G2 Year in Review II: The Pictures

It's true that time seems to speed up as you get older. I swear to you, it does not seem like a year has passed since I wrote this. On the whole, it was a good year, though it does seem like G2 was sick slightly more often. Daycare, an older sister and a pre-disposition toward asthma will do that to a person. Honestly, I'm congested something like nine months out of the year, so the odds were never in his favor.

But, in the past year, he learned to walk, then run, then bounce off every conceivable hard surface (and that was just in the first month and a half). He went from talking very little to talking a lot to singing passionate renditions of "Let It Go," "Tomorrow,"and "Uptown Funk." You've not lived until you've witnessed a 4-year-old and 2-year-old engage in spirited call and response using "Uptown, funk you up, uptown funk you up!" (Seriously though, it's also never been harder to capture this nonsense on video. I write this down now hoping my aged brain will be able to conjure up the memory when I'm old and gray.)

Enough jibba jabba. Without further ado, here's G2's second year in pictures.

Reminder: each of these pictures was taken on or around the 29th of the month.

Here's where we left off. Covered in cake and splotches. Today, he got significantly more cake in his mouth, and he's a lot less splotchy.

I'm sorry. I can't hear you from the sound of the sugar roaring through my veins.

These first couple pictures are not indicative of the sheer amount of smiling this kid does. He really only has two or three modes: eating, smiling and getting into trouble.

April: He used to be super fond of popping out of this window.

As he started to walk regularly (around 13 and a half months), we didn't always have to bring the stroller or the baby backpack to the playground. Of course, he still wasn't mobile enough to do anything about getting plunked onto an empty see-saw.

May: Which was hilarious.

G2 never ate as well as his sister, which is to say, he's pickier. But eating slightly less well doesn't mean he ate less. It's just that instead of eating a plate of peas or bowl of broccoli like LG, he'd eat two bananas and half a pint of blueberries.

June: Completion of any meal is signaled by the customary Plate-Atop-Head motion.

 G2 has more patience and focus for a lot of different activities. He's always tried to figure things out, and he'd typically stick with a project longer than his sister. Except for painting. In this, his M.O. is get in, make a big mess, and get out as quickly as possible.

July: This paint has a piquant flavor, reminiscent of a goldfish cracker past its sell-by date.

Toddler feet are funny things. They're so chubby and round, and they do not fit into shoes. For G2, this was not so much a problem as his fat feet were made of steel. He'd seriously walk on anything barefoot sooner than let us mush him into some sandals or sneakers.

August: Just look at them! How is he even upright?

Unspoken rule: If it's transparent and at face height, G2 is going to press his face against it. It is never not funny (to me). It freaks Hollie out a bit, especially when he did it to a turtle tank at the museum.

September: "I see you!" "We see you, too. Now move so Grandma can windex the French doors."

I covered Halloween pretty extensively last year, but suffice to say that G2 had a good time. Turns out, the kid likes dressing up. Like, a lot. What I can't remember is whether this was a thing before Halloween. Did we kickstart this trend with this ridiculous monkey/dog thing?

October: Don't know. Don't care. Don't mind being an accessory.

As I was saying, he makes extensive use of the dress-up bin, which is well-stocked thanks to four years of his sister's Halloween costumes, courtesy of Grandma.

November: They're both green and owned by Disney. Ain't nothing wrong with this mashup.
Seriously, just Google Kermit Hulk. 

This is a pretty standard move. I wish I could tell you there's a reason for it, but the kid just likes to hang upside down.

December: Though in this particular instance, it was because he refused to pose.

Here's the funny thing. We had a lot of snow days this year, but we didn't really have much snow, at least not good enough to play in. And for me, that's fine, because despite all the time he spent in the snow before he could walk, he's not really into it. Maybe it's the suit; maybe it's the boots; maybe it's the fact that he simply refuses to keep gloves on, but G2 is just not wild about the snow.

January: But if I'm ever going to take the kids skiing, he's going to need to get over it.

A further word on dress-up. G2 is as likely to emerge from his room in a diaper and hard hat as he is to be wearing actual clothes. As such things go, I'm mostly pleased when he's chosen to be something other than naked. So this outfit? This is aces.

February: Seriously. He chose this.

Which brings us back to Do. Time marches on, and this guy right here is two-years-old. 

March: And he's also pretending to be a walrus. I guess I should be grateful the straw isn't up his nose.

 BONUS: Because it isn't a birthday post if there isn't cake.

Two seconds later, his sister blew out those candles.