a favorite of course.  Sometimes he tries to "ride" Sammy.  She is so patient. ;)  Another stand out is helping Mommy in the kitchen.  Asa LOVES to stir things for me or throw them in a pot for me (he loves helping make dumplings by dropping the dough into the boiling pot).  If I am in the kitchen, I often hear, "Up pie!" which = "Up high!" which means he wants to sit "up high" on the counter and watch/help me. :)  Asa loves to play "uprise" which usually involves Matt surprising us by suddenly opening the door to the bathroom while we brush Asa's teeth.  Asa has also taken the game into his own hands by hiding places like his closet or the cabinets in our closet and surprising us by bursting out of them.  He loooooves music ("migic") and asks for it to be turned on when we're in the car or playing in his room or the living room.  We usually listen to Praise Baby cds in his room, "tv migic" in the living room (the digital Christian  music channel on the tv), and lately he requests the Jesus Storybook Bible on cd in the car.  He hands his plate and utensils (forks are his favorite) to Mommy or Daddy when he's done eating, likes to snap the buckles on his booster seat, but we don't usually use the straps, throws trash away on his own and when requested, and says, "Thank you, _____ (whomever cooked dinner)" and "please get down" when he's done eating--when prompted. :)

other amazing things:  Asa seems to have an amazing memory.  About 2 weeks after we bought our carpet at Lowe's (and brought it home), we drove by the store again to look at grills for Matt.  As soon as we rounded the corner to pull into the parking lot, Asa started saying, "Carpet.  Daddy car.  Carpet."  He remembered that was where we got our carpet!  And that we were in Matt's car when we got it!  Recently I also stopped at a little cafe & bakery and bought 2 cupcakes for Matt and me and a wrap for lunch for me.  It's the only time we have ever stopped there.  But the next Sunday on the way home from church as we drove by the store (set back from the street a bit!), Asa said, "Cake!  Mommy cake!  Yunch!  Cake!"  He remembered that we stopped there and what we bought!  Wow!  We are experiencing this more and more and more.  It's amazing. :)  Asa also learned how to open the deadbolt on the front and back doors (hello, door knob covers) and recently figured out how to turn the round door handles on interior doors.  He's been closing doors (and cabinet doors) for quite awhile... he likes them all to be closed (and puts everything away just so... none of his mom in him or anything ;) ).

We love you SOOOO much, Asa!  We can only begin to imagine all you will say and do in the next twelve months.  It is mind boggling!  Just like everyone says, on one hand I want to bottle you up just the way you are and not let you grow another day--keep you as you are forever.  But when I think about how much more we KNOW you this year compared to last year, all the delight we've experienced in and through you the last year, I can't imagine now watching you grow more and seeing more of your personality and thoughts become evident.  It's a good reminder to treasure each day--I can't keep you from growing up even when I want to.  And there are precious days both stored in my heart and ahead of us to come.  Most of all, we pray you continue to delight in God's Word and Suh-je.  We pray you LOVE God and know, serve, and joyfully obey Him all your days.