Two

I've been posting a lot about Gabe lately, just because of all the new things happening in his life, but I thought I'd take this post to talk about Nick.

Nick is almost two and a half, and like many toddlers his mood swings are quick and fierce. His tantrums are epic, and his love is heart-melting. It's hard to say no to a toddler who wants to sleep with you at night when he says, "Mommy, I'm lonely. I need you," and then goes and gathers up his pillow and his two chosen lovies. I have a hard time resisting him. The feeling of him in my arms as he buries his head in my shoulder, the sweet smell of freshly washed toddler... Very hard to resist.

His hair continues to be long and fluffy and red. He loves to dance. We recently discovered Pandora, and he loves the Doo Wop channel. He especially loves when I dance with him. We also recently discovered YouTube and at times he'll demand Little Bunny Foo Foo or Animal Fair or the Manamana song. Sometimes he'll want me to put on a cartoon, such as an old Chipmunks short or Scooby Doo.

He misses his brother, now that Gabe's in school, although he enjoys the undivided attention he gets from Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt R. He wants to be in school because Gabe is in school. With his eagerness to do everything Gabe does, I think he will probably start reading when Gabe does. While I don't doubt Gabe's intelligence it is a struggle to get him to focus on learning to identify letters in words and what sounds they make together.

Nick's new fascination is with my in-laws country house. Whenever he asks where anybody is, regardless of my answer, he responds by telling me that they are at the country house. He had a great time there last weekend when we went up for Labor Day. Although he did come home with two burnt fingers from getting too close to the fire when he was roasting marshmallows (I wasn't there, Oscar and I were a county fair watching a TNA wrestling match).

Nick continues to love meat over carbs, which is just the opposite of his brother. His main meal is usually chicken nuggets, fish sticks, or hot dogs, whereas Gabe prefers noodles with butter or Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (yes, it must be Kraft). For Nick I've tried to pick the healthiest versions of his favorite as possible, but it's hard to ensure they are both eating healthy. The only vegetable Gabe will eat is carrots, and Nick will eat Carrots, Potatoes, and Corn, sometimes grape tomatoes and cucumbers. They do eat a lot of fruit.

Nick can chatter in full sentences and is understandable at least 90% of the time. He's running and jumping like a champ. He's in the process of getting his two-year molars. Two have popped through so far. He knows his colors, can count to 10 consistently, sometimes to 20. He knows most of his letters, and can sing almost the whole alphabet song.  He continues to amaze me every day.

But his sweetest words are still "I love you, mommy," sealed with a hug and a kiss.