All About Ayden at 2 Years Old

It's time for some all about Ayden and Rylee posts!  Since my last post was about Ayden, I figured I'd just keep the flow going and write about him first.

Ayden continues to be a big boy at 35 inches tall (65%) and 31.2 pounds (85%).  I don't know why, but it always surprises me that he's so high on the chart for his weight.  He hardly has any belly at all and I frequently marvel at how skinny he seems (not in an unhealthy way).  He's just a stocky boy I guess!  He's in between size 2T and 3T shirts, but still in size 18-24 month pants.  All of his pj's are 3T now.  He has such a long torso, that any 2 piece pj sets he wears, the tops are at his belly button!  He's wearing size 5 diapers and size 7 shoes.

Opening his birthday gift from us.

Isn't this what a MegaBloks truck is for???

Ayden is still behind in his language/communication skills, but he does have more words and animal sounds than he did at 18 months.  He says hi, bye bye, nigh nigh (night), more, teeth, and hair.  He says "bee" for bird and can say ball.  That's about it for words.  He still doesn't mimic us saying anything at all.  For animal sounds, he does an elephant, cow, and horse.  Ayden has LOTS to say in jibber jabber, if not in real actual words.  He often will stand and tell you a very long story and is very expressive.  I can't wait to know what he's actually saying!

He does understand several things, even if he can't say them.  He can point out your eyes, eye brows, nose, toes, belly, and ears.  He understands what it means when you say it's time for snack or when you tell him to go put his shoes in the closet.  He knows what it means when you say it's time for a bath.  I think he understands quite a bit.  He just does not have many words.  Lot's to say, but little words.  This also results in quite a bit of whining at times, because he doesn't know how else to express what he wants.

Ayden loves to push his cars and trucks around.  We keep a truck on our front porch for them, and he sometimes will push that truck around the entire neighborhood!  Also a favorite pastime is to splash in mud puddles.  He loves building with his blocks, stacking them as high as he can possibly reach, and then knocking them down.  He's gotten pretty good at throwing a ball and has even started grasping the concept of hitting a ball off a tee (although we have a loooonnnngggg way to go working on his form, lol).

Ayden's absolute favorite thing to do is find mischief.  He is constantly trying to figure out how to get into everything he's not supposed to, or climbing onto things like the kitchen counters, desk, changing table, etc.  He stacks things together in an attempt to get as high as he can climb.  He often times gets himself stuck in things he can't get out of.  He is a busy, busy, boy and he keeps us always hopping and trying to stay one step ahead of him.  Honestly, I'm kind of shocked we haven't had any trips to the ER with him yet.  I'm not even kidding.  I know that his adventurous spirit will someday be a quality that we greatly admire and love, but for right now, it's simply exhausting!  At least we can usually laugh about it, once we get over the mini heart attacks he constantly gives us.

He managed to get himself stuck in this chair.

Even though Ayden is usually on the move and into trouble, he does slow down sometimes as well.  He gets very determined to figure things out.  He examines the wheels on his cars/trucks, trying to figure out how they work.  He will spend a long time trying to figure out how to open things (which eventually leads to trouble, haha).  He absolutely loves flap books and will sit "reading" them for a long time, opening and closing the little flaps over and over again.  Where's Spot is his favorite.

Ayden has gotten very good with a spoon and a fork, and just recently has stopped trying to eat yogurt and applesauce with his fingers.  Now he just tips the bowl back and tries to slurp it out when he can't get the last little bit with his spoon!  Eh, whatever.  Overall, Ayden is a pretty good eater.  He loves pasta, toast with peanut butter and honey on it, cheese, avocado, most fruits (although he's recently boycotted bananas and just squishes them to death), and most vegetables as long as they are the frozen variety (that have been cooked of course).  For some reason, I can't get my kiddos to actually eat fresh cooked veggies, but they love them out of a frozen bag!

I may be a little biased, but I think my son is a very handsome little boy with a killer smile.  He absolutely drives me batty most days, but he also has the ability to melt me into a giant puddle.  He loves being tickled, and is also a big love bug.  He loves to cuddle and be hugged, and he gives the best kisses with smooching sound effects!

I love this picture because he doesn't look quite as grown up!
He still looks like my baby :)

I LOVE that smile!