Matthew is such a fun kid! He is talking a lot and continues to sign some as well. He's hit that language explosion phase and is adding new words all the time. I honestly have no idea how many words he has--maybe a couple hundred or so. He has around 100 signs he uses. Recent words he's started using include "towel," "nursery," "wolf" and "tie." He is very vocal and persistent at getting us to know what he's talking about. If we don't understand, he keeps using words, gestures and signs until we do. He strings together multiple word phrases a lot. He asks "why" ALL THE TIME. It's actually pretty cute as he'll say "why" and then once the question is answered to his satisfaction, he'll say "oh!" in this super cute voice. I enjoy having little conversations with him--so much fun.
One cute thing Matthew has been doing is nose noises. Some history here is that U has made different noises for each of our noses. I haven't ever remembered whose nose makes what noise. But Matthew knows. He will push a nose and make the appropriate nose. Apparently when he was with U during Priesthood today, he starting saying, "Mom, bop, mom, bop." (Bop is my nose's sound. I've actually tried to learn them since Matthew knows if I do them right or am just making something up.)
Matthew is a good eater. For breakfast, he'll often have a banana and a bowl of oatmeal. He'll eat a sandwich for lunch along with fruit and carrots (sometimes with hummus). Sometimes he eats more than me for both of these meals. He loves pasta and rice. He is sometimes adventuresome with veggies and sometimes not. He has enjoyed beet greens and spinach and will often eat lettuce if it has salad dressing on it. I think it is great he is eating so many greens.
Matthew likes trash. And trucks. And trash trucks. He loves taking dirty diapers out to the trash can and is a big helper gathering the trash each week before trash day. He likes looking at real trucks (he'll actually request that we take him to see one if it is too far away) and playing with toy trucks. "Truck! Truck!" is something we hear a lot from him. And then there are trash trucks. Oh how he loves trash trucks. He and Megan are both very adept at listening for the trash man and letting me know as soon as they hear it so we can go watch it drive down the street collecting trash. And they get to see it twice on trash day--once on each side of the street. And the trucks comes twice a week--once for trash and once for recycling. Oh the thrill! There have even been a few times we've been on a walk and been able to follow the trash truck down the street. These are truly exciting times for two year olds.
Matthew doesn't like the dark. It's interesting because if I ask him to go somewhere that is dark (like into our bathroom to get the trash), he won't go until I turn the light on for him. The good news is he will come ask for the light to be turned on. At night when he is going to bed, he likes a little light on. If we forget and turn it off, he will fuss to let us know he wants it on. If it is on, he goes to bed without issue.
Matthew also enjoys cooking. Seriously. We brought the play kitchen downstairs and he will play with it all day. He will carry a whole bunch of dishes into the kitchen and play with them right where I'm trying to cook. It's great. He also enjoys helping cook real food. He likes adding ingredients and is really good about stirring stuff even if it is hot. What a great helper he is!
He loves playing with the hot pads and mitts. Looks like I need to check the oven before turning it on if I don't want him baking something for real.
Stirring the soup for dinner. This was his job and he didn't want any help!
Matthew also likes trains. He goes to bed on the daddy train each night which he calls by saying "choo choo" and pulling a little (imaginary) rope. The ride is complete with a song, kisses and whisker rubs. He loves it! When I put him down for nap, he'll often say "choo choo" to me as well. Once I put him down, we play a little game where he will say "choo choo" and then I respond with "choo choo" and then "choo choo" & "choo choo" & "choo choo" until I am too far away to hear him.
And of course, Matthew still has his expressive face. He has great big smiles and great big glares. For one angry face, he furrows his eyebrows and purses his lips and looks up at you from under his eyebrows. He seriously makes me laugh a lot with some of the faces he pulls. I actually have to turn away sometimes so that I don't reinforce something I really don't want to.
Here's a happy Matthew. We were actually trying to get a glare, but as soon as the camera came out, he was all smiles. (He was actually squinting his eyes a lot, too, although it's not so obvious in this picture.)
Oh, and I know I called this Matthew's 2 year update but he would like to point out that he is actually 6. I have no idea why, but if you ask him how old he is, he will say, "Six." Every time. It's pretty funny! We sure love Matthew and are thankful he is in our family:)
Fun with dad!
What a happy kid.
Matthew loves hats.
