2.5 Years to Almost 3

Hello Mr. Knox,

It has been a year since I have typed one of these for you and my how it has flown by. So much has happened. You look like a 4 year old but you are only 2.5 years old. You have had all your teeth for quite some time now. At your last doctors appointment you measured 38 inches tall and 34 pounds. You wear 4T-5T stuff and you are a size 8 shoe. You talk up a storm. Sometimes it is hard to remember that you are only 2. We got rid of the “b” or pacifier shortly after your second birthday in October. You took it pretty well actually. We gave it to the “B Fairy” for some other little baby who needed one. She even brought you a new set of Scribble Scrubby toys for being such a big boy. You have also been potty trained since November of 2021. You are doing such a good job with that. We had some rough moments, but you’ve got it down now. We also changed your bed into a big boy bed back in November. We have even taken down the gate in the play area and you are allowed to roam free most the time. You are so very smart and sweet. You know all the letters of the alphabet, you know your numbers through 20 if not more, you know your name and how to spell it, you can name off most animals and dinosaurs, you know all the shapes and colors, you know all your planets, and so much more. You can do just about everything by yourself now. You love animals and dinosaurs. You love to take care of your animals and babies. We tell you that you are such a good daddy with your toys. You love to pretend to be baby animals. You love playing with PlayDoh, Kinetic Sand, coloring, stickers, painting, throwing balls, playing with cars, going on walks and jumping in your jumpy house. Your favorite game to play with mom and dad is “Supermarket.” You have a Little People toy that is like a car ramp/city and you like to give us each a toy animal to be and we all go to the super market. Your favorite movie to cuddle and watch with us is the live action Grinch movie. Your favorite color is purple, your favorite dinosaur is T-Rex, your favorite Pokemon is Cubone, you love watching dinosaur shows, you love cookies and chocolate chips, your favorite meal is chicken nuggets and mac and cheese, and your favorite costume is your T-Rex costume. You have about 5 books memorized and can “read” them to us. You are just so super smart. It’s absolutely amazing the things you come up with and say or do.

Since May of last year we did lots of fun things. In July we went down to visit Granny Sue again for a week. We played outside on the swing set. We rode the carousel and the train at Balboa park. Granny Sue bought you a conductors hat, bandana and whistle which was so fun. You were so cute wearing them. We also went up to camp for the day to visit Ciocia and Chico. We participated in a bowl-a-thon for Serving Our Kids. You had fun rolling the ball a couple times. We went to the condo and visited the zoo. It was a lot of fun! You also got to eat a mini chocolate ice cream cone which you really enjoyed and of course we went to your favorite park. 4th of July you enjoyed the fireworks a bit more then you did before. You really loved throwing the pop its on the ground.

In August daddy started taking you out on bike rides in your little carrier that hooks to his bike. You like going on rides with Daddy to the park and playing.

September came and you turned 2! We had two big parties for your birthday. One with all family and one with friends. It was space dinosaur themed. That’s also what we changed your room theme to. We had so much fun. At our family party we had Memaw, Papa, Cory, Gen, Ciocia, Chico, Grandma, Grandpa, Granny Sue, Bruce and Stacy. At our friends party we had Elizabeth, Emilee, Clark, Scott, Crystal, Everett, Rory and Kendra. Grandma and Grandpa got you a bouncy house to play in for your birthday and we all had a lot of fun in it. We still have a lot of fun playing in it. Memaw and Papa got you a fun play house that you can play with your ball pit balls in. Granny Sue and Grandpa Stud got you an art easel set. You got lots of other cool stuff from everyone, but those were some of the big items you got.

In October we had so much fun with all the Halloween stuff! We went to the condo and met Ciocia and Chico and Granny Sue there. We decorated all Halloweenish, carved pumpkins and you even trick or treated with them upstairs. You also got to try the big jumpy trampoline thing at Snow Summit and you loved every minute of it! You decided to be a T-Rex for Halloween. Daddy was a triceratops and mommy was a Jurassic Park worker. We went to the Springs Preserve Haunted Harvest event and we checked out a pumpkin patch with Grandma, Grandpa and Nana. We went to the Ren Fair for the first time with you. You liked looking at the ducks and geese in the lake. We went over to the Brickey’s Halloween party and you and the other kids played games and painted pumpkins. On Halloween, Memaw and Papa came over and Trick or Treated with us and so did Grandpa. He drove us around in the cart.

In November we went to Bass Pro shops and met Santa. You were more impressed with the large fish tanks, the big fish and the mermaids. You tried a candy cane for the first time and liked it. We had a Thanksgiving at Memaws with everyone on that side of the family which was fun. We went to the Condo for actual Thanksgiving day and all our family met us up there. Even Grandpa Stud! We went to the zoo and a craft fair they had going on up there. We got to make a Christmas Cactus craft together. It now hangs on our tree at Christmas time. We also painted some ornaments while we were up there. You really enjoy painting.

December rolled around and it started with us going to a Christmas light event at the ball park with the Brickey’s. We had a lot of fun looking for all of Santa’s reindeer. The lights were a lot of fun. You enjoyed the purple light tunnels that we walked through. We took you to Sea Quest for the first time. Memaw got to go with us which was fun! You fed and touched the stingrays, the fish, the chickens, the sharks and you liked when the little fishes would give your hands kisses. We had an early Christmas at Memaws with everyone which was fun. We then went down to San Diego for Christmas and Granny/Grandpa Studs Anniversary. We got to ride the carousel and the train again in Balboa park. This time we took Chico and Ciocia. We also went to the San Diego zoo with them the day after Christmas. We had a good time. You got a shark bubble wand there and picked out some sea creature toys. At the end of December, Daddy got Covid, which meant we also got Covid. So New Years we didn’t do anything exciting. The first couple weeks of January we were stuck in the house till we got better. Thankfully you only had a low grade fever for about an hour and had no other symptoms. You went on a lot of walks with Grandpa, Grandma and Nana to get out of the house. Mom usually went too. You also went and played at Grandpa and Grandmas every night to give mom and dad a break.

