My Baby Boy is 2!

My baby boy is 2!

Big 2 year old about to eat his cupcake!

This week my son turned 2. According to babycenter.com he is now classified as a preschooler. Where has the time gone? It seems almost like yesterday he was born.
We lived in Germany almost 11 months before I gave birth to him. I had a great experience and can only speak highly of the healthcare in Germany. I gave birth naturally and without any drugs. Midwives assisted me until the very end when the doctor came in to help with the delivery. From my experience, giving birth was nothing compared to recovering from giving birth. That was difficult. I broke out with PUPPS which is a horrible rash that spread all over my body. It felt like poison ivy and lasted for 4 weeks. I could not take anything because I was breastfeeding. I looked for natural remedies that were safe and came across drinking dandelion oil. The horrible tasting stuff that I got from my local Reform Haus helped. However, I still have a nice rash on my stomach from the experience.

At my son's bowling birthday party

Being a mom is a lot of fun. If I would have known how much I would enjoy this I would have tried to become one sooner. I truly can see why the Bible says that children are a blessing from the Lord. Parenting by no means is easy and it's not always enjoyable but overall I love it. This past year my son has gone from walking to running, climbing, and jumping. His vocabulary has exploded and he knows so many words. He can count to 20 in English and 10 in German and Spanish. He knows all the shapes I know, all the normal colors, and most of the animals and sounds they make. He loves animals. My son also knows the alphabet letters and sounds they make. He can spell his name and a few other words. Now when we read, he looks at some of the words and spells them. If he knows the word he'll say it, if not he'll look to me or my husband, whoever is reading to him. A few of his favorite things to do are playing with friends, making balls with play-doh and putting them through the molds, going to the park, singing, building towers with his blocks, playing with his cars, reading, and shooting hoops. Lately he has been sleeping in his big boy bed. I will write a separate article about that since we practice attached parenting and did not let him cry-it-out. So this is a very special time for us. If you've always put your child to sleep you understand the sacrifice of your own personal time involved in sleep training. Overall he is a very talented and smart little guy. The next step will be potty training, something I'm looking forward to and not at the same time.

At home receiving a gift from our sweet neighbor

On his birthday, my son said the prayer before we ate dinner. Our neighbors were over for dinner and they got to be here for it. Usually after we finish praying he continues on thanking God for things. The other day we asked if he wanted to say the prayer. He said, "yes, please!" He is pretty good with manners and saying please and thank you. When he prayed he thanked God for everyone sitting at the table. I know God was pleased. My husband and I both have a close relationship with God and want to pass on the faith and hope in Jesus Christ. There is so much freedom in being a Christian.
To celebrate my son's 2nd birthday we had a bowling party last Saturday. The kids had a great time. Then on his birthday we ate dinner with our next door neighbors and one of our other next door neighbors came over and had some cake with us. We are blessed to be surrounded by wonderful people. When we lived in the US we never were this close to our neighbors, except maybe in college when we lived in the dorms. If we can't live close to our families at least we are fortunate to have great neighbors.
Happy birthday to my sweet son. I love you and am so happy to be your mommy!