Christmas in April!

For Christmas 2011, Easton got an awesome electric ATV from his Aunt Kim & Aunt Keri and their families!  Since we were moving we packed up most of their Christmas gifts for the new house.  This particular one got unpacked to a top shelf in the garage, and we just recently remembered to get it out!  So the day before Easton's birthday he got this awesome gift.

He knew exactly what to do and took it very seriously.  I don't think he cracked a single smile but refused to get off of it because he loved it so much.

Ella asked very nicely if she could PLEASE have a turn, but Easton just kept driving...

and driving...and driving...

Once we did finally force him to give her a try, he was NOT happy, but she WAS!!!  

Seriously, the first couple of days we thought we had made a mistake by letting him have this toy...he was throwing MAJOR tantrums any time he had to come inside and get off of it.  But after a few days, he was praised for getting off all on his own and sharing with Ella, and since then he's been much better, for the most part!  ;)

Easton's FAVORITE THINGS at TWO (#1 & #2)

Easton's top two are very similar, but I decided they each deserved they own top spot.

#2. Balls, balls, balls!
He can spot a ball a mile away and anytime we go anywhere, he somehow finds a ball right off the bat!  They are in his bed, they are in the car, every room in our house, front yard, backyard, diaper bag, etc.  I love his kick, but I think his football stance getting ready to throw will always be my favorite!

#1 Kicking a ball.

At 2 years old, Easton's all time favorite thing to do at anytime of the day is to kick a ball.  We have some really light ones that I don't mind him kicking in the house and he has soccer balls outside as well as many more light weight ones.  He runs around the house kicking balls, runs around outside kicking balls...he would literally be content doing it all day long.  We take a ball with us when we go places, especially if we know we'll be outside, and every single time we receive multiple comments from random people about how good he is or pointing him out to their friends or even taking pictures of him kicking.   His teachers at school comment almost daily on his kicking and love of balls.  He truly does have a talent and its pretty amazing to watch him, especially considering how little he is!!  And just for the memory books, we've recently heard these two comments....1. he looks like a UT kicker and 2. he looks like the next David Beckham! :)  Ha ha!  

He teaches himself new tricks and we see him practicing new things all the time.  It started as simply kicking.  When you would kick the ball to him, he would stop it with his hands and then kick it. Then he started dropping the ball in front of him and kicking it while it was moving.  Once he was comfortable with that, he started kicking it back and forth with someone without using his hands to stop it.  Then we noticed him throwing it up and trying to punt it before it hit the ground.  He practiced that several times until he got it down.  He just simply has a natural ability and loves it more than anything.  After seeing his true passion for something like this at just 2 years old, I can't wait to be a soccer mom!!!

Easton's FAVORITE THINGS at TWO (#3 - #5)

#5 Being outside
Easton would stay outside all day if we let him!  He loves everything about it and in our new house, there is plenty of space to roam!  Some of his favorite things include riding the roller coaster down our driveway, playing with sticks, cars, and balls, mowing with Daddy and pretty much just following him around everywhere, playing on the shallow ledge of our pool, jumping in puddles, anything and everything!

#4 Affection

Easton is such an affectionate little boy!  One of the things I always loved about Michael is how affectionate he is and I couldn't be happier that this quality was passed on to our son.  Mommy and Daddy are on the receiving end most of the time, but Easton shares his affection with everyone!  He melts my heart.  The sweetest is when His little hands grab both of your cheeks and he pulls you in for a big kiss right on the lips!  His teachers at school also tell me how affectionate he is...patting and giving hugs!

#3. Ella

I think its pretty cool that Easton knows nothing of life without Ella right by his side!  They certainly fight and pick on each other but would be lost without each other!  During tax season, there were times I would put him to bed while Ella was in her own room playing, and Easton would let me know that he wasn't going to lay down without saying goodnight and giving hugs and kisses to Ella.  After I called her in to say goodnight, he would lay right down and go to sleep.  I only grew up with a sister, so I look forward to continuing to watch the bond between a brother and a sister.  So far, it's pretty special!

Easton's FAVORITE THINGS at TWO (#6 - #10)

I really can't believe that it's already time to do this post.  In just 2 days my baby boy is going to be TWO years old!!!!  I have so many thoughts about this, but before I get to that, I wanted to stick with our annual tradition of looking at his "top ten" list at this age right now!

