The Man Child is 2!

Well Rook has gone and done it, he turned 2. I have pretty mixed feelings about my baby being a 2 year old. I'm so sad that he isn't a baby anymore, but I love watching him explore the world and he is learning so many things so quickly. I referred to him as a man child because of his height. This kid is wearing 3T clothing and is at the 100% for his height. He now weighs 32 lbs which is pretty average, but he has passed up his 3 1/2 year old cousin in weight and shoe size. We suspect he'll be our tallest kid. One of my favorite things about Rook right now is listening to the adorableness that comes out of his mouth nonstop. A lot of the time it is gibberish nonsense, but you wouldn't know it by the intent look he gives you while he talks to you. And the length of his gibberishy sentences is uncanny. I knew I had to hurry and record some of these funnies before I forget and before he stops.

I don't think we've ever had such a polite child at this age. Rook is so good at remember to say thank you. I will hand him something and he will say "thank you, mommy" It melts me every time. He says please when reminded or when he desperately wants something. He says, mommy, daddy, Lyda (sometimes with a funny inflection), Kode or Kody and Robby for Ruby. She hates that he calls her Robby, and unfortunately for her, we all like calling her that now too. He will repeat almost every word he is asked to repeat and pretty well too. One of our favorite words that he says is "Bugga" which he uses to refer to Grandma and Grandpa. I think that's how he must have first started saying their names, and it has just stuck. Everyone involved seems to love it, so at this point we don't correct him. He will often point across the street and say, "My Bugga". He loves going to Bugga's house.

One of his more recent loves is the show Bo on the Go. Up until about a month ago he had zero interest in the television. One day in a desperate attempt to get him to self entertain, I must have clicked on that show and unfortunately ever since he's been hooked. He'll grab our hands and say "show" or "go" or "my go" and lead us into the tv room. He does do a pretty funny little boogie with the show, so its not all bad I guess. Maybe his biggest obsession is with his binkie and his blankie. I swore I'd have him weaned from his binkie at 18 months. And here he is 2 and is no where near done. I did try, but when he started sucking on his hands and blanket to self soothe, I panicked realizing that those would be harder to break than the binkie. So here he is, still sucking a binkie. I rationalized that it would be much easier when we could actually communicate a little better. And the whole teeth thing, frankly, this kid didn't have a chance of avoiding dental work anyway. The reality is that we are all happier when Rook has a binkie, so for now it stays. We do try to use it just for naps and bedtime, but sometimes we give in. You would to, trust me, he's that charming. When he gets his binkie and blankie, his world is just right. He sometimes will just sigh deeply and he's so content. Other times after asking for his binkie for a while, when I hand it to him he'll say "peekaloo" (peekaboo) and just chuckle a little. Steve and I have noticed that when he gets his blankie and binkie and snuggles up with one of us, that he just makes those happy little content noises as he gets settled. That feeling when your bed just feels so good, he appreciates it. A funny story about his binkie just happened last week. Rook was whining for his binkie when it was not time for it, and Kode was crying about having to do homework. I told Rook that maybe we should give his binkie to Kode, and he turned to Kode and said, "Kode need binkie?" It was pretty darn cute and it helped Kode stop crying too.

Rook loves music and dancing. He is such a happy little guy. His favorite songs are Twinkle Little Star which he calls "Up a high" and he sings along with us. It is so cute. He loves Wheels on the Bus which is called "Bus" and he can even hum along to Edelweiss and A Dream is a Wish. He really seems to be a pretty sharp kid and has a good memory.
He blows kisses still covering his whole face with his hand. And always says "see ya" when he's leaving or when someone else is. He even says "see ya" when he's about to do something he knows he shouldn't. Like crossing the street to Bugga's is not ok and he knows it. So I'll see him start heading that way and I'll tell him no, he'll keep inching closer and then he'll turn to me and wave and say "see ya". He can be such a stinker sometimes, but its always so cute that its hard to be mad. Another thing he says quite often is "why". Usually after he is told no, he'll whine "why?" I blame the older kids, but it is pretty funny to hear him say it just like they do. He's also started saying "cause" as an answer to things. Another thing learned from his siblings I suspect.
We got to go to the cabin a few times this past summer and Rook was in absolute heaven. He was free to run and play outside and the weather was awesome. When he came home he tried to go play outside as much as he had at the cabin, but it was just too hot. He came inside with the pinkest cheeks ever. Poor kid didn't care, he just wanted to be outside. His mean old mom wouldn't let him keep playing in the 110+ degree heat. He is so happy now that the weather is cooling down and he can be in the backyard almost anytime. His favorite thing to do is to "jumpy" on the trampoline. He spends so much time every day trying to con one of us to go out and "jumpy" with him. He really will go from person to person begging. And he usually suckers someone into it. He also loves to climb up to the tall slide that is part of the swing set and just hang out up there. It scares me to death. He is way too comfortable up there and way too uncoordinated still. And every once in a while he'll decide to reach out and hang from a monkey bar that is approximately 6 to 6 1/2 feet tall, no big deal. I'm just waiting for the bad fall and the broken something.

Rook just celebrated his 2nd birthday. (Which I have no pictures of in this post) We kept it pretty simple. He got a big wheel bike from us and fun toys from family members. We took him to Organ Stop Pizza the night of his birthday and he absolutely loved it. We wanted to do something fun that he would love, but easy, and it was a perfect fit. We absolutely love this kid! He makes us smile all day long. Even when he's naughty, there's generally something really amusing about the situation.

Oh and did I mention that he is a really good sport and lets his sisters dress him up in all sorts of crazy outfits. I think he even secretly enjoys it. ;)