Your 2nd year...

At age 2, our baby books stop.  So from now on, this blog is our way to document the boys growth.

Alex & Evan,

We just celebrated your 2nd year of life.  You are not nearly as excited for yourselves as we are.  Its been a big year for our family.  Daddy started a new career and we left the state where you were born.  Your little personalities have really started to blossom.  Evan, you are a happy little boy.  At the moment, you are obsessed with balls, soccer balls, baseballs, beach balls, anything round, really.  You love Daddy's old matchbox car collection and you are starting to play quietly on your own.  Daddy is your guy.  You get so excited when he wears his soccer jerseys.  You love having your head rubbed before you go to sleep.  Alex, you are a Carlson, through and through.  You are never sitting still but love to snuggle anything soft and cuddly.  You love reading books but your obsession at the moment is riding bikes.  You would eat fruit and drink juice 24/7.  You are pretty serious but you love to be chased and wrestled.  You are pretty attached to me right now, I kinda hope that never changes:)  You seem to love nature and you are a climber.  Both of you have really learned the art of brotherhood.  You work and play seamlessly around each other.  You understand each other and have perfected the art of pestering (Alex, you are particularly good at it).
Some mornings when I come to get you out of bed, you both seem like you have grown a foot.  As your language develops, your frustration with life subsides.  My favorite thing to do is hand you a book and watch your little eyes as they devour every image, your little finger as it shoots to things you recognize and the little noise you make when you question something new.  We made an attempt at potty training this year but failed.  We will try again soon although neither of you seem to care to be bothered to step away from your play for anything, let alone going potty.
Its amazing to think how far we have come from just 2 years ago.  This time last year, you boys were giving us a run for our money.  Now, we are all running together.  Our lives finally flow together versus ours flooding around yours.  You two are still a handful.  We have days where I feel like I only have one child because one or the other is always in time out.  But, even on your grumpy days, the way you contort your faces or squeeze out those crocodile tears in the name of getting your way, I can't help but laugh.  The art of manipulation is perfected so early on.  But boys, I am on to you.  And know this, I am just as stubborn :).
I will repeat this every minute of every day for the rest of your lives, either out loud or in my heart: I love you.  It is a permanent, all-encompassing love.  It goes beyond your sweet little chubby 2 year old faces, it stretches into your teen years and past when you are an adult and leave me.  There is no end to it and tested or not, it remains and grows.  I promise to wrap you in it every morning and when you are out on your own, I will send it to you in letters, phone calls, home-cooked meals.

Happy 2nd Birthday!