Martin and I continue to be amazed and the things Dylan says and does and understands. The latest cool thing is that after hearing us read him the book
Green Eggs and Ham maybe half a dozen times at most, Dylan picked up the book and says "would you, could you, in a train?" using the same exaggerated inflection in his voice as we do when we say "a train?" Now he asks "would you, could you, in a " and then fills in the blank with whatever he is thinking at the moment. It's so cool. He also says "reading....fun."
Dylan is also taking a music class with
Miss Kathryn now. So he's learning lots of songs. He really likes Pop Goes the Wessel and Ring Around the Rosie. At Christmastime, his favorites were Jingle Bells (Hey!) and Angels we have Heard on High (especially the Gloooooria part). And he still likes his old favorites, This Little Light of Mine and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Miss Kathryn always says to the students, "Be my Echo..., Ba Ba..etc." Dylan likes to say that, again with the same inflection in his voice as Miss Kathryn.
In the last few months Dylan has finally learned the opposite of "no." He started out saying "okay" and now has a clear "yes" but most of the time it's "uh-huh." We're working on getting him to "yes" more often. Other things we are working on - not saying "shoot" or calling Mommy and Daddy by their first names. Not sure where/how he picked these up.
Dylan must have a great sense of direction. He knows exactly where we are when we are driving in the car and usually guesses where we are going based on where we are whether it be Bushra's, church, Oliver's, Richie's, CVS, the gym, or the gaygound (playground). He will even tell us which way to turn ("turn left!") and gets upset if he thinks we are going the wrong way.
Dylan also has a great memory. He often talks about things that happened in the past. Particularly if they involve other kids, dogs (like
Murphy and Puff - even though he was scared of him), his grandparents, or Mommy and Daddy's single friends (Mister Jonathan, Mister Mike, Miss Amy, etc.) He also remembers very well the day that Lydia was born - he remembers that Pap Pap couldn't open the door to his house when he went home to his house with Grandma and Pap Pap. ("Pap Pap, door, stuck.")
We try to capitalize on this great memory by trying to get him to
memorize the children's catechism and answers to other questions like "who's the president?" I've found that kids love saying the name "Obama." We've also taught him "who's the secretary of state?" to which he replies "kin-ton." He's got the first three questions of the catechism almost down now. However, when I start asking the questions he replies with "own gooooory....aaaall tings." Basically, he jumps the gun by answering question #3 and then #2. At least now when we ask how old are you, he says "two" and not "God."
Dylan continues to be a great big brother to Lydia. He always asks to hold her (making sure to get the burb cloth from us beforehand). He shows Lydia his toys and often asks where she is or gives us a status report as to what she is doing. I'm amazed at how quickly he has accepted her as part of our family. He hasn't once asked to take her back to the hospital or put her back in Mommy's belly.
Dylan is also really good with names. He knows every Thomas train and every Cars character. He remembers names of people too.
We have used the Thomas characters to our advantage in trying to get Dylan to eat. As you probably know, we've struggled his whole life to get him to eat more. Sometimes we just don't know how he has the energy to be so active when he eats so little. Everything I've read/heard said there's nothing to be concerned since he's perfectly healthy so we're not terribly concerned, I guess just more annoyed. One thing we do to get him to eat more is to say "take a bite for" and then proceed to list every Thomas train we can think of. It has actually worked really well to get him to eat at least a little more. But I'm still basically spoon feeding my 2 year old. It would be really helpful if he could be a little more cooperative in the eating department so Martin and I could have more peaceful dinners (i.e., get to finish our meals) but maybe we are just expecting too much.
Last summer I remember talking to Laura B about the "terrible twos." She said someone asked her how to tell when your child reached the terrible twos. She said "you'll know." At the time, I couldn't say for sure Dylan had but shortly after that conversation, I remember thinking "we're there." Here are a few of the signs - demanding that he wears a certain bib/PJs/shirt (you name it) especially when it's in the washer and you can't let him wear it; making sure that the milk sippy cup goes on the left side of his tray and the juice sippy cup goes on the right; dumping toys out; trying to boss Mommy and Daddy around (Mommy sit here!); etc.
I already blogged about Dylan's sleep habits, so I won't say anything more about that except that the tent is still working great!
Even though these days are said to be the terrible twos, we are thoroughly enjoying them because Dylan is so fun and talkative and outgoing and smart. He is such a delight.
Here are some recent pics of our big boy:
Studying different train track configurations. He set these pictures out in a row like that himself.
Dylan as the green monster:
Doing the thing he asks to do everyday "watch Thomas."
Cousins Nancy and Chris and Martin's dad
Chris's wife Jane and Martin's brother Matt
Martin and his mom and the kids
Lydia wore a bow for the special occasion
The kids and their uncles Matt and Mark
The four grandparents picture. What a blessing.
In addition to her grandparents, her uncle Mark and Martin's Aunt Katrina and Uncle Bob and Uncle Dave also came from FL and PA to the baptism. Here's Lydia with Great Aunt Katrina - (it is Katrina's mom who was named Mabel). 
We love you (Great) Grandma!
