TWO

Oh, this boy is about as cute as they come.  And now he's TWO!  We had a sweet little party for him a couple of weeks ago with just the grandparents.  We had a hot dog bar, opened presents, and ate homemade blue-beary (I put gummy bears in it) ice cream sans cake because it was entirely too hot to bake.  He loved every second of it.

Here are some things about our little man at two:

• He loves to sing and be sung to.  Often tantrums can be averted by just a simple song.  Silly ones are best.  His most requested song at bedtime is "Pokey", meaning the Hokey Pokey.  
• He likes to play with cars, and trains, and balls
• He also likes to play with baby dolls and he wears headbands around the house.  Usually 5 or 6 at a time.  One morning I went to get him from his crib and found that he'd taken a baby to bed with him.  He had swaddled her in his blanket and put her to sleep carefully at the end of his crib.  
• He is completely enamored with real babies, too.
• He's getting to be a much better talker, and we can usually understand what he's saying.  Usually.
• His very favorite thing to do is play in the car.  Every time the door to the garage is opened he makes a beeline to it and asks, "Blue car?".  He likes to climb over the seats, turn the lights on, and pretend like he's driving.  He can spend a whole hour entertaining himself out there.
• He eats half my bowl of oatmeal every morning, usually after eating Madeline's leftovers too.  His bowl is left mostly untouched.  As my cereal comes out of the microwave, he yells, "Mommy's cereal couch!" to let me know he wants to sit next to me on the couch and share bites.  
• He has a crazy sweet tooth, and shares my love of chocolate.  
• He likes to watch me cook, and he sets the table for dinner every night while talking to himself - "Plate Benson, and plate Madeline".
• He's quick to say he's sorry and says "thank you" several times a day without prompting.  I didn't teach this, he just does it.  This is a sharp contrast to his sister whom I couldn't for the life of me get to say she was sorry until she was at least 3.  They are so different.  
• He like to call out "One, two, three...blastoff" and run from one side of the house to the other.  When he gets to the other side, he yells, "I won!"  Then he'll do it again and again.
• He's really just the sweetest thing