Anthony is Two

He’s one cool kid

Yesterday was Anthony’s birthday. I can hardly believe that he’s two already. And yet he’s as big as many three year olds. I’ll get the official measurements tomorrow at his physical, but when I weighed him on our bathroom scale on Saturday—40 pounds!

In the past couple of weeks he’s had a language explosion. Suddenly he has all these words and is trying out new ones daily. Now a ride in the car is punctuated by frequent request for my attention: “Mama, Mama,” he calls until I answer him. Then, “Truck, truck,” or “Weeooo, weeooo” (for an ambulance or any vehicle with lights on top.) Unfortunately, he’s also hitting that stubborn stage and the food strike phase. .He used to eat a wide range of foods. Suddenly he has taken against almost all fruits and vegetables and only wants to eat starches and meats.

In his birthday suit.

We had a simple celebration, as usual. The kids helped me make a chocolate cake. A little one layer thing so there wouldn’t be lots of leftovers to tempt me. I made a cream cheese frosting for the first time ever and it was so, so, so good. Not very Lenten, but I told myself that birthdays were an exception to my fast from treats.

I love that he still has the little lines on his forearms. Baby fat rolls.

Still feeling overwhelmed with toys and feeling like he got all he really needed at Christmas, I just got him a couple of books, Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things that Go, which was an instant hit with all four big kids. Each Peach, Pear, Plum, which Bella loves now and which I think Anthony will love in time. My mom got him three cute t-shirts and sent a fruit bouquet. And that was it. Cake and two packages made it a special day in his book. Ben complained that he wanted it to be his birthday and needed lots of attention and hugs. (Boy, will I be glad when it is his birthday. Three has been such a hard age. I can’t wait for four!)

Anthony loves Lucia