Happy Birthday Everett!

Everett, you turned 2 today! You woke up with a mild fever but you soon snapped out of it. I think it was just teething related. The whole family woke up at the same time and we sang Happy Birthday to you upstairs. With so many family birthday's between March and May, we have sung "Happy Birthday" about 10 times in the past 10 weeks. You definitely know what it means, and that when it's your turn, you get spoiled! The second I told you it was your birthday, you lit up and said "Happy Birthday you ME!" We came down the stairs as a family and the first thing you saw was your new balance bike waiting just for you. You jumped out of my arms and ran to it and couldn't wait to get on! (I didn't get any pictures of that part. Sorry!) You rode it in the living room for a little bit but you definitely weren't feeling well and were soon asking to be cuddled again.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful until the evening. You requested pancakes for dinner, then we ate cupcakes. We'll do big cake and ice cream on Saturday with the extended Janeway family.

You were so dainty with your cupcake. You really didn't dig in like I thought you would! You took a few bites and then you were done. But you definitely had fun playing with the crumbs and throwing them all over the floor :)

Brayden had a T-ball game tonight, and at the game you kept asking that John (Jackson and Baron's Dad, and the T-ball coach) throw the ball to you. The second he was on the outside of the fence you ran up to him with your bat and ball in arms and just stared up at him waiting for him to pay attention to you. There was nothing more you wanted at that moment than to have "Coach John" to throw the ball with you. John didn't disappoint!

Brayden wanted to help teach you how to bat. And Asher didn't want to be left out of the fun either! I love this picture of the three of you :)

John kept throwing to you until you hit one. We usually play with nerf balls, but it didn't take very many tries before you hit this real baseball with your little foam bat.

As soon as you hit it, you took off for first base! Well, you grabbed the ball first and hung on to your bat, but you had the basic idea down. I don't know where you get your athletic abilitiy because it doesn't come from Dad or me, BUT, you definitely have some skills and even more so, you have a PASSION for sports. You Will go all day long with a ball in your hand, and will ask anyone who will listen to throw you a ball while you bat, or just play catch. I would go as far as saying you are "obsessed" with sports!

About you at TWO:

• Other than the sports obsession? :)
• You love being outside. Skateboard. Balance bike. Chickens. Garden. Whatever will get you outside, you'll do it.
• You still let me hold you cradled like a baby in my arms and sing to you while I put you down for a nap for bedtime. It's my absolute favorite part of my day. Even if you are wide awake, the second I start singing to you you just relax and look up at me and sometimes sing a long. {My little piece of heaven on earth.}
• You love talking on the phone to anyone who will listen to you.
• You love jumping off of the couch into a big pile of pillows, and you have no fear when it comes to the stunts you pull mid-flight!
• You are very independent...as long as Mom or Dad are in the room. We can't leave the room without you following us.
• You speak full sentences and can very clearly get your point across almost all of the time. You say sentences like "Hey Mom, guess what? I didn't like that, k?" or "Um...I'll think about it." and "Mom, go over there so I can throw you a ball!". When you are playing catch with someone you say things like "Nice try" or "good catch!" and "Go Team!" 
• You like to hit people when you don't get your way or when people (mostly Asher) get in your space. You are pretty good about saying sorry and seemingly meaning it, even though it doesn't mean you won't do it again seconds later if you are being bugged. 
• Your favorite foods are fruit. Hands down. Bananas, strawberries, mango, avocado, apples, oranges. You could live off of fruit and never complain about it. You don't love sweets as much as your brothers. I can give you a small bowl of ice cream and you'll eat a few bites then be done. 
• You sleep through the night, and generally sleep 7pm until 6-7 am without waking. You do only take one nap, and it's usually 1-2 hours, but sometimes you'll take a 3 hour nap, which is nice :) You always wake up with a smile on your face and say "I had a good nap!"
• You are excited for your baby brother to get here, but I think you're only excited because your older brothers are excited. I'm pretty confident that it will be a hard adjustment to you. You are definitely Mama's little sidekick right now and that will all be changing in a short 5 weeks. I hope you love your brother as much as you think you will!
• You don't watch Signing Time nearly as much as you did, but you still choose to sign throughout the day as you talk. I love that it's such a natural part of your language. 
• You have the most incredible expressions with your face. Your eyes, mouth, smile all say so much.
• You can make anyone laugh and still have such a magnetic personality. 
• Your hair is getting lighter and the freckles are getting darker on your nose. I adore them!
• You are a pretty tough kid. If you fall and skin your knees all I have to say is "Whoa! That was a cool super-hero move!" and you light up like a champ and are so proud.
• You are easily calmed. If you get angry because someone took a toy from you, it doesn't take much for you to relax and find something else to play with. You forgive easily and I love that about you!
• You aren't showing any interest in potty training. For awhile I was hoping you'd be potty trained brefore the baby got here. We did try for a few days but you just weren't interested. Oh well. We'll get there someday! 
• You can climb up to the top bunk in your room all by yourself. You've been able to do this for a couple weeks and it's insane. You don't use the ladder, you use the end of the bed and it doesn't take you very long at all! You have gotten down by yourself before but that's a little more scary, so you usually ask for help down, which I'm grateful for :)

That's all I can think about right now. I know this is cliche but I can't imagine our little family without you in it. You bring so much light and joy and laughter and fun. Your brothers adore you, and you adore them in return. You love playing with them and being one of the "big" boys. Your love of life is unsurpassed by anyone I know and although I wish you could stay this age forever, I can't wait to see who you become, because you are definitely a special spirit! But really...could you please stay this age and level of adorability forever? I'd appreciate it :)

I Love you Everett!

Mom