Happy Two Years!

Peter's second birthday came and went like a hurricane. Between his birthday party, and the fact that his actual birthday landed on Easter, there was very little stopping, and we've been on the go ever since (hence the extreme delay in posting). He is now 36 1/2 inches and 27 pounds keeping him in the 90th and 50th percentiles.

He is definitely much more "little boy" now than baby, complete with bumps and scrapes. He loves to run and jump and play. He will run around the park for what seems like hours kicking balls and pushing trucks. He has finally mastered the "big" slide at the park, and runs a circuit up the stairs and down the slide. He loves to walk everywhere, and it is pretty difficult to get him into his stroller now. He is full of his own opinions, including what he wants to wear, and will often try to dress himself. He has had problems getting his pants over his diaper, but for the most part he does pretty well.

He definitely has his friends who he loves to see and play with, often asking for them by name. He is also starting to associate places with certain people, like how he will ask for "Uncle John" if we are eating at the Tavern. He is starting to get a lot more social, and will talk and play with other children when we are at the park. He still hasn't quite grasped the concept of sharing, but he is getting better about taking turns.

He absolutely loves school, and is learning so much there. He has started to learn a little sign language, and can (almost) sign along to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (otherwise known as Tookie Tookie), Little Miss Muffett, and Little Boy Blue. He is also much better at saying the alphabet (although he does still skip some letters), and even tries to sign along while singing. He recognizes numbers and letter, and can identify them correctly about 90% of the time. He is also much better with his colors, and will identify them correctly about half the time now.

And from BabyCenter.com

At twenty-four months, most children can:
Name at least six body parts - He can definitely do this, and is currently a pretty big fan of Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Half of speech is understandable - While there are still some things that we need an interpreter for, I would say that half is a fair (to low) estimate
Make two to three word sentences - He definitely does this, and I want to say it's been going on for a while now

At twenty-four months, half the children can:
Talk about self - He is just starting to do this
Arrange things in categories - He doesn't quite have this mastered, but he has been working on it
Walk down stairs - It seems like he's been doing this forever, but definitely for many months now

At twenty-four months, a few children can:
Begin to understand abstract concepts (sooner and later) - He is starting to do this, but it doesn't always make him happy
Become attuned to gender differences - This might be starting, since he seems to be able to tell the difference between a girl and a boy, but that might just be that he remembers what we called them
Learn to jump - He started jumping last month, hopefully I'll get the videos up soon (I know I say that every month)

And finally, there are more pictures in our April album on Picasa, which I will keep updating as the month goes on.