Two Years

Dear William-

Here comes the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!

Who knew, that when you turned two years old, you would be a big brother?! We didn't! But we sure are glad. For the first month and a half you were beyond angelic. Always sharing, gentle, giving kisses. Even spontaneous "I love you James". You asked where he was if you couldn't see him. You always said "good morning James!" And kisses. Lots and lots of hugs and kisses. Then the next month and a half, well, you were rather the opposite of angelic. You were very aggressive with everyone, not even just James. This was a bit of a trying time for Mommy because you were so rough. She often felt beat up at the end of the day. The good news was, this too was just a phase. Now, we are somewhere in the middle. Maybe even not quite the middle. You are Mom's big helper. You get his pacifier, play with James, read with him, lay under his gym with him, hug him, love him and share with him. Occasionally, you will hit him or pinch him, but you always tell him you are sorry and kiss it better. Sometimes, you even tell Mom to take him back upstairs or put him in the swing so that you and Mom can play. But she doesn't and you don't really make too big of a fuss. You are truly a wonderful big brother. We are excited for the wonderful example you do set and will set for your younger siblings.

Jumping and running are your favorite things. Very little puts a smile on your face the way these two things do. Especially if it's racing. You love to say, "mahr, seh, go!" and race. Or take our hand and run while saying "go, go, go!" or "run, run, run!"

It's also been enjoyable for us to watch you burp your doggy, cradle and shh! your doggie, wrap and tuck your doggie, and tell your doggie "wait two minutes".

You love to announce when things are funny( es funny). You are aware that you are funny and like to make us laugh.

You are very polite. You do a great job with please, thank you, and excuse me. You even started covering your mouth when you cough.

You've a thrown a few royal tantrums this year. Counting to 10 helped calm you down. And then, after a couple months, if we tried to count to help calm you, you'd scream "no count to 10!"

You have a pretty large vocabulary and you use it well. It tends to impress people when you decide they're okay to talk too.

The more words you learn, the bossier you've become. Mom's not so impressed with that :) She rather likes to be the boss.

You still appear to be a somber, serious child to people who don't know you. Little do they know.

It's been fun to see your imagination start to bloom and grow. The other night, bears and tigers were coming with us to bed.

You love to learn and you are able to remember things rather quickly and with ease. You know your alphabet, colors, shapes and some numbers. You can do the sing song of 1-10, although actually counting is not quite there.

You love to write and can make an "o" or a circle- more or less. You make some pretty good "W's" too if they all get lined up just right.

You still love to read! You sit down to read to yourself, you ask to be read to, and you read to James. It is so fun. We love reading with you.

We're proud of the progress you've made with praying. You can mostly pray by yourself. And if you think we are taking to long you try and give us a hint by saying: "name, chrise, AMEN!" over and over until we really end.

You can pretty much sing "I stand all amazed, I am a child of God, and the William song" by yourself (among a few others).

We think you are wonderful. You are William the Conquerer and we are excited for the years to come!

Love,

Mom and Dad

ps since I currently have an on-again-off-again relationship with being able to post pictures, hopefully tomorrow it will be ON-AGAIN and I can add some.