Once we all got better, we got to go to the Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary and saw all the animals. Grandma, Grandpa and Nana took us. We saw pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, emu, ostrich, a lama, and some tortoises. I am sure there were others but I cant think of them right now. We also saw their painted rock garden. You really wanted to paint a rock! So we went home and painted some rocks. We also went to the mall and rode the choo choo train. You love trains. When mom and dad were home sick you also learned how to cast your fishing pole we bought you. You and Grandpa would pretend to catch fish out of the swimming pool.

In February we had a couple condo trips. One with our family and the other with the Brickey’s. You, Everett and Rory all had a fun time playing together on our long weekend. We went to the park one day and checked out the lake. The other day we went to the zoo. The rest of the time you guys played with each other, watched movies, worked on crafts, painted and played games. We all had a really nice time. We took you through your first car wash which was pretty funny. You seemed a bit scared at first but warmed up to it by the end.

March came and we went to Auntie Krystal’s Encanto birthday party. You got dressed up as Antonio, I went as Pepa and daddy was Bruno. It was a fun party. We also got to go the Pirate Festival with Granny Sue, Chico, Ciocia, Grandma Shawn, Grandpa and Daddy. We played lots of pirate games and rode the trains a few times. The Serving our kids Bowlathon was the same weekend as Pirate Fest. We all got to wear our matching bowling shirts and you got to roll some balls down the alley.

April had lots of fun stuff to do. We went to a Spring Carnival with the Brickeys. We got to play on the playground, make crafts, eat snacks, ride the train and pet some animals in the petting zoo. Later that day we got out your wacky whale. You really enjoy running around the yard and the wacky whale getting you all wet. We rode the train out at Boulder City with Grandma and Grandpa. There were lots of other small kids on the train and you loved playing with them. You love kids. We also met the Easter Bunny, played games and had a picnic dinner. Easter came and we dyed Easter eggs. You did really good this year. You even let the eggs sit for a bit before taking them out. At the end of April we went to the Royal Tea Party benefiting the Discovery Children’s Museum. It was Peter Pan themed. Granny Sue, Chico and Ciocia came up for it and well all went together. They had delicious food there but the desserts were the best. You loved the big blue cake pops. They also had fun stations where you could craft stuff like a pirate sword, pirate hat, fairy wings, fairy crown, a terrarium, water coloring and coloring a boat. We all took you around and let you do all the fun stuff. We had a great time. You weren’t very into it at first since it was right at your nap time, but once we got food in you, you had fun.

In May we went to Disneyland! It was your first time going. We went to both parks. The first night we all got down there we all had dinner at Downtown Disney. You got a purple Mickey balloon and we explored all the shops. The next day we went to California Adventure. You loved the Monsters Inc, Ariel and Tow Mater rides. We rode those ones multiple times. Granny Sue let you pick out something from the shops and you picked a Monsters Inc toy set. The next day we went to Disneyland. You really enjoyed the Haunted Mansion ride, the train, and driving the car on Autopia. You even helped pilot the Millennium Falcon. I was so proud of how big of a boy you were riding that ride in a seat all by yourself. You even got to see Chewy! He kind of scared you a bit when he got too close, but you liked seeing him from a distance. We also got to see and meet Tigger and Eeyore. We ate all kinds of yummy snacks but your favorite was the chocolate cake pop we got. At the end of the day we took you through the shops and your picked out an Ariel castle playset. You love Ariel. She is your favorite Princess.

In June we went on a trip down to Granny Sues. The first night we got down there you woke up in the middle of the night barking like a seal and freaking out. This freaked us out since we didn’t know what was going on. It turned out you just had Croup. We had gone down to go to vacation Bible school, but now we couldn’t because you were sick. Thankfully you got better and got to go two nights before we had to go home. We did get to ride Granny Sue and Grandpa Studs merry go round, which was a lot of fun. We also visited the Discovery Children’s Museum earlier in the month. You loved the imagination play area, the water room and going down the slides. Daddy bought you a Gekko costume and a Spiderman costume. You love putting them on and running around.

July didn’t have too much going on. We spent the 4th over at Auntie Krystals with all the family. You had a fun time playing with Cyrus and Icarus. You guys got to play water balloons and squirt guns. We also did fireworks. The rest of the month was filled with visiting with everyone since we were going to be moving down to San Diego.

August is here an we are almost done with the month already. Time sure has flown. We have moved down to San Diego and have been here for about 2.5 weeks now. You have adjusted really well as you always do. You do miss your buddies Maya, Everett and Rory. You enjoy your new big play room and having some toys upstairs in your room. We have been watching a lot of Lady Bug and Cat Noir. You like feeding your koi fish. You are also super big into Disney Doorables right now. I can’t believe I am already planning your 3rd birthday parties. You are growing up so fast. You really are an amazing little boy and I can’t wait to be amazed by you as you continue to grow into such a big, smart, loving , funny, crazy boy.

Love,

Mommy