Lawson is {2 years old}

*Lawson turned two on September 21, but in true second child fashion this post is two months late. Sorry, pal. We do love you a whole lot even though you'll probably hold this kind of thing over my head when you're grown.

Height- TBD...

Weight- TBD... 

Lawson, at TWO years old, you…

• are crazy! Holy cow. Just total high energy, strong will, wide open BOY. 
• have no fear. You LOVE to do cannonballs into the pool and hang from anything you can grab onto and jump.off.everything.
• consequently, you are always injured. You are sporting a lovely black eye as we speak. 
• are such a little blondie. I know it will get dark again this winter, and that will make me sad because you are such a pretty little toe head.
• love your brother more than anything or anyone. You are his total copycat, and you absolutely have to be where he is, doing what he is doing at all times. 
• have very temporary separation anxiety when we leave you places. Even at our own house with babysitters you know and love, you typically cry when we leave but recover quickly. 
• go to Tuesday School at Red Bank Church of Christ (with Crawford). Your teachers are the same sweet ones Crawford had last year (Miss Brandy and Miss Amanda), and you really do love it even though you fight it every week.
• eat a great variety of foods, but you absolutely cannot sit still long enough for a whole meal. Your favorites are cheese, “blue nack” (blue snack… which just means snack) and whatever Dad or I are eating.
• finally have a burgeoning vocabulary. And a hilarious little voice. 
• are turned around in the car seat, which helps traveling a tad. You still love your paci, but we’ve weaned you to having it just in the crib. Crawford helps coach you in the car when you want it by reminding you that “you’re a big boy now! your car seat is turned around! you get bb ayeee at nap time.” 
• don’t care much about tv. You think you want to watch  shows (Octonauts, Daniel Tiger), but you rarely sit for even half of a 20 minute episode.
• can count to ten (successfully) and twenty (not to well), sing your ABCs and know the words to sing along to “Praise God” (the Doxology, which we sing at bedtime). You can identify a handful of letters and numbers.
• are charming. You make friends easily with strangers because you’re so dang cute and endearing.
• love to snuggle, but not for long.
• think baby Eve is in your belly and my belly. Generally I’m not sure what you understand about having a baby sister, but it’s safe to say I’m nervous for her safety with you around.
• are VERY possessive of your mommy. Even if Crawford is in my lap, sometimes you pitch a fit and say “MY mommy!” It usually is a problem for me to hold other people’s kids… so yeah, we have our work cut out when Eve arrives.
• have big emotions. TONS of joy and HUGE temper tantrums. 
• are very obsessed with basketball. And Ezekiel. You say "EZ big baskets" one thousand times a day and never fail to include it in your bedtime prayer list of thank yous. Like your brother at this age, you drag the basketball hoop all over the upstairs and shoot from every perch you can find. Though, you especially like to do "trick shots" and shoot while jumping off things. 

You are JOY. It is so much fun to watch you grow and change and develop. I’ve wanted to keep you as a baby as long as possible because I didn’t know what the Lord had in store for the future of our family. Your second year has been a tumultuous one with our miscarriage and now pregnancy with Eve, and I’m so grateful that you seem unfazed. You are resilient and determined and BRAVE. I learn so much from you every day because you are so different than me.

Lawson is {18 months}

Height- 33 3/4 inches (50%)

Weight- 24 lb. 2 oz. (78%)

Head- 18 1/2 inches

Oh, Lawson. You are CRAZY. That's what we most often say about you lately. You march to the beat of your own drum. You are such an adorable little nut!

At 18 months, you:

• sleep: You're awesome. You take one afternoon nap every day, and you're pretty flexible on the timing of it. I try to plan it around Crawford's nap, which has been hit or miss lately. You always sleep at least 2 hours, but lately it's been more regularly 3 whole hours. You generally go to bed around 8pm, but again, that's flexible. We've been playing outside with our new (awesome!!) neighbors a ton, and that has pushed bedtime back a few times, and you're totally cool with that. Granted, you don't sleep in any later, so wake up time is almost always around 7am, regardless of bedtime (you did sleep until NINE one day last week!). 
• food: You are a pretty decent eater, but throwing food is your vice. It makes me crazy, and you get lots of spankings. Though, you really don't even care about much discipline. Sometimes you cry, other times you just glare at me. 
• clothes: You're wearing 18mo-2T stuff. The cloth diapers make your bottom so much bigger, so you and C are wearing some of the same shorts!
• words: You don't say a ton, but you know what you want! You say: please (peeees/pwee pwee pwee), thank you, no, cheese, donut (nut nut), mommy, daddy, Harley, more, bye bye, Hi, all done, uh oh, cookie, ball, truck
• blow kisses by sticking your whole finger in your mouth, and we LOVE it.
• run with your arms flailing to the side.
• are totally a class clown. You try to make people laugh, and you laugh when other people (even adults) do. 
• LOVE Celeste, the (3 month old) baby next door.
• refuse to hold hands (so you get held when we're walking anywhere, and you hate it.)
• generally hate to be restrained in anyway.
• need to have a napkin in your lap for meals like all the big people do. 
• have finally gotten past all the separation anxiety that I feel like you struggled with for so long. You sometimes cry for a second when we leave you at church, but you perk up right away. You go to the childcare at the gym (with Ms. Jessica & Ms. Emily) and immediately ask for this little green ball. 
• balls are your favorite toy! You like to sleep with one a lot of the time, and almost every time you get out of bed you want to run to the playroom to find the basketballs.
• are as defiant as the day is long. You run away from me with such determination, it's scary.
• are a daredevil! You stand up on the four wheeler, slide down slides on your belly, and climb up and/or jump off everything.
• consequently, you are always injured. You chipped your front tooth falling out of a chair at the Linhosses house, Crawford gave you a black eye by throwing a toy in your face, and your knees are permanently scraped and bruised. 
• are a blondie! I still can hardly believe I have a blonde-headed baby. 

