Tumultuous Twos

Ugh...I hate when I get so behind that I don't know where to start...but I guess the logical place would be Matthew's actual 2nd birthday.

After a weekend of celebrating, we tried to also make his actual day special as well.  It began with breakfast - Dad bought them Toaster Strudels which was a special treat - wearing the birthday hat...he loved being able to blow the candle out again!

At the end of the day, we met Daddy, Neena and Fred at our local Mexican restaurant for a quesadilla (for him) and then a walk down to Menchie's for birthday yogurt (for all of us!).

So a snapshot of our little Matthew at 2 for the baby book:

Personality 
He is a total ham...he may seem a little reserved in a big setting, but around the house he is full of energy.  He loves to make you laugh - his new thing is to say "watch dis" and then he does something totally random like lay down on the floor and close his eyes...it is so strange that I start laughing so he thinks he has struck comedy gold!

But you just never know what you are going to get with him - he has officially hit his full 2 year old stride.  He goes from cuddly, huggy bear (my favorite is when he says "mommy!" like he is so excited to see me and crawls up in to my lap and wraps his arms and legs around me and squeezes with a big smile on his face, he also loves nose kisses) to screaming tyrant in a matter of seconds.  I frequently hear him shouting at Nate "I had it first!" (which he says no matter who actually had it) and "It's mine!"  The brother battles have begun...no matter how many Lightening McQueens we own (and I would say upwards of 15) they will, without a doubt, fight over one particular one.  I have just had to begin instituting "time outs" for him because he has now taken to hitting along with the screaming.  I was prepared for 2 this time around (although you never get used to the inconsolable meltdowns) but the arguing and fighting is a whole other level.  It's gonna be a long year....

Development 
He is a talker, much more than Nate was at this point.  He speaks in full sentences and I pretty much always know what he is talking about (others may not) - but just because he can be articulate doesn't mean he makes sense.  His sentence of the week is "Is it hot in here?" - no clue why he is asking!

He can recognize all of his letters and numbers, colors and shapes.  It is a little obsessive - he likes to call out every number and letter he sees as we are driving, so it has become a game for me to find what he sees!  But he normally states it in question form, as in "is dat W?" "is dat 4?"  He likes to sing the alphabet but leaves out a few here and there.

Favorites
Books - Goodnight Moon, A Truck Goes Rattley Bumpa...but he likes to rotate the rest of his stack nightly.  He loves his book time.
Movies - he is on a major "Despicable Me" kick (his movie watching, unfortunately, is on par with his 4 yr old brother's - the perk, or detriment, of being the younger kid)...we watched it On Demand for a while, and then HBO pulled it so he would beg "watch Pickable Me On Demand pwease??".  Our nanny was kind enough to get it for him for his birthday - mainly to get him to stop asking daily to watch it and not ever being able to deliver! He thinks the minions are hysterical.
TV Shows - Little Einsteins (he begs me to sing the theme song over and over and I oblige) and Bubble Guppies, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Nate only watched PBS shows...Matthew is partial to Disney.
Food - he eats a tiny bit better than Nate did, but the difference is that I don't sweat it if he snubs a meal.  Breakfast is his favorite meal of the day so I try to get most of his nutrition for the day in then in case the rest of the day derails....luckily he has fully embraced the "Green Monster Smoothie" (courtesy of Pinterest) so he gobbles up spinach and protein without even know it - he wakes up and says "Smooth-Me Pwease!"  Outside of that, it is a typical toddler diet - broccoli/cauliflower, carbs, the occasional protein...and a serious sweet tooth, loves yogurt and applesauce. 
STINKY - his first love.  It is getting borderline crazy.  He has become the unofficial mascot at his school - all of the teachers and even some kids in other classes know his name.  Tonight he was a little grumpy heading up to bath time (which he never fights) and had Stinky in his mouth...I was trying to convince him to put Stinky down so he could get in the water and he wouldn't - so I resulted to my "choices" of either put Stinky down and get in to the bath or him and Stinky could go straight to bed...he looked at me and said "Straight to bed".  Luckily big brother joined us right after that decision was made and he willingly handed Stinky over to join him.  Not sure how this love affair will play out...
School - he has had a great first year at "school".  He loves his teachers and he has captured their hearts as well...his teacher regularly tells me how sweet he is...when he leaves he says unprompted "Bye Ms Bwandy, Bye Ms Nicki"...it is adorable.

I just love my little Choo Choo Bear...he is a fun, smart kid and I just can't believe how quickly he is growing up. I could go on and on about him and the funny things he does and says...which means I probably should be doing a better job of capturing them here!  As crazy as 2 year olds are, and as exhausted as I am by the time I put him to bed at night, I still love and treasure every crazy minute with him.