Thursday, November 29, 2012

Dear Corban, You are two...

Corban,

You have just turned two. You bring us so much joy. A smile remains on your face most of the day. Your smile is contagious. You walk into a room like you own the place. Everyone senses it, and they love it. Attention is often focused on you. Everyone wants to touch your spikey little hair as you walk past them. "Shy" is not in your vocabulary. Everyone is your friend. You will walk up to anyone and say hi and beacon them to interact with you or lift you up. They always want to...you're pretty irresistible. You especially want to hang out with the boys. You will often go up to the most manly looking man to hang out. You are all boy. Oh, you have a very sweet, sensitive side, but you like cars, balls, trucks, tractors, bikes, legos, construction equipment, etc. You play independently pretty well too. You also like to play rough. You charge at people and like to try and bowl into or hit - but always with a smile on your face. We are working on having loving hands. You also have pretty hyper moments where you just want to run around, charge at things (or people) or jump up with both legs in the air and land straight on your bottom. You are pretty obedient and easy to have around. Like everyone, you have your moments, but you are hard to be mad at because when you do the wrong thing, it is with a smile on your face. You also do it blatantly. You will run up to me with a coin in your mouth, open your mouth, smile and then run away. You love the chase. You laugh a lot too. Everything is funny to you. You crack me up and definitely have a sense of humor. You may end up as the class clown. You'll do anything for a laugh. Recently you have been tensing your whole body and shaking all over with a smile if you are getting in trouble. Your sisters adore you. If you do any offense against them, they are quick to forgive. They are more laid back with you than anyone. You are a smart kiddo who understands a lot. You also have a pretty good vocabulary for a two year old. You like to talk. You often talk to yourself in a little whisper. I love it when we are building legos together and you say, in a little whisper to yourself, "Right there. Up High. Right there." You say, "Right there(?)" a lot. I also love how you say, "O Day" (for OK). We call you a parrot because you want to repeat whatever anyone else is saying. The girls will say something, and you'll have no idea what it means, but you'll say it just to be a part of the group. I keep asking you to just freeze right where you are and not grow anymore because you are at such a cute age, and I love how you say everything. "Tank you, Mommy," comes out of your mouth all the time. I appreciate your thankfulness. You will thank me for changing your diaper, cleaning your face or giving you food. You will repeat yourself until I acknowledge that I heard you. Thank you for blessing me with all of your thanks. You know your animal sounds and find humor in books like "Red Hat, Green Hat." You get it. I can't begin to write down the words you know - way too many. I love putting you to bed at night. You ask to pray for bampa (grandpa), ema (grandma), your sisters, Jesus, your stuffed animal dog, or your school bus (the bus that grandma gave Abby on her first day of school was quickly taken by you, and you love to carry that toy around the house). Food is interesting. You seem to be experimenting. One day you'll try new things and enjoy them. Other days you'll decide you don't like the same item. Sometimes you'll just be unwilling to try anything new. For a while, all you wanted was protein and would touch nothing else. Now you are enjoying fruit more, even though you don't seem to like strawberries. You are also my first child who hasn't wanted anything to do with crust. You won't do crusts on sandwiches, and you avoid skin on apples. You still have some skin issues (eczema) and like to scratch yourself causing little marks. We're working on getting that all cleared up. You just started to look more like a little boy - slimming up and getting taller. I'll have to make your two year appointment so we can get all of your stats. You squirm with my but like to cuddle with your dad. You wake up in the morning, often calling for Kenzie. You and Kenzie like to jump in the crib together as a morning time routine. My nickname for you is loco because you really are crazy...a good crazy, but crazy. Corban, I can't imagine life without you. You are such a fun addition to our family. We love you "mo much"...way up to the moon and back, forever and always, no matter what.

Corban is Two

Corban is two years old. Because his birthday is so close to Thanksgiving, and we had competing plans, we celebrated as a family and invited Grandma Durr and Great Grandpa Durr over for dinner and a small celebration. Another component is Corban woke up sick, and he was a bit of a mess. He was teething, barely slept and was just not his usual jovial self. I made him a race car cake with Jeremy at the last minute. I am glad I did. He was so upset that day, but I would bring out his cake if he was sad, and it would cheer him up. I've been trying to train him to say he 2. I'll ask him how old he is, and he'll say, "One!" then he'll pause, smile and say, "Race car cake." He'll then correct himself by saying, "I two." The girls showered him with their own homemade gifts. We got him a balance bike, which he is loving. Here are some pictures from our celebration.