Everyday this baby boy is less of a baby and showing me more of his big kid self. It excites me and kills me all the same.

This age and phase is such a bizarre mix of sweet moments and new revelations balanced out with temper tantrums and melt downs over the color cup I gave him. Some days he’s full of kisses and snuggles and other days he’d rather growl. Some days he sits and eats dinner at the dining room table and happily brings me his plate when he’s finished. Other days, he refuses to eat anything and throws it on the floor. He’s moody. He’s two.

He’s discovering his voice and most of the time it’s loud, but once in a while it’s soft and sweet.

One time while he was taking a bath, I took one of the bath toy foam letters, put it on my head, and dramatically sneezed it off. He giggled in that way that makes my heart melt. I did it again and again. Now, he does it every single bath. He stacks the foam letters on his head and then… ahh choo. He shakes his head and sometimes the letters don’t move at all. He puts them on my head too and soaks my face in the meantime. It’s hilarious.

We have a little bedtime routine and after bath time comes story time. He likes to read. I love that. I dream about all the books we’ll read together. I fanaticize about reading chapter books to him out loud as we both lie together before bed. For now, he has his favorites, so I’m excited for the time when he doesn’t want to read the same ones over and over again.

I love that we’re here crafting this tiny human and he’s a part of our family, a part of what we do, a part of who we are. He adds immeasurably to our dynamic and has more than claimed his own space here. He belongs.