everett is two

Everett is now two years old.  He is a very funny boy - he likes to laugh and he likes to make people laugh.  He likes to smile and make people smile.  He walks around the room and wants to find someone who he can entertain him and who can entertain him right back. He'll walk around in public spaces and say hi to people he sees because he likes interaction.  He likes to dance.  He has great manners - he will say, "Thank you, Mommy," after just about everything I do for him and will not stop saying it until I tell him, "You're welcome."  He is generally a picky and small eater but has been eating more as of late.  It helps now that he can say, "I'm hungry."  He was slower to talk than Lena but all of a sudden has really picked up his speech, using some small sentences now.  He loves Lena dearly but also takes out his terrible twos on her sometimes - I never realized that with a second child, they take their frustrations out not just on the parents but their siblings as well and for Everett, he takes it out way more on her than us at times.  But even after a big quarrel, we'll often find them playing happily together several minutes later.  Siblings.

He loves Daddy of course, but there is just something special about Mommy.  It annoys me often when I can't get the space I want or need to get something done because he wants me to hold him or hang out with him, but of course it can also feel pretty good that in his opinion, there's simply no one like Mommy.  We all have our happy places - the beach, the garden, the mountains, whatever - and I think Everett's happy place is me and there is something to be said for being able to actually be someone's happy place.  I can't help but smile when he is on my lap and I think of this.

His birthday was on a Thursday and we had a lot of stuff going on so we ended up not having a birthday party but Aunt Ali was able to bring up cousins Elodie and Ethan that evening and of course Papa and Grammie came and I think it was the perfect party for him.  He felt special but not overwhelmed.  And when we finished singing happy birthday, he knew without being told that it was time to blow out the candles, even if it took him a few tries.

This last one is from our trip to Florida.  Everyone was hanging out and he took his cousin's pillow and pulled it to the side and just sat looking to the outside for a few moments.  Funny kid.

Happy birthday, my dear sweet, funny, lovable Everett!