Kingston at Two!!

I cannot believe it has been TWO years since my sweet baby entered the world. In some ways the last two years have flown - and in others (more specifically during the middle of the night and tantrums at walmart) it seems like the toddler years have always been part of our lives. The following update - while for your enjoyment - is also so I can remember this time in life when I (someday) get around to updating his baby book and scrapbooking his early years. Since most of those things are packed away right now, I wanted to try to record all of his milestones and all of my favorite things about our amazing boy!

Eating: Kingston loves sweets (like his mommy) and chips (like his daddy!). I wish he had less of these foods, but in all reality, we live with grandparents right now so cookies are a pretty steady part of his diet. He loves Hostess chocolate doughnuts (and can ask for them by name), eats ketchup with and without meat/veggies (some days this is the only vegetable I can get him to eat!), and would easily drink 100 cups of milk and juice a day if I let him. He has mastered the skills of eating on his own, although he still gets a bit messy. He also loves Cheese-Its, bread and any type of breaded meat or french fry. He will eat fruit each day, but I have to disguise veggies to get him to eat them.

Sleeping: We are currently in a "better sleep" phase, meaning he is only up about once a night(as a side note, I typed this a week ago. The better sleep phase has since ended with the beginning of a new tooth!). He is learning to put himself back to sleep, and is taking better naps. Thankfully we don't have too many more teeth to get in, which is helping him sleep much better. We are preparing for quite a bit of travel though, which does make me worry his sleeping patterns will be disrupted.

Play: Kingston is one. busy. boy. He leaps off my lap in the morning and is running before his eyes are completely open. He loves playing outside with rocks, running, sidewalk chalk, going to the park and pushing his strollers/carts. He also enjoys reading and saying the alphabet and counting. He knows all his letters and sounds, and can count to three. He can shoot a basketball (quite well I might add!), jump, gallop, hop, climb, run superfast and can open all kinds of doors (including the car door and our sliding glass door!). He always has a matchbox car in each hand, and favors the fire truck and the mail truck. He likes helping me do every day tasks - vaccuum, laundry, sweep and mop, and get the mail. He loves pushing the cart when we go shopping, and thinks automatic doors are the best thing ever! He also LOVES Elmo. He sleeps with a stuffed Elmo each night, and Sesame Street and Elmo sing-a-longs have become part of our daily routine. He also loves music - he has certainly received Nate's gifting with music and rythem!

Favorite things: Kingston has very definate opinions about what he likes and doesn't like. His favorite things include: playing in the sink with cups and water, dancing, the letters H and K, the number 2, Elmo, music, green stoplights, doors, pushing carts, motercycles, airplanes,

running, hiding, loving/torturing the pets, the firetruck and mailtruck hotweels, the bright pink and bright blue pieces of sidewalk chalk, and his Puma shoes (which he asks for by name).

He said what??: I simply ADORE the silly things Kingston says - I also love hearing him call me "Mommy"!! He says so many new words each day it has been impossible to keep track! He constantly asks "what's that", says motorcycle, fire hydrant and helicopter/airplane at least 100 times per day. He knows all his colors and can name all of his trucks and can pick out and name most of his matchbox cars (which include a corvette and a mustang). He asks to help put the Oxi Clean in the laundry, and to give the dog their Dingos (a treat). I am pretty sure if he ever attends preschool his teacher will wonder just what I am having him do here at home! When we come to a stoplight he shouts "green" until it turns green and then yells "go"!! He loves to sing Father Abraham, Zachheaus, and Climb up Sunshine Mountain. He is also a bit bossy - he tells people/pets/objects to move, stand up, sit down etc - and sometimes will put a please in front of such a command.

We are so thankful for Kingston and the joy he brings to our lives. We celebrated this year with Nate's family with a quiet evening at home - well, as quiet as it gets with a two year old boy! Two looks like it will be a lot of fun!