Happy Birthday, Jason!

Jason celebrates his second birthday today, April 15, and he’s thrilled about it. In the weeks leading up to this, we’ve asked him how old he is: “One!” And how old he’s going to be: “Two!” Today any time anyone says, “Happy Birthday,” he answers, “TWOOOO!”

We think he’s doing very well for his age; at last count he could spell around 75 words we know of and he recognizes or can say (after a fashion) probably closer to 300 or 400 of them. He’s getting skilled at writing most letters of the alphabet and is making a few tentative stabs at forming sentences (“Jason is happy,” “Shut the door,” “Scott is crying, Mommy feed!”). Looking back we realize we’ve been really lucky with all the traditional “headaches” of the baby/toddler years: Jason learned to feed himself without making much of a mess, went from crib to “big boy bed” without complaint and welcomed his little brother with open arms. The next big, ongoing milestone is potty training and time will tell how that pans out (ahem).

Right now we’re getting some work done on the house and Jason has been thrilled to meet all the contractors who’ve come by to give estimates; they all have neat gear like tape measures to play with. One guy shared his Palm Pilot with Jason…not a risk I’d have been willing to take…and darned if the kid didn’t take to it right away, moving pictures around on the screen with the stylus, minimizing and maximizing images, clearing the screen. It was scary. As it turned out, the guy we chose is doing all the work today, so Jason figures it’s all part of the Birthday celebrations…he’s loving it.

Scott is sleeping a bit longer at night, but it may be some time yet before he becomes a primarily nighttime sleeper. He’s generally in a good mood, giving us broad, open-mouth smiles and even giggling at times, but when he’s unhappy he sure lets you know about it. He adores Jason and no doubt they’ll be the most devoted of playmates in just a few more months when Scott’s ready to crawl around.

Time sure does fly when you’re having fun. Luckily we’re taking lots of pictures so we can remember it when these guys have grown up and left us behind. But for now, Happy 2nd Birthday, Jason!