An Almost 2 Year Old

Today is BeYoYo's second birthday, and The Boy started pre-k. Today I have all the feels.

This child. He is sweet and sensitive and stocky. He loves all food, except guacamole. He says "sorry" to people when he walks by them on a sidewalk, and he waits for a hand to hold before he goes down steps. He gets worried when there's conflict in cartoons and needs to be assured everything will be okay. He sings songs and dances, and he's the happiest child.

He loves his brother with everything he has, and he always wants to do what his brother is doing, say what his brother is saying, and play with what his brother is playing. He calls The Boy "Hussy", and The Boy calls him "Roo". I'm not making that up. This is the way he looks at his brother:

Don't be mistaken: he's sweet but thou shalt not cross him. He's come into his own this year, and he has no qualms about hitting his brother or showing his annoyance. He even bit him on the butt this week.

He's proud of himself when he does something big, and he does not like thunder "nunder" because it is "woud". He loves his pacie, which he calls a "bop". He's only supposed to have it at nap and nighttime, but he sneaks into his room and gets one and grins and runs with it, enjoying a few minutes of it the way smokers enjoy a cigarette.

He jumps into the pool with no fear, yelling "cannonball!" even though he has no idea what that means.

He likes trains and loves horses. He doesn't like to get his hands dirty, and he can ride a scooter a little bit by himself. He doesn't like heights, as evidenced by the fact that he loved the rides at Dollywood until they went up in the air, and then he cried. He loves to wear a hat, and asks for one regularly.

He eats an ice cream cone like this: 

And this is how he feels about chocolate cake: 

He likes to read books and he enjoys going to school. He will speak to everyone he sees, and wants to know strangers' names. If a stranger speaks to him, though, he'll get embarrassed and pretend to fall asleep. I took him with me to try on clothes one day, and I had him in the dressing room with me. He peered under the divider and into the next stall, where there must've been someone else trying on clothes. He looked back and me and said "I see 'body!" I acknowledged that I understood he saw somebody, and just as I was about to ask him not to do that again, he peered back under and yelled "hey 'body!" Luckily the woman on the other side laughed.

When he falls down he says "I okay!" to no one in particular. 

He is determined and strong. When something is difficult he says it's "heavy", and he calls dinosaurs "hi-whores" with a hard H, and he now says chocolate instead of "chock-shit". When he wants me to hold him he says "I hold mama." We keep telling him he's two but he insists he's four-five.

When I think about this guy's birthday I am filled with joy. My mom's best friend summed it up best when she said "it just seems like he has been here always." Amen. And we're so glad he is. Happy birthday, BeYoYo!