Braden is TWO!

My baby is two today!  When Finley turned two, I already had Braden--it's crazy to think that Braden will be a big brother soon too. (And here's when he turned one--it's so fun to see how he's changed and how he's stayed the same!)

The day we brought B-town home from the hospital.

There's a lot of things I love about this boy, but my favorite is that he is a snuggler. He's affectionate. He likes to hold my hand when we walk places and sometimes he'll lay his head on my shoulder when I carry him.  He'll occasionally give me hugs and kisses without being prompted. Or honk my nose. And if I'm ever laying down (which, lets be honest, is as often as possible) he immediately scoots over to curl up next to me. And suck his thumb, naturally. And he still lets me hold him like a baby.

Getting so brave on the playground.

He's such a talker. He'll regularly speak in four or five word sentences and is great about communicating what he needs. I want a drink of water, I want to get down... or maybe he is just good at saying I WANT. I would say roughly 80% of his vocabulary is MAMA. Somehow he works a good MAMA into about every second. He's always saying, Hi mama, hey mama or hi mom. He's said "I so sorry" for quite awhile now--and he definitely doesn't understand what it means. Some of his other sweet phrases are saying, "Hi guys!" to a group of people, or saying "See you soon" when we have to put toys (or toothbrushes) away. And most of the time when I ask him something, his response is, "Yes Mom." He's just a sweet (verbose) little guy.

Struggling a bit to get the 3d glasses to work.

He loves to brush his teeth and read books. He loves Tucker the giraffe and trains. And he loves to sleep--we're so lucky he's a great sleeper. I think I can count on two hands how many times he's resisted going to bed. He kind of loves it. When I lay him down he'll normally pray (Dear Jesus, Amen.) and then says, Sweet Dreams! and Bye Mama.  He's starting wiggling a little more, but for a long time I'd lay him in his bed and tuck him in and he'd be in the exact same spot when I go to get him after his nap. He doesn't wiggle all over like his big brother. And sometimes he says, "Hi pumpkin!" when I go to get him after his nap--because that's what I say to him.

Lest you think he's always sweet... I apparently don't swing him the right way and he doesn't think me taking pictures of his tantrum is as funny as I do.

On his last night of being one, we hit a new milestone. WRESTLING. The boys wrestled for a good fifteen minutes--each of them instigating the other and grabbing each other and rolling around. It's probably the first time they've actually played TOGETHER. It was really cute and quite indicative of what my life will be like for the next... 20 years? Who knows. God help me. Please.

I'm so grateful for these two sweet boys. Whenever Braden is acting like a two year old and driving me crazy, I try to hold him real close and kiss those curls and feel the blessing that is a crazy two year old. And Braden, don't think that just because you are getting a new baby brother doesn't mean you aren't my baby anymore. Because you are.