Micah at 2

Height:35 3/4" (83%) Weight:28# 2 oz(50%) Head Circumference: 19 1/2"

Our sweet little Micah is now officially two. I know everyone says the "terrible twos" and even though we of course have lots more disciplining to do and Micah has a mind of his own and his into everything he is really at a fun age (ok and an age that is tons of work too!). I think it is partly such a fun age b/c of his sweet and fun-loving and energetic personality. I was worried what we would do all winter stuck inside with a newborn but he has really just been fun to be with. That and we've gotten back into our routine of bible study and playdates and when we don't have anything planned between caring for a newborn and playing with Micah (not to mention attempting to get dinner made and keep the house somewhat up and running) we've been staying busy.

Here are some of the things that we love about Micah at 2 years old.

I love his love for life and the simple everday things. Take today for example when we all went grocery shopping. We walked in to Meijer and he was just thrilled...jumping around and so excited. He said hi to everything that he saw...hi phone, hi horse, etc. It is so fun to see his excitement at the little things (not to mention the big things!)

I love his personality. He is just full of it these days. He loves bible study and loves playing with his friends. When I ask him what we do on fridays he says bible study. He is in with the big kids so that means that they have a story and do a craft. He usually comes home saying..."bible study, shhhh, quiet." My best guess is that they are constantly having to tell him shhhh and quiet when they are reading the story. Wish I could be a fly on the wall! :) A few weeks back when I picked him up from nursery at church they told me I might want to check his diaper as he wouldnt' let them change him. I wanted to make sure he was a good boy so I asked and they said "are you kidding me....Micah is leader of the pack!" Haha....that he is!

Micah also has an amazing memory. I really am amazed at what he picks up and the details that he remembers. Take for example we were down in the basement a while back and he saw the wrapping paper and remembered the specific paper we wrapped my dad's christmas gift in. Or a while ago Shelby had a pizza delivered to us. A few days later when I mentioned Shelby to Micah he remembered the pizza and even told me that they delivery guy had a white car. I hadn't pointed that out to him....but usually don't question what he remembers b/c he is right on. He is one smart cookie and definitely has a great memory!

It is so much fun now that Micah is talking so much. He is very verbal...to the point we are able to easily communicate and he is speaking full sentences (not all the time of course). He will also copy everything we say (and its so funny b/c he usually even picks up on the tone we say it in as well)....if I'm on the phone he is usually a little parrot in the background. Some of my favorite lines he says are --whats that guy (this is hilarious b/c he will say it referring to some inanimate object) , bless you mama (after sneezing), i'll be right back, come on lets play. He also loves to say his full name--Micah Corey Kugle, it is too cute!He knows most of his letters and what they stand for. He is starting to know some of his numbers and shapes. He has also learned his first bible verse--Matthew 28:19--Go and make disciples of all nations (the condensed version). He loves to sing twinkle twinkle little star, pop goes the weasel (b/c he saw it on Barney), and wheels on the bus. He still loves to play with his cars and trucks, his kitchen, and his toolbench. And of course he loves to wrestle with daddy!!!

Micah is such a sweet big brother. He loves his little sister...despite the times he has hit her, wacked her with a hot wheels or head butted her! He always calls her baby Adelyn (never just Adelyn). If he hears her crying he will say Uh Oh baby Adelyn and want to go pick her up. He loves for her to watch him play and even play with him(well as much as a 2 month old can"play"). I am excited to watch the two of them grow together...he is going to love it once she is old enough to play.

Some other funny stories. Micah pulled back our kitchen run and proceeded to tell me that there was dirt and that we needed a bulldozer. Ok...so there probably was some dirt but not enough to necessitate a bulldozer! Haha. Micah also found one of my magazines (Better Homes and Gardens) and on the back cover was a picture of Ellen Degeneres. I can't remember who he originally said but he either said that it was daddy or grandpa. Of course we thought it was funny and laughed so he kept doing it and now everytime he sees that pic he will say daddy or grandpa.

Ok so lest I let you think that Micah is a perfect little boy...we are definitely in a stage where discipline is something that we have to do over and over and be consistent and tell him the same things over and over. We are trying to work with him at being obedient (listening to mommy and daddy when we tell him to do something the first time, not running away when we ask him to come,etc), kind (sharing, being gentle to his sister, etc), and respectful (not telling us no when we ask him to do something,etc). Oh we have a long way to go! :)

And lastly I won't go into too much detail but I do want to atleast write it down. I was talking to my mom last night during Adelyn's fussy time (usually 7-10 pm) and my mom said something like I don't even remember that with you guys....its funny how you can forget things that are so hard at the time. I don't think I could ever forget the sleep issues we've had with Micah the past 2 months but just in case... To make a very long and painful story short basically when Adelyn was born Micah started crawling out of his crib so we officially moved him to his big bed. We didn't want to but after 2 crib tents that didn't fit we were left with no other option. It has been an incredibly painful and frustrating process with lots of tears from mama and Micah! He basically will NOT fall asleep on his own and will refuse to stay in bed. We tried...oh how we tried. He has been bribed, baby-gated in...etc and nothing works. We spent a good week really trying hard and he would scream/cry his entire nap period (2 hrs) and then spend 3+ hrs crying/screaming at night and literally fall asleep standing up at his gate just refusing to go to bed. Night after night of this coupled with a newborn we decided that it was not worth it and it was not working. We did nights of Corey sleeping with him, Micah sleeping in our bed...but that wasn't working for us either. So our new (TEMPORARY for now) routine is that we will sit in a chair in his room to get him to sleep for naps and bed. We (well, I) am very strict and if he wants me in his room he must be quiet and lay down as I'm not going sit there while he messes around. He is back to taking 2 hours naps but at night he usually gets up around midnight and comes into our room. We have put his sleeping bag on the floor and he is aloud to sleep on our floor. Like I said not ideal, but we are all sleeping so that is what works for now. It has been a really stressful battle for us especially with the timing of having a new baby.

Oh yeah, and back to the sleep thing(see pics below). There was a streak of a few days or a week that Micah decided instead of screaming his entire nap he would just destroy his room. I was actually kinda ok with that (well, it was just a nice break from hours of screaming) until one afternoon when I heard a loud thud and scream and ran to his room only to find his dresser (like a big 100+ lb solid wood dresser) on the ground completely covering him. It was really scary as I know kids can die from this. We've moved the dresser out of his room until we can get it bolted in....we never thought he would be able to pull it over. Thank you Lord for protecting Micah!

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Well...I could go on with lots more stories and funny things Micah says and does but I barely had time to get this written up. I'm looking forward to seeing how Micah continues to grow and see how his sweet and fun personality continues to develop!!! We are so thankful for him!