Terribly Behind

Once again, I find myself terribly behind in my blogging. Could it be that I now officially have two year old? Yes, that's right. Malcolm is now two, and here a picture from his party. (That's Emeilia behind the balloon!) We had a great day playing at the Children's Museum, eating cake and running around.

Could I be behind because we've been shoveling out from all the snow that we've gotten? Yes, we got a total of about 1.5 feet and the doggies have created paths to get through the back yard. Luckily the snow is in the process of melting, so now there are lots of puddles for Malcolm to play in and he's riding his bike outside once again. We also played outside yesterday in the puddles as you see in the last picture. By the time we went inside, he was soaked from the waist down and could only be tempted inside by the promise of cookies - I mean, who cares about dry clothes when there are killer puddles to play in?

Life here is good. It is so wonderful to SEE spring coming again - we never really saw any seasons in California. We have plants peaking through the snow, we have sun, finally and some students on campus are even wearing shorts even though it's only in the 40's and 50's.

Malcolm is growing so rapidly and asserting himself in many ways - as 2 year olds do. It's so amazing to watch him grow up and figure stuff out on his own and be able to do things that he couldn't before. Like he has the Charlie Brown puzzle that my sister, Traci, gave him when he was born. He's always been able to take it apart, but never been able to put it back together by himself. Now, he can and he exclaims every time that he does it, "I did, it, I did!" Gotta love the enthusiasm of a small child.

He's also really into reading books now - with us and by himself. He loves making Play Doh snakes and turtles and smashing the doh between his hands. He's also starting to really use the potty about 2-3 times a day and he's very proud of himself when he does it - cheering himself on and clapping for himself the whole time.

He is also coming out of his shell around people that he doesn't know very well. He'll at least say hello and thank you to people when we are out and about. He also asks for some of the students from St. Francis House by name, wondering where they are when he comes to see me at work. He's growing and growing out of shoes, out of shoes, and into a new little man.