Santiago's Half Birthday

Santiago is two and a half today! He is the most amazing and fun little boy and we just don't know what we would do without him. I have no idea how many times I tell him that I love him in a day and I just melt when he says "me wuv you too mommy"  He says and does the funniest things on a daily basis and I wish I could bottle it all up and keep it forever. I have loved every little stage he has gone through- except for the throwing fit stage- haha!  Here are some of the amazing things he is up to at 2.5!

• Weighs almost 37 pounds and is 37 inches tall. What a co-ink-y-dink!
• is one year post - op from his second surgery for Craniosynostosis (July 9, 2010)  and doing great!  We just had a check up with Dr. T and got a good report!  Our next appointment will be in a year.
• Loves trains, fire trucks, and tractors.
• Santiago's speech and language has skyrocketed in the last 6 months. I can remember counting how many words he would say in a sentence around his second birthday.  I think 8 words in one sentence was his longest at age 2 and now he speaks in paragraphs! 

• Can count to 13 consistently and sometimes higher.
• Knows many letters and a few sounds
• Can spell words with his wooden puzzle pictures
• Recognizes tons of environmental print and reads the signs and restaurants as we drive by
• Loves to get ice cream from McDonalds
• Loves peppermints and will claim "its peppamint time" with a big cheezy smile to ask if he can have one
• He also proclaims "bitemons time"  which is vitamin time when he wants a chewable vitamin
• Can't pronounce /g/, /k/ or /v/ sounds so some words he says sound really cute....  Grandma is Damma, very is berry, careful is wareful

• Loves to take baths in the big garden tub instead of his bathtub
• Loves to swim
• Loves Roxie - he kisses, hugs, cuddles, feeds and plays with her.  Sometimes she gets fed up with all the attention! When he wakes up in the morning, one of the first things he wants to do is find her.
• Loves to wrestle with his daddy and will tell me to "shoo"
• Sings Shoo Fly Don't Bother Me, Captain Curly Head, Good Morning Lord, Old Dan Tucker (the last two songs he learned from my mom- his Damma!)
• Loves to help you work on things and fix things with his tools
• Wants to help do EVERYTHING
• Has a love of learning and is curious about everything.  When he asks a question that you answer with "I don't know" he responds with "please tell me!!!"
• Asks "what are doing" about a million times a day
• Pretend plays
• Loves to watch Caillou, Thomas the Train, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
• Has imaginary friends - Caillou and Rosie- He calls them on the phone, invites them over, takes them to potty, makes them help clean up his toys, and asks where they are all the time so Hector and I have to play along!
• Is completely potty trained except for night time and has been for a little over a month.  He still sleeps in a night time diaper but wears his chones (underwear) all day. Thanks to my mom for getting him started at the beginning of June and helping me meet my goal of only having one child in diapers at a time!
• Loves to listen to books and has a few memorized that he reads himself. Reads the pictures of any book he picks up and tells his own stories. 
• Loves to give play by plays of things that happened

 There are so many more things he says and does but that is all I can think of right now.  His vocabulary is huge and his memory is extraordinary!  I am amazed on how he soaks everything up that he sees and hears. He is a very smart little boy who has a very bright future ahead of him.  I can't wait to see all the wonderful things he will do, learn and accomplish in his life.  We love you Santiago! Keep on growing and learning : )