Shrade is 2 years old!!

Oh, I can't believe that my little boy is already two.  It seems like only yesterday that I was holding him and he was cooing at me.  I recently went back to watch those videos lest I forget.  But wow, this last year and even these last three months Shrade is just changing.

Shrade is an absolute joy.  He is always laughing, smiling and playing games.  Basically he is very busy and he doesn't sit still or slow down unless he's eating or sleeping.  We try to keep him very active both physically and mentally each day and he takes that challenge with vigor.  He is very emotional and easily frustrated but we are teaching him how to ask for help and also to solve his own problems.  He doesn't like messes.  He shouts, "Messy, messy!"  until it's cleaned up and he's still ultra picky about food, but you can't go wrong with bread and fruit.

Shrade is learning many ways to be independent: taking his own shoes off, climbing into his high chair and car seat, and crawling up and down stairs.  He is learning to follow directions and is very good at throwing things away in the garbage and getting things for us when asked.  He is also responsible to put his dishes in the sink and he is learning to say please, thank you and your welcome.  Also, if you happen to sneeze he will say, "Bless you!"

His vocabulary has exploded.  He names everything and repeats words.  The other day he said, "Oh, goodness!"   He also says, "There you go!"  He sings and is learning to ask for things that he wants.  We have started a little bit of Shrade School and he is learning letter names, numbers, colors, shapes and animals.  He is also coloring a little bit, but is much more interested in transferring crayons from one container to another.  And every toy that we have becomes a "train."

He is really interested in prayer time and even reminds us before a meal.  I want to start teaching him Bible verses and of course, we want to sing Jesus songs with him.  He usually stands with us during church worship time and bounces to the music.

We are so busy with activities.  We like to go to library story time which is a great reinforcer of songs and books that I like to read at home.  I also get a lot of good ideas to practice at home with him too.  We go to playdates and we started going to a free program in our community called Play to Learn.  I can see that he's catching on to books because he is starting to pick them up and name the title and pretends to read them too.  We also went to the playground a lot when the weather was nice and he wants to climb and run.  It's hard to keep up with this growing boy.  He is a bit more daring than I want him to be.

Also, we've been taking a parenting class that is really helping us to fill his moral warehouse with sound Biblical wisdom.  We are working on first time obedience and we say, "First time, every time, quickly with a happy heart."  He is starting to understand that and he obeys.  We also give lots of praise when he does things well.  Of course, we have a long road in the parenting process, but we are taking one step at a time because we want our son's heart to be soft toward the Lord.

Well, we will see you again in 6 months and by then, Shrade will be a big brother!  That will be another challenge altogether.  I would appreciate any help in getting Shrade ready for a sibling!