Two At Last!

Dear Max,

As we move into life as a 2 year old, I wanted to pause for a snapshot of your current life:

You are the only child I know who has had a cohesive narrative since the day you came home from the hospital. You quickly asserted yourself as the King of the Babies and began feuding with the cats. Temporary peace has reigned, but I believe that more battles will be initiated when we move into the new house. And what have we created by bowing to your demands for supremacy? A child who is in love with himself! You adore looking at your blog and want to scroll through your pictures on the computer 47 times a day. Note: As a true child of the millennium, Max is not satisfied with actual photo albums. He wants it to be digital and to control the mouse.

The Max loves his schedule. You go to bed without complaint at 7:30 pm and usually sleep until 7:30 am. You rarely ever wake up during the night, even when Frank is trapped in your room yelping. Naptime is at 12:30 and lasts for about 2 hours, except on the days that you go to ITP. On Mondays, you go visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Beau. and any additional family members who happen to be there. Tuesdays mornings are ITP and then the afternoon with Grammy. Wednesday mornings are with Grammy and the afternoons with Mommy. Thursdays are also ITP, but all day Friday is Max and Mommy time.

You are a singing junkie. You know the motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Twinkle, Twinkle", and the "Wheels on the Bus". You sing some of the words, but mostly hum along. Speaking is the only area we are concerned about for you. Recently, we had an evaluation done by Baby Net to assess for possible speech delays. Your comprehension (receptive) language score was very high, but there was a slight delay for your expressive language. However, the two are combined into one "communication" score and canceled each other out, so you did not qualify for services. The evaluator said you have an appropriate number of words in your vocabulary, but not enough verbs. It is hard to make sentences with only nouns! She suggested waiting a few more months to see if it improved before making any decisions about speech therapy. You certainly manage to get your point across by pulling us around by the finger to do your bidding! All other areas were fine, especially your motor skills. You have developed quite an interest in climbing lately....luckily so far, you have only tried to climb IN the crib instead of OUT of it.

We have seen some brief foreshadowing of 2 year old tantrums, but you are mostly an exceptionally happy and easygoing kid. You love to laugh and to make us laugh. Every day is full of kisses and hugs and cuddles. We are so lucky to have you!

Love, Mommy