As of the moment this posts, at 04:16 UTC on September 13th (9:16 PM on the 12th Pacific, 12:16 AM on the 13th Eastern), Alex is exactly 2 years old. Happy Birthday Alex!!! These two years have sure flown by. I have not really posted any general updates since he turned 18 months old. So here goes again I guess.

• He is in that vocabulary explosion sort of stage. Using new words every day. Asking what things are called. He is using simple sentences like “Daddy Juice Mommy More” when he noticed my drink was empty, as he took it from me and gave it to Brandy to fill up.
• He and the dog continue to play with each other all the time. He is starting to learn to be a bit more gentle and (sometimes) back off when the dog has had enough. Roscoe definitely plays back too, it isn’t just a one way thing.
• He can now load the DVD/Blu-Ray player with the disk he has decided he wants to watch. Still needs help setting it up and getting it going, but that won’t be long now I’m sure. He already does turn off our entertainment system when he is done watching whatever he is watching.
• He says “Uh Oh!” when things go wrong or he finds something broken. This sometimes combines with the last bullet, as when we are trying to actually watch something else rather than a kids show. He realizes what is on is not what he was expecting, and starts saying “Uh Oh! Uh Oh!” and heads over to our receiver and turns it off. This is not always appreciated.
• He is generally a holy terror, running around the house and getting into absolutely everything. I understand this is expected at this age. But it is exhausting.
• As you may have seen in the video he loves playing with the hose. We will do less of this as it gets cooler I am sure, but at the moment this is one of his favorite things, that he asks to do almost every day. In addition to spraying the dog as seen in the video, he also will call me over, “Daddy! Daddy!” looking all innocent and such, then spray me as soon as I get close, giggling gleefully all the while. And then he’ll say “turn!” to let me know it is my turn, hand me the hose, and have me spray him.
• He is playing more and different games on our iPhones. One of the new ones is a Thomas matching game. He also has a physical version of this. He sometimes actually matches things, sometimes he just plays. Either way, he likes them.
• He is still upset and cries when we drop him off at day care, but by all reports he is OK and having fun right after we leave.
• He loves to climb. Anything and everything. It is only a matter of time before we find him on top of a bookshelf or whatnot. He loves to go to playgrounds, where he is climbing and playing on jungle gym equipment designed for much older kids. He is fearless. I stay directly under him, ready to catch him when he slips, but so far he hasn’t.
• He loves to draw. He’ll find a paper and then ask for a “Cran”, which is of course any writing utensil. Then he will happily sit and draw. Of course, sometimes he will draw on other things too. Basically any white or off white surface is up for grabs. This is also not always appreciated.
• When watching movies he is familiar with, he will talk constantly describing what is going on as best he can. We can’t always get exactly what he is saying, but he is clearly referring to characters and what they are doing.
• He points at every plane that flies over and excitedly tells us about the “ane! ane!”
• He points at every bus (or buslike vehicle) as it goes by. “Buh! buh!”
• Cars are still the best toys ever. He has many many cars now, and plays with them all the time.