William's 2nd Birthday

William is such a joy to be around.  He has a fun personality, always happy and upbeat.  
He is fearless, fun and playful.

His two-year-old check up concluded with his growth statistics.

Our little guy is in the 15% for weight, 35% for height and 85% for head size!?
At 23 pounds, and 34 inches tall.

We are just excited he's at the top of the group in any category :)

He did grow two inches in four months which I was thrilled about. 

The doctor said he wasn't worried about him, so that was nice to hear. He is just our spunky little guy!

Here are the boring facts about William that I left for his grandmas when we went to Europe.

Speaking: William can say almost any word.  It may be hard to decipher so just have him show you what he wants

Words he says differently:  chicken nuggets “un-ets”,

Favorite Phrases Lately: “Last one mama” (if I tell him he can’t have something or already had one, he lets me know it will be his last one), “Shoulder” (sometimes when he’s done sleeping he wants to lay on my shoulder with his binkies/blankies), “Rest” (if he is sad or having a hard time something he asks for a rest or I suggest one, meaning I put him back in his crib where he relaxes with his binkies *with all the lights on and no white noise, just to calm down)

Food: raisins, crackers, grapes, WHOLE apple/peach (he doesn’t like them cut), banana, tomatoes with Ranch “dip”, chips & salsa, cheese, deli meat, pirate’s booty, goldfish, frozen gogurt, PB & Honey half sandwich in triangles, hot dog, cheese slices, yogurt (flavors: vanilla, blueberry,strawberry banana), chicken nuggets, spaghetti/pasta, pizza,  

Milk: He doesn’t drink much milk anymore. Often I’ll offer his milk cup as part of the bedtime routine.  He uses the green bottle/cup **Orange Juice is his new necessity.  I dilute it half water, half orange juice.  We bring it with us in the car.

Outside: He enjoys going for stroller walks to the park. He often hits or pushes other kids on the playground, especially if they are playing with something he wants.  I have to hover close by and try to prevent the situation or tell him NO.  Sometimes we take a quick time out, but I try not to make a scene and make it a fun game.

T.V. he LOVES on PBS: Dinosaur Train (sometimes), Peg + Cat, Daniel Tiger, Curious George, Super Why **his favorite!

DVD’s he LOVES: Frozen, Baby “Einstein” (2 different ones), “EIEIO” (Baby genius Nursery Rhymes), Despicable Me.   WILLIAM TIME FRAME:   Wake up: 6:30-7:30  Nap: Goes down around 1-1:30 p.m.   Wake up from nap: 3-4:30 p.m.    Bedtime: 8-8:30 p.m.  

William has started talking a lot more frequently. 
He often babbles a long sentence and I'll pull out a few key words. Some of his newest phrases are: I did it, or William's turn, and his favorite word is cereal.  He asks for it constantly. William can identify about 2/3 of the ABC's and can count to 15.  We have an ABC train puzzle that he will bring to me asking me to show him cards and ask him the letters.  William knows most of his body parts and loves nursery rhymes.  
He absolutely loves nursery at church.  He asks to go to church throughout the week.  His favorite part is singing time and knows half of the words to most of their songs.  William loves playing the piano.  Mostly he likes flipping through the Primary book and having me/Ben play his favorite songs.  He likes Follow the Prophet, Book of Mormon Stories, Hello Song, Daddy's Homecoming and many others.

William likes to say prayers at dinner and nighttime.  We usually set him up to fill in the blanks.  "Thank you for this ___. Thank you for our ____." He sits still through the prayer and folds his arms the whole time as well. 
He loves playing with dad when he gets home from work.  Sometimes William whines for/asks for mom when dad gives him a bath or puts him to bed.  Hopefully he grows out of that soon. 

William has a hard time with transitions.  Leaving the park, getting out the door, stop watching a show.  He usually will screech, hit me, or flail on the floor.  The tantrum usually ends quickly, but is not the most fun in a public setting getting beat up by my 2-year-old.  Sometimes he will push/hit other kids at the park or playground.  At Chick-Fil-A I have to keep a close eye on the play area. We are working on him sharing and taking turns...not an easy task for a toddler. 

We needed to celebrate William's birthday before I left for Arizona to drop him off with his grandma's. The Saturday before the week of his birthday we had a big family party. 
He had 2 sets of great-grandparents, one great grandmother, great aunts/uncles, aunts/uncles, and our cousins.  We had a farm themed birthday party with a focus on horses.  Ben decorated a horse cake out of cupcakes, we had our horse stand and saddles set up and red/white decorations.  

William got a bike from Papa &Nana that was quite the hit.

There were only a couple other toddlers there so we just had a farm brunch and dessert without games. William got spoiled with lots of presents from family.  He loved opening presents and wanted to play with each one.  When I asked him what cake he wanted for his birthday he would always say "choclick," so chocolate it was.  He also really wanted "canels (candles) and blow it".
We had a blast celebrating William's special day with family.
We love our sweet William boy!