Happy 2nd Birthday Boys!!

I made a collage of 1 picture from each month of the last year...it was hard to only pick 1 picture, but here they are...

Here are the comparison pictures....

Zak at birth

Zak's 1 year picture

Zak's 2 year picture

Ryder at birth (a few days old)

Ryder's 1 year picture

Ryder's 2 year picture

Together at about 1.5 months old

Together at 1 year old

Together at 2 years old

This last years has gone by so fast! I can't believe my babies are already 2 years old. We started out the year living with Tracy & Dave and now have ended the year by moving into our own townhouse. The boys have grown a significant amount physically and mentally in the last year as well. This past year they have really gone from being babies into becoming toddlers...

Zak: He is such a physical kid! His favorite activities are anything that involves a ball or sport. He has developed a pretty good throwing arm and kicking leg along with being good at catching a ball or hitting a ball with a bat. This kid is going to be dangerous when he gets little older and is playing in team sports. His vocabulary has also taken off recently which has been fun to watch. He loves to talk and says lots of 2-word phrases and even some 3-word phrases. I love that you can ask him what he wants to do and he can usually give you an answer that makes sense. Zak has also started to count and can usually makes it from 1 through 6 alone. He has also pretty much mastered being able to point out body parts when you ask him to (head, eye, mouth, nose, ear, foot, hand). Zak likes to color and will copy straight lines and circles if I draw them first. He is also interested in trying to dress himself although he has not mastered this yet. He has also mastered walking up and down stairs when holding onto a railing (he is even doing well without holding onto a railing). He can now jump and get both feet off the ground. We have not started to potty train yet because he is not showing all of the signs of being ready. He has mastered the ability to throw a massive tantrum, but what 2 year old hasn't?!

Ryder: He is still a little smaller than Zak, but has definitely learned to stand up for himself (sometimes a little too well)! First, I want to update about his medical "stuff"...we will be going to see a pediatric endocrinologist next week to get some baseline information. An endocrinologist is who will decide if/when Ryder will need any hormone treatments later in life so they like to meet with the child early on. We also have a follow-up appointment with the geneticist at Johns Hopkins, but not until December (she is a very well-known doctor so her schedule books up very quickly). Otherwise, he has been pretty healthy and doing well this year. He loves to play basketball, but is slowly learning to kick a ball also. His newest fascination has become airplanes, he loves pointing at them and playing with them. He also likes to play with cars, trucks, and read books. Recently he has started to become much more vocal which is great; speech therapy has done wonders for him. He is not saying tons of actual words yet, but he does say some and everyday it seems like he is adding to his list. He tries to mimic things we say, but just isn't getting the words out correctly yet. Ryder can point to his head, nose, and mouth when asked to. He also enjoys scribbling with crayons. He is really good at walking up and down the stairs when holding our hand, but has started to try and do it on his own sometimes. He has been able to jump and get both feet off the ground for a few months now so recently he has started to hop a few times in a row. He is not ready for potty training either which is fine and his tantrums are not as bad at Zak, but I am sure he will get to that level soon!