Life with a 2 year old

I am beyond overdue on an update. I apologize. I've been in and out of town the past two weeks (to Atlanta for work to Savannah to DC to visit fam/friends to Savannah to Coral Springs, FL for my friend's baby shower - TWINS! - and back to Savannah), training for my half-marathon (which is not until November), trying to fit in Bikram yoga classes, trying to work on a few projects for people, all the while working my regular full timer and spending time with my family. Sleep falls in there somewhere as well. Have not gotten much of that lately. How other people manage to do this AND more, with MORE kids is amazing. Props to you!

I want to throw a shout out to my little sister Jessica who just got married on St. Patrick's Day!! Congrats! A wedding gift will be on your way soon. I am so broke. (what else is new?) It was a last minute event (why didn't you move it to later!!?) so I wasn't able to go, but if I did, life would have been so much more crazy with that additional travel to the planned two weeks of traveling already!!

One of the places we went to was back to DC to visit family and friends. It was a short, long weekend trip, but we got to see both sides of the family and Liam's BFF, Scarlett! You don't know how anxious I was about this reunion... I was dreading the worst (like as soon as he'd see her, he would hit her...), but after a few moments of close watch, both of them were actually PLAYING TOGETHER!! There was one point where we were in the kitchen and the kids were in the living room. I heard screaming, and went in to check, but it was just both of them play-screaming (you know, that high-pitched scream) and mimicking each other! I sighed with relief. The rest of the night was cuteness and more mimicking and dancing and putting each other "to sleep". Oh, it was adorable. This was the first time Joel and I have ever seen Liam actually PLAY with someone, as opposed to playing right next to someone. So this was really a momentous occasion for us. My heart was so happy - seeing him play with Scarlett and knowing that he's finally overcome the hitting problem. It's like a graduation of sorts. :) A very proud moment. I have his daycare to thank for this. He really is a changed boy!

Speaking of daycare, ever since we've gone out of town, he's been SUPER-CLINGY when we bring him in. He will cry and latch on and do whatever he can for us not to leave the room in the mornings. Just a few weeks before, he was pushing us out the door and shutting it in our faces when we dropped him off. It's hard, but I know it will take him a while to get back to it. Even a few days away can really screw with his routine.

Life with a 2 year old is as expected and more:

• We get the tantrums and the meltdowns. We hate taking him to the store (due to the high propensity of tantrums), but he always says he wants to "go shopping". 
• His favorite place to eat is Chick-fil-A (he says "Chick-ah-Fay") where he can eat nuggets and fruit cups. 
• He is a talking machine and it's funny the things he will pick up from daycare, such as saying, "I'm handsome" or a number of songs or nursery rhymes that he learns from school. Sometimes he will just randomly break out into song while he is playing or eating. 
• He is still interested in planets, but doesn't like the Planets book I got him anymore. He is into Dora the Explorer BIG TIME. I can't get that "We Did It!" song out of my head. 
• Potty training is going no where. He will pee in the potty, but he still has not gone poop in the potty. Nor will he tell us that he needs to go. One thing at a time I guess.
• He's had numerous minor medical "scares" lately - his ear was almost black at one point which scared the crap out of us. We thought it may have been a spider bite (the bad kind where you may lose parts of your body if not treated in time), but it cleared up after a few days and some antibiotics. Then he had a bad reaction to a mosquito bite where his eye got pretty swollen. The meds for that tasted gross and he would not take it. Luckily it went down on it's own. THEN, he had this weird rash on body, mostly on his face, which I just figured was heat rash. I used this oil that we used on him back when he was an infant (for cradle cap) and put it on his skin and it seemed to clear up overnight.
• He is a master of my iPhone and has numerous apps that he enjoys: some of his faves are Cake Pop Party, a Flash Card game, a letter tracing game, a Planets game, and anything with cars. I think he is addicted to my phone as much as I am!

It is never a dull moment around here. Our house is also never clean. Between a 2 year old and 2 hairy dogs in the middle of summer temps - it's a mess!!! Even my office is a mess. Time to build that shed! We need more space!

I'm excited for Liam's Easter party on Friday. They will have an Egg hunt in the morning and a party in the afternoon after nap time. It should be fun. I'm making some cookies this time. Cookie pops to be exact! Stuff on sticks are more fun to eat, right? Then Saturday we have another Egg Hunt to go to. And then dinner at Joel's parent's house on Sunday night.

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!!