Emmett at 2 Years

Emmett has turned into a rambunctious, fun-loving two-year-old. We took him to his 2 year wellness check-up yesterday and here are his stats:

Height: 35.2 in (40th %)
Weight: 24.8 lbs (8th %)
Head Circ: 19.7 in (70th %)

What else can I say except that I am thoroughly enjoying my sweet little boy! After having been sick for such a very long time, it is wonderful to be a part of his life again. Emmett must agree because he has become quite the "mama's boy". He refuses to hold Casey's hand when we go places but will wait as long as it takes for "Mama's hand". He won't go outside with Casey either unless "Mama go outside too". And after Casey puts him to bed at night Emmett will call, "Mama, where are you?" until I come in and kiss him good night again. I LOVE IT! Casey has been sweet about it too because I think he knows how desperately I missed being there for my little boy those five months that I was in bed.

Emmett is obsessed with his cars. He plays with cars all day long, every single day. He has names for his cars, talks to his cars, and "drives" them all over every object, person, and animal in the house. Frequently though he will remind me, "Don't drive on Bethany", because that is a very important rule in our house. :)

We've had to have lots of discussions in our house about appropriate behavior. Emmett has discovered the value of saying, "NO" and running away. This is not so fun for his parents. We have a "Timeout Spot" that we send him to when he is naughty. He is very good at staying on his timeout spot. In fact, sometimes he gives himself a timeout when he knows he's being bad (which is not very often I should add-- he is still a very sweet little boy who occasionally has typical toddler tantrums). I think it's great that he recognizes when he's not acting appropriately.

One thing that we are continuously working on is teaching Emmett not to pick his nose. We got a book from the library last week called, "No David!". Emmett's favorite part is the page that shows a picture of David picking his nose and his mom yelling, "David! Don't pick your nose!". That is his favorite line and at random points throughout the day he will stop what he's doing and say, "David, don't pick your nose." These random points frequently do coincide with those moments when Emmett is picking his own nose.

Speaking of books, Emmett has several favorites that are worth mentioning. He has memorized every line to "The Fire Engine Book" by Little Golden Books. He will recite lines any time they pop into his head. My favorite was last Sunday as the sacrament was being passed when Emmett suddenly shouted, "HURRAY BRAVE FIREMEN!" for everyone to hear. Other current favorites are, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie", "Stone Soup", "Five Little Monkeys", and "A Mother for Choco". For each of these books he has memorized several lines and will "read" the book along with you. It's adorable.

His favorite movie is Cars II. Randomly through the day he will shout, "Ka-chow!" and he loves to talk all about Lightening McQueen, the tow truck, Finn McMissile (he has a McMissile car that goes with him everywhere), and Francesco.  He also loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and has all the lines from each episode memorized and repeats the dialog along with the cartoon. When he's alone in his room at night we can often hear him singing the entire theme song to himself. Honestly, I really don't let my son watch that much tv, but he has an incredibly accurate obsessive memory for the things that he loves! It's hilarious, but really we're all very impressed.

Emmett is also a wonderful helper. You can frequently hear him say, "Emmett help you!" followed by, "Oh thank you, Emmett!" Always eager to please, he is great at finding things around the house to put in the trash, helps Mommy sweep the floors, and is an eager participant whenever there are cookies to be made. A big helper with his little sister, he joins Bethany each day on the floor during tummy time and rather forcefully shoves a binky into her mouth when she cries. I try to tell Emmett that he is a good "big brother" but he always corrects me by saying, "No, Emmett's not a big brother. Emmett's a little brother." He also insists on calling his books, "Emmett's little boy books" so I think he knows he's little and isn't in any hurry to be big. I'm alright with that.

Colors and shapes are pretty well mastered, but we are still working hard on counting and our ABCs. It is adorable to watch him try.

We love every minute we spend with our sweet little boy. He is so precious to us and I wish I could freeze time and keep him like this forever!