My baby is 2

Carter turned two last month! I took him to Kiddie Candids to get our annual I'm-a-cheapskate free picture, and I can't believe how old he looks! I purposely chose a picture that shows off his missing front tooth, since that was a pretty big event for us this summer.

Carter is getting so big! He talks a ton - sometimes I can't get him to stop talking. And he makes me laugh all day with the funny things he says. Katelyn has a collection of coins that she carries around with her, so there's often money on the floor. Anytime Carter sees a coin, regardless of denomination, he says, "Wook mom, fif-teen dawas!" I don't know where he got fifteen, but that's what everything is. We went to McDonalds last week, and now he asks all day, "Go to McDono's mom?" He also points to every wall in the house and says, "Pain dis waw, mom?" He's seen us do nothing but paint for months now. Oh, and I love that he sings now. He sings Twinkle, Twinkle all day and the way he pronounces the words is adorable. He also loves to ask, "Guess what, mom?" He doesn't understand that he's supposed to tell you something when you ask him "What?" so he just moves on to the next person and repeats the question.

Carter adores his big sister. If she's not in the room, he's asking where she is. He wakes up before she does, and when she comes walking out of her room in the morning he goes into hysterics yelling, "Katie's awake!" He wants to do everything she does. He even goes on the potty now. He's not potty trained, but at least once a day he tells me he needs to go. He can take off his pants and diaper and get himself up onto the big potty. He delights in flushing when he's done and then climbing onto the stool to wash his hands like his big sister. (We got him underwear, but he refuses to wear it, and he's really not ready, so we're not pushing the issue right now.)

One of my favorite things about my little boy is how lovey he is. He always asks for hugs. If he hugs one of us, he has to hug everyone, so we'll be walking into a store and he'll say, "Hugs, dad. Hugs, Katie. Hugs, mom." He has to get a hug from everyone at least once, then kisses, before he'll stop the cycle. He's getting more independent, and insists on walking most of the time, but when he's tired he'll come up to me and say, "Hode you, mom." He stretches up his little arms and this means that he wants me to pick him up. It just tugs at my heartstrings.

Of course I can't help but get nostalgic on my kids' birthdays, so I've been looking at all of our pictures of Carter from the last two years. I thought I'd share a few with you.

I am delighting in watching my children grow and develop. They fight a lot now, but for every minute of fighting, there's a minute of enjoying each other so much. Katelyn reads Carter a story almost every night now. They'll sit on the couch together while I get ready to put them in bed. It's so sweet to hear Katelyn's version of the story they've chosen, and to see how attentive he is while she turns the pages. I love being a mom.

Happy birthday, Carter!