2 years, 2 weeks

Paul turned 2 almost 2 weeks ago! He likes to hear himself talk (and I like hearing him talk) so what better way to commemorate his birthday than with Paul quotes from the last 12 days?
10/6/08. A box arrived from Grandma Jo just in time for Micah and me to create and paint a train for Paul's train birthday. I figured the recycled toy was the perfect gift for our littlest environmentalist (proven by the fact that he is so eager to decrease the number of diapers he contributes to the landfill.) "Chug, chug, puff, puff" said Paul.
10/7/08. Yes, I made Paul a train cake and train place cards. I love him. "Meeease [please] eat train cake mommy?" begged Paul.

10/7/08. "Thank you Micah JMU duke dog football!" said Paul. (The pediatrician said yesterday that they want 2 year-olds to string together 2 or 3 words. How about 7?) We were also happy that Paul's height at his 2 year check-up was 36 inches, indicating a probable height of 6 feet! Hooray for our tall-enough athlete. While I'm on stats, he weighs 29 lbs. and his head has finally reached the 25th percentile. 10/7/08. Sticking to the rule of number-of-kids-per-age-of-birthday rule, Paul invited Camille and Ben along with their families (including big brothers Sylvan and Noah) to his dinner party. "1, 2, 3, swing" said Paul. He can count to 10, too. 10/7/08. If I had to guess the highlight of Paul's birthday, it would be spending time with Grandma Bev. "Go, Go, Noah!" said Paul the encourager. 10/10/08. We went to see Harold since he drove to western PA. We can't let him get that close without Paul climbing to him! "Help me, Papa." whined Paul.
10/11/08. Fooled you! This is actually Jack, Andrea's son. "Follow me, Jack." said Paul.

10/11/08. "Push higher meeease [please] dad." hollered Paul.

10/11/08. Cousin Mekenzie and Micah climbed to new heights. "Me too!" begged Paul as he started up the wall.

10/11/08. "Yeah tree!" said Paul the encouraging environmentalist when I told him I liked the tree in Grandma and Grandpa's yard.
10/11/08. "Funny Micah. Funny Jack. Funny Paul. Funny people." said Paul. The leaves were breathtaking to and from PA last weekend. Wow, what a creative God we have. I also really enjoyed time with my friend Teresa on the way to Grove City (Laura was checking out the college.) 10/11/08. It was also great to spend some time with Andrea and Jack. "Hug" said Paul as he hugged Auntrea's leg.
10/12/08. Getting to see our friends Eric, Ellen and Emily was a special treat God gave us! Here, Anthony and Eric have traded children. "Underdog!" said Paul to Eric-such-a-good-sport-Johnston (aka E.J.)

10/12/08. Here are two of the most fun dads around. "Hold hand Micah." said Paul.
10/16/08. Micah's preschool had their fall walk Thursday and Paul and I tagged along with trail mix for Micah's snack day. When the class sang "Good morning to you, and how do you do?" to Micah, he sweetly responded with, "I feel better than I have ever been before." Over the last few months, a surprising number of the other preschool moms have mentioned to me how they notice that Micah is always smiling. Thank you God, for his smile!! As we searched for exciting fall nature treasures, Paul found two pine cones, so as usual he gave one to Micah. "Here go, Micah" said Paul. Anytime Paul has two of something, he sweetly assumes one is for his big brother.
10/16/08. Timotheus and Kendra Pope stayed with us and let the boys and I keep their sweet son, Simeon for the day while they interviewed counselors for Citikidz, the urban youth ministry of SB2Dub. Throughout the day I heard, "My turn" from Paul as he learns to wait patiently when sharing with someone younger than him. Thankfully, Micah and Paul play together almost all of the time and they share well with each other most of the time. I think Paul trusts Micah to give him a turn. The louder drum is the most frequently contested item. Hmmm...10/16/08. We watched Anthony play in the intramural football championship game. Because of our busy evening schedule of leading Bible studies, I hadn't been able to go to any of his games this year; it was SO fun for me to watch my superstar husband. "Catch, Simeon!" said Paul; I had to explain a few times that precious Simeon (14 months) isn't able to do some of the things Paul can do. However, Simeon is able to be smiling for hours on end!
10/16/08. Dad's still got it!!! Dr. Tongen (as quarterback) led his team to victory as intramural champions against students who don't cringe when they have to play 4 times in a week like this professor did! "Go, go, dad!" sang Paul. Yes, he often sings, especially in settings that are not typically musical. Thankfully, when we took him to an open-air concert at the arboretum last night, he listened quietly.

10/17/08. We took Micah to the climbing wall last night and he did great! "That kid is legit. He made my night." said a college guy. Meanwhile, almost all college girls tend to ooh and ahh over how cute Paul is these days.

10/18/08. Ava Grace's lovely birthday party today was fun for Micah, his preschool friends, Paul and me. Paul said the highlight of the day was the magic show. He told dad all about it at dinner, including animated, hands-out descriptions of "Where did he go?" (about the surprising appearance of Gary the Great.)

10/18/08. Here is Micah riding a horse at Ava Grace's home. It was after Paul's naptime, so he was saying, "Tired and sleepy, mommy." He sure doesn't resist his 1.5-2 hour nap every afternoon, or his 11-11.5 hours of sleep at night. However, I think he most looks forward to his comforts only allowed in his bed: his left thumb, his blanket and his frog.10/everyday/08. Have you noticed how much fun I got to have in the last two weeks because of my three boys? Just as I noted about Micah in our Christmas letter two years ago, I can't sit down in our house without a 2-year-old saying, "read book, mommy?" Nowadays, the frequent request comes from Paul.