This baby child is such a joy. He smiles from the inside out. Unless he's hungry. And then you need to sprint to the kitchen and prepare a meal of his liking. Otherwise, prepare for immediate crocodile tears (it's like he stores them and always has them ready to go at a moment's notice!), wailing, and gnashing of teeth. He likes chicken, spaghetti, ketchup, chocolate, candy, and fruit. Sometimes fruit dipped in ketchup. Sometimes lasagna. Sometimes beef. Sometimes broccoli (I suspect this is peer pressure from his older brother, who only eats vegetable and never fruit). Sometimes rice. Clearly, we're still working on the whole "balanced diet" thing.
His vocabulary is about 1/3 of what Henry's was at this age, but fortunately, Henry can interpret many of Walter's "words." It's a skill of Henry's we regularly employ. When Walter sings, he moves his head from side-to-side in the most precious way. When we are leaving somewhere, he runs and gives everyone a hug and kiss without hesitation. And by everyone, I mean everyone. Usually including the dogs. When he kisses, he puckers up his big lips and will slime you. So be warned. He actually enjoys being rocked (unlike my older one who likes his own space).
He is OBSESSED with Henry. They are without question the best of friends. They're attached at the hip all hours of every day, except the few hours each week at church when they are in a different classroom. If Henry's doing something, Walter has to do it too. This includes playing with the same toy, wearing similar clothes (heaven forbid I send Henry to school in a super hero shirt and not Walter), watching the same stuff, talking about the same thing, etc.
For some delusional reason, I was worried Walter wouldn't get the birthday recognition Henry does since he's the second child. Not only did he get spoiled rotten, the celebration went on for an entire week! It started with birthday doughnuts.
It was followed by a celebration at school.
.jpg)
This is what we call a sugar crash between parties.
We then went straight from school to my parents' house, where again, he was the star of the show!
We then threw a pony party for this animal-loving child. The child continues to talk about the ponies, horse, bunny, and pig. And fortunately, despite the snow 48 hours before the party, it turned out to be a gorgeous day with perfect weather! We needed a redemption after our last 2 year-old party!
So thankful for such sweet friends who would come celebrate my sweet baby!
Henry demanded that Gigi take a photo of his dragon so he could see what it looked like.
A few days after his pony party, we boarded a plane for a spring break trip to Grandma and Grandpa's. Which, of course, means he needs to be celebrated AGAIN!
We now sleep with this puppy every night. Which means he gets kicked or knocked out of bed at least once a night, causing him to talk or sing. Every. single. night.
And as I did with Henry, I decided to conduct an interview. Always a good idea when you have a child with a small vocabulary.
What is something Mama always says to you? [Silence, which is the opposite of what Mama is usually saying to you.]
What makes you happy? [Blank stare, followed by indecipherable mumbling.]
What makes you sad? [Ignores me completely.]
What makes you sad? [Ignores me completely.]
What makes you laugh? [Something not in the English language.] What makes you laugh? Thomas!
How old are you? [Giggling hysterically over nothing in general. Maybe Mama trying to interview you makes you laugh?]
How old are you? [Giggling hysterically over nothing in general. Maybe Mama trying to interview you makes you laugh?]
How old is Mama? How much?
How old is Dadda? How much?
What is your favorite thing to do? My [indecipherable mumbling] mama!
Who is your best friend? Thomas.
What do you want to be when you grow up? I wanna go get my book. Milk.
What is your favorite food? Cereal. [TRUTH.]
What is your favorite song? Spaghetti. [As in, "On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese...." I then proceeded to ask him to sing it, and he got to the second word before pointing to me and telling me to sing it. Second children are quite demanding.]
What is your favorite animal? Giraffe.
What is love? Elephant! [as he attempts to make elephant noises.]
What does Mama do for work? Airplane! You mean Mama flies on airplanes for work? Yes!
What is your favorite food? Cereal. [TRUTH.]
What is your favorite song? Spaghetti. [As in, "On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese...." I then proceeded to ask him to sing it, and he got to the second word before pointing to me and telling me to sing it. Second children are quite demanding.]
What is your favorite animal? Giraffe.
What is love? Elephant! [as he attempts to make elephant noises.]
What does Mama do for work? Airplane! You mean Mama flies on airplanes for work? Yes!
What does Dadda do for work? Airplanes! [Not true at all, although I'm sure there are times he was on an airplane instead of being trapped in a classroom with his students.]
Where do you live? Airplane! You live on an airplane? Yup! Fall down! [as he tumbles to the ground on purpose for the 10,000th time that day.]
Where do you live? Airplane! You live on an airplane? Yup! Fall down! [as he tumbles to the ground on purpose for the 10,000th time that day.]
Where is your favorite place to go? [indecipherable mumbling] Where do you like to go? School, zoo, grandma and grandpa's, gigi and papa's, church? THE ZOO!!!!! It's fun!
If I was a reporter by profession, this interview alone would get me fired. Mainly because the above took over six minutes, very little of which contained any actual responsive information. And for half the interview, he was hiding in his closet having a conversation with himself in another language.
Overall, not a bad birthday week for a 2 year-old. Especially considering he's the second child! ;)
Overall, not a bad birthday week for a 2 year-old. Especially considering he's the second child! ;)