Man, is he fun!!!  And I really enjoyed sitting down, looking back at pictures, and really thinking about what his favorite things are right now in this moment in time.  So starting backwards....

#10.  Watching TV
This little boy loves TV.  When he was a baby, it started with the "Piggies" movie, then moved to Super Why, but recently his all-time favorite is Barney!  I don't know how this started, because we had never even seen Barney, but one day the kids asked to watch it, so I found it on the demand channel and now that's his request every time!  Barney does have some great messages, so its a show I don't mind him watching!  After bath, he'll say, "I wanna watch TV mommy..."

#9  Animals
Easton has always been my little animal lover!  So completely opposite of Ella!  Dogs especially, but he loves all animals and wants to pet any dog he sees!  It's a really sweet quality to see him so happy around animals, and I'm so glad that we have Jake.

#8 Books

His current favorite is "Hook 'Em".  A cute book about the longhorn mascot making his way through campus and ending up at a UT football game, and eventually heading to bed for the night after a long day.  We read it once and Easton was hooked!  He repeats the pages after I read to him and just loves it.  He'll bring me the book and say "read me, mommy".  He even got his Uncle Blake, an Aggie, to read him "Hook 'Em"!

#7. Blankies
Of course, Easton's blankies made the list this year.  He LOVES his froggie and bear, and at night now he also requests covers.  For covers we most often use Michael's old baby blanket, which I love!  Blankies go almost everywhere with us and when he's tired, blankies are in hand and left thumb is in his mouth.  At home, he'll often demand "I want Easton's bankies!"

#6 Such a Talker!

I wasn't sure where to put this one on this list, but its such a HUGE part of Easton right now that I wanted to include it in his top ten.  He is a SPONGE!  He literally soaks up and repeats EVERYTHING.  I am completely amazed daily and not only what he says but also by how much he talks.  I definitely think this is largely due to having an older sibling.  He talks constantly.  I wish I had been better about writing down his little phrases, but here are a few that come to mind.  It's hard to write down regularly because he literally just repeats everything I say, like a little parrot!  Another cute thing is that he always speaks about himself in third person!

• While walking down the stairs at Mimi & Papa's house he proudly said "All by Eason's self!"
• Some of his favorites right now, "I do it!", "My do it!", "I help you mommy", I wanna hold you", "I run fast", "I swimming mommy", "Mommy, watch this!", "What happened?", "Where Daddy goes?", "What you doing?", "Shhh, Ella night night", "I go outside", "kick it!", "I get it", "Where are you mommy?"
• While eating grapes with Ella "Share me Ella!" "Share me Ella!'  "Mommy, Ella not sharing!"
• "I want Easton's bankies!", "I want Easton's milk", "Milk all gone?", "A little bit more"
• He's so good about speaking slowly and doing his best to pronounce all syllables, even in big words, like watermelon and cantaloupe and caterpillar.
• "I wanna ride it", "I wait for Papa, ride it", "It's not working"
• "No touch it Ella, mine!", "Jakey, no woofing", "I wet, my big pool"
• "I love you much too"
• And so much more!!!  
• At school his teacher said that he talks a lot in one on one settings, but in group settings, he's not one to speak up as much.

One on one

It's a funny thing during tax season...I'm with the kids almost non-stop and yet I find myself really missing them!  It feels so busy with Michael gone and especially during the weekday evenings it becomes so "go go go" getting through the routines...pick up from school, dinner when we get home, then straight to bath, then ready for bed, then books, and bedtime with Easton, books and bedtime with Ella....

And I miss them because I hardly get any one on one time with either of them!  

But there is always about 30 minutes to 1 hour between Easton's bedtime and Ella's bedtime that I do get one on one time with just her.  We are usually in her room talking or playing a game, but on this evening we made our way outside to enjoy the beautiful weather and sunset.

Her little legs are so small she enjoyed sticking them through the net and into the water!

I do love this one on one time with her and so does she.  She feels so special that she gets to stay up a little later and sometimes even eat dessert while Easton is already night night!

It's harder to find one on one time with Easton because Ella is often glued to my hip, but even if its just a few moments, we do find our time!