Aiden :: 2 Years

My Sweet Boy,

You are 2 years old today! I feel like this last year has just flown by, and I can hardly believe that you are not my tiny baby anymore. You adore your brother and sister, and you are now able to do a pretty good job of keeping up with them. The noise level in our house has doubled, with just you alone, cutie boy. And we thought twins were loud... haha! You are just so full of life and fun and hugs and opinions and joy. And we just cannot imagine our lives without you in it. We are loving the chance to see more and more of your little personality, and you are more than living up to your name {"little fire"}. As wild and crazy and seemingly all BOY that you are, you have the most tender of hearts, and your little snuggles melt our hearts every. single. time. You are by far our most physically affectionate child, and I love nothing more than to wrap your cutie boy body in my arms and hold you tight. Your squeeze hugs make me want to give you everything you want all the time, no questions asked. So good job rocking that "baby" status, because it's going to be tough to say no to your big pleading eyes, your adorable "pease?" voice, and that adorable impish grin of yours :)

Aiden, we love you so very much, and we are so excited to celebrate you today!

Love,

Mama

Stats :: 35 pounds, 36 inches tall

Clothing/Diaper Size :: you are wearing size 6 diapers and size 3T clothes, but you are really transitioning into size 4T {I'm trying to hold you off until the next season so you can wear Eli's clothes, since he is currently wearing the 4T clothes haha!} 

Loves :: your stuffed Pooh bear {he goes everywhere with you}, music {singing, listening/dancing to it}, anything orange, hugs and snuggles; you love both your siblings, but I think you and Maddie are kindred spirits

Dislikes :: waiting for anything. seriously, you are starting to show a pretty expansive lack of patience these days, little one. you want what you want, and you want it 5 seconds ago. 

Eat :: you love food, and you are our good little eater. you love oranges and watermelon and bread. you have started to get frustrated when we make you finish something on your plate before you ask for more of your favorite thing on the plate, and you have also started throwing your food when you're done. so we're working on our table manners. you use your spoon about 60% of the time, and you're actually pretty good at it. but you often ditch it since it's just quicker to shovel food into your mouth with your hands :)

Sleep :: bless you, sweet child- you are my good sleeper. you like taking naps, and you go right to sleep at night. you are taking an afternoon nap, easily sleeping 2.5-3 hours, and then you sleep 11-12 hours at night. I keep reminding you of our agreement that you will always be this way about sleep, and you readily agree. don't forget that: you readily agree.  :)

Play/Development :: you are running and playing and loud and rough and tumble and basically all over the place all the time. you have a crazy amount of energy, and you play hard. you love reading books, building with LEGOS, playing with trucks, throwing balls, and if it involves running, you're all in. you are starting to use more words, even putting together 2-3 word sentences. you have pretty much sad "no" to everything for months, but just recently have started using "yes" {and in the right context} a little more. it's still a work in progress. our favorite Aiden-ism is "I do," which you say in your cute little man voice, and somehow say with your whole face. whenever we ask if you like something, or we bring out something that you like, you say "I do!" with such emphasis and confidence. "Aiden, do you like oranges?" "I do!" :)  you also use "I did" when we ask you if you pooped in your diaper, running to your room screaming about a diaper. your toddler tantrums are on full display these days, and you mostly show your frustration through screaming loudly. you usually can be calmed with some snuggles, we just have to make it through some pretty dramatic screaming first. 

Unique to You :: sweet boy, you are wild and fun and full of life! you are on the go, all day long, and then you crash hard at nap and bed time. you are by far our loudest child haha. you seem to only have one volume, whether you are happy or upset. because you are so active all the time, you are HOT, all the time. and you constantly want to take your clothes off to be a "naked baby." and you often want others to join you, so we're working on letting you know that it's better if mommy keeps her clothes on haha. you are also still our little snuggle bug. you love hugs and you give the BEST ones. you snuggle in tight and squeeze so hard. and you absolutely love family hugs, when we all squeeze in tight together.