Crawford is THREE

Crawford, at THREE YEARS OLD, you:

height- 37 in (50%)

weight- 29 lbs. 8 oz. (25%)

• are 100% potty trained. It was the easiest parenting feat we've accomplished so far. We waited until you were ready, and it went great. Like, one day you said you wanted to pee on the potty. A week later we put undies on you, and no looking back. You sleep in undies at night and nap time and you are a rock star.
• I guess I shouldn't say 100%... you won't poop anywhere but in a diaper. It has been such a fight, and I finally just gave up and put a diaper on you when you say you have to poop. You won't go in your underwear, and you always tell me, so I'm just trusting you'll want to go on the potty eventually.
• finally are front facing in your car seat. Daddy turned it around this week, and you FREAKED OUT at first. You wouldn't get in and said "it's upside down!" After I strong armed you into it, you love it. You literally don't stop talking and narrating every single thing you see.
• are a chatterbox. I video taped you in the car because before we turned you around you seemed completely unaware that anyone else was around and you would sing and chat non stop. You really talk all day long, and sometimes it wears me out, but I love that I can have a conversation with you. 
• are a great big brother. Most of the time. You and Lawson are constantly fighting over toys, but you really do love each other. He is DYING to sleep in your bed with you, which of course isn't going to happen, but you guys sit in there and read books for long periods of time. And you give him hugs and kisses and show him how to do stuff. And he chases you around hitting you with toys and trying to wrestle you to the ground.
• are tall and skinny. Now that you don't wear a cloth diaper anymore all of your pants fall off.
• LOVE animals and can identify literally dozens (and know many of their baby names).
• LOVE construction vehicles. LOVE. And you know what they are all called. You could play with your diggers and a sand box for hours on end.
• say "grrr" when you get frustrated (thanks, Daniel Tiger)
• like to watch Daniel Tiger and Mighty Machines.
• are pretty obsessive/ocd about certain things. You watch the same tv episodes over and over and over again, and you usually have a favorite toy that rarely leaves your had. 
• only like certain songs (Armor of God song, Fruit of the Spirit song) and will only "let" us listen to those... other music is "scary" to you (??!), and we can forget about any kind of participatory music experience. You freak out and hide.
• are pretty timid about trying new things. I think it's the pressure that you feel in the situation. You've finally decided that going down slides is fun, so that's a big step in the right direction. 
• go to Tuesday School at Red Bank Church of Christ on Tuesdays from 9:30-12:30. It KILLED ME to take you, but you love it. I think the hard part for me was that we signed you up when I was pregnant, and I expected to use that time for dr appointments. But I'm glad you're there. You have a sweet little class, and you do a good job being there and playing. I don't care if you learn anything other than how to play with/around other kids. I'm still (even more so?) dead set on homeschooling, but this is a good thing to do too. You love seeing Wade (when he drops the others off), Levi and Chloe. 
• have taken to running away and saying "I'm running away!"
• are honest to a fault. You'll come and tell me "I threw a toy!" so you will get punished. You often say "I'm crying" and "I'm crying again" or "I'm crying in the kitchen"
• like to eat applesauce, pizza, donuts, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, bagels, grilled cheese and berries. And pretty much nothing else.
• start sentences with "because" for no good reason.
• are the most irrational human being I've ever met. Apparently, it's a toddler thing... The tantrums are impressive and out of control. You throw yourself on the floor immediately if you don't get what you want. Shew. Some days are long and hard. You spend lots of time in time out (sometimes in your room if we all need a break from each other), and you get a decent amount of spankings (you always say "I get a small spanking?!"). 
• Favorite quotes:
• "Harley you're my best friend. I like your haircut."
• "Wedgie. Where are my nipples? They're around here somewhere!"
• "God help Daddy to be quiet. Help Lawson to not touch my peenie."

**These are pictures from March, December, January and February... I have a TON more to add, but it's going to take a while, so I wanted to go ahead and post.