2!!

Look out! Everett is 2!

What would I do without my little guy?! Probably sit down a lot more. If it's not in the cards for us to have another boy, I certainly know that I was given enough boy in one to probably equal 2! The truth is, the kid can be a bit of a nut. 

He is not an easy child, but dang, am I amused by him! You'd think I'd be used to boys since I grew up surrounded by 4 brothers (not to mention that I'm married to one), but I continue to be so very baffled. Why is it fun to throw and hit things and tackle anybody who passes by? I just watch him and laugh at all (or many of) his antics and am amazed at his ENDLESS energy. He doesn't stop moving. Ever. Possibly when he's sleeping, but I can't confirm that.

Sometimes he gets so excited that it looks as though he's going to burst. He starts jumping up and down, turning in a circle, with both hands over his mouth while simultaneously yelling and giggling. He just can't contain all of life's excitement!

A few other things about our lovable rug rat:

His Loves:

• Sports balls: They are all called "baseballs" (or sometimes just "b-balls") and you will become his best friend if you'll throw one back and forth with him. He's naturally quite good at throwing and catching and can even make quite a few baskets with his little hoop.

Sometimes he even creates his own baskets much to my delight. :/

• Trucks: Holy-mazoley does he love trucks! Driving in the car is a pretty exciting activity as he non-stop shouts, "Truck! Whoa! Coooool!!" And Monday is surely becoming his favorite day of the week as he gets to look out my bedroom window and watch the garbage and recycling trucks go by. One special day the garbage man looked up, saw him and waved. Definitely made Everett's day.

He can often be found in the loft sweeping his sisters' dollhouse furniture out to make room for truck ramming.

And who wouldn't want to cuddle up with a few of those soft and cuddly trucks at night?

• Dirt: I didn't realize that boys actually do eat dirt. And sometimes he'll come in from the backyard with his diaper completely filled with it (I don't mean in poop form either). I'm not sure how that even happens!

• TV: I'm not particularly proud of this one, but boy does he love tv. "Sesame Street" is still high on his list, but "Bubble Guppies" has become his new favorite. They won him over with a "truck" episode.
• Puppy Play: He loves to pretend to be a dog. I know, this probably comes as a complete shock that one of my children would enjoy something like this! He crawls with his tongue out, panting, carrying things around with his teeth, and coming up to be pet.

• Napping: He is the best napper! Wait, was this supposed to be his loves? Well, I'm sneaking one of mine in! Tom got it in my brain that Everett is such an awful sleeper, but now I'm trying to get back in his head that that's really not true. He is an early riser (6 am), but he goes down very willingly for a 3-4 hour nap each day. He will sometimes go as long as 4 1/2 hours, and no, I do not wake him up from those. It doesn't seem to affect when he goes back down at night or the time that he wakes up in the morning so I just ENJOY! (Not sure if you saw my "update", but he only climbed out of his crib that one time...yay!!).

His Sense of Humor:



a Cheerio glued on with boogies

• "Stuck!" --He loves to trick us by diving under a couch cushion (or chairs) and dramatically yell out "Stuck!", then wait for us to rescue him.

Too bad he's unfamiliar with the story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf".

• Peek-A-Boo: He also loves to pop out of places (like our pantry) and shout, "There he is!"
• Dancing: He has some pretty sweet dance moves, but his shoulder dance is my favorite. Wish I had a picture, but he keeps his whole body still then just raises his right shoulder up and down while groovin' to the music. I don't think he was originally intending for it to be funny. But after enough laughs, he now likes to put on a show for us.

His Antics:

• A Tease:  Seeing as there's a very high chance that he will be the only boy in the family, he is doing a fabulous job with his brotherly-teasing responsibility. When his sisters are watching tv, he'll run up and turn it off then turn to watch their reaction. And boy do they react! And I'm not sure if he's trying to tease or be helpful with this one, but he will sometimes run up and flush the toilet WHILE you're sitting on it.
• Tornado-Boy: You know that book, "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie"? Well here's what happens If You Give An Everett 30 Minutes! 

He was playing in the loft a few weeks ago when I heard a crash. I ran in to see that he had knocked the whole guinea pig cage over while attempting to get them out.

While I rescued the guinea pigs and cleaned up the cage mess, he decided that he really needed a book from his very top shelf.

While I was putting the shelves back up, he decided to get into the unlocked pantry because he really needed a snack. (I was originally taking pictures to send to Tom so he would feel sorry for me while he sat at his cozy little desk. ;) )

"Hello, Mom! I just needed a strawberry!"

Shortly after, he pulled half the toilet paper off a roll and shoved it in the toilet. Granted, this was an extreme day, but at that point I grabbed him and forced him to sit on my lap and watch a show. We were all done moving for the day.

A Few Randoms:

• He's a tank!: He weighs 3 lbs less that Claire. 3!! He doesn't even eat that much. He does down his milk though. Solid, heavy bones I suppose. And he's tall. I don't know his current stats, but he was in the 75% at 18 months and is beginning to outgrow 2T clothes and wear some 3Ts.
• Speech:  He seems to be on the same speech track as his sisters. Not late, not early; just where an average 2 year old typically is. He can put 2-3 words together and has impressed me with his counting skills. I think it was back in February when he randomly started counting out loud to me and got up to about 11 straight. I was quite shocked. "Nenon" (7) is my favorite. 
• Attitude: He is overall quite a fun and happy guy, but he sure has developed a little temper and can throw some crazy tantrums.  He has the meanest little stare down, but it mostly just makes us all laugh. The girls always comment about how much they love his "mad face". He's awful at sharing (to be expected) and thinks the word "Share!" means "give me that right now!"
• Momma's boy: He's becoming very attached to me and follows me around the house for much of the day. As much as it would be nice to have somebody cling to Tom, I'll admit that it is flattering to feel so loved and depended on. I love that "Mommy!" is the first thing he shouts out from his crib in the morning and I love those cuddles I get to start my day out with before the mass chaos begins. (As a cute little side story: yesterday after he broke something and I came up to him pretty unhappy, he didn't react but instead came right behind me and started playing with my hair. He must have gotten some tips from his father!)

Tom always says how Everett (alone) is a full time job. So very true and it explains why I'm ready to collapse into bed by 9:00 each night. He is exhausting, but so very entertaining and good for our family! We love our wild-man 2-year-old to pieces!!!