Dear Cody... How Are You 2?

Cody-bear...
My sweet, funny, loving, darling baby boy, I am absolutely head over heels for you. You bring us so much joy every single day and your squishy little smile always puts me in a good mood. I feel so lucky to be your mama. You have changed and grown so much over the last few months. Your vocabulary, specifically, grows every day and you are getting better and better at communicating with us.
Because of your birthday being in November and your eligibility of going to transitional kindergarten, I have already had to enroll you in preschool for next year. You will be the youngest in your class, but you're going to be getting that extra year. I can't believe it's already that time. You are changing so quickly, I beg for time to slow down.
You are such a good natured little boy. You are easy going, happy, and truly such a sweet-spirited kid. You go with the flow, which is good because we are often on the go with your big siblings. You are funny as can be and know how to push our buttons - even though it drives us absolutely crazy sometimes, it's all part of your sense of humor!
In the last few months, we have been busy visiting some new places. You went to Monterey for Thanksgiving and you loved being with family and running around in the house Nana rented for our whole family to spend time together in. For Christmas, we spent time with our family at home and then also a few days in the snow in South Lake Tahoe. It was beautiful and you loved playing and sledding. This month, we took your second trip to Hawaii - your first trip to Kona on the Big Island, and then took a tiny 9-seater airplane ride over to Maui. You did fantastic on all 3 of the flights. People on the plane told us after we landed how well behaved you were. We made sure to have you in your car seat so you could be boosted up and comfortable (& confined).
You loved Hawaii. You loved playing in the sand (as long as your hands weren't too dirty), going down the water slides - which you did at least 100 times - and running around on the grass. You did really well keeping up with everyone and it was fun to see you experience it all. One of my favorite memories was watching you run (you have the cutest little run) and giggle when you saw the waves coming up on the beach. I hope I never forget just exactly how cute you are, thankfully I took about a thousand pictures. :)
We celebrated your 2nd Birthday with family. We went to Disney on Ice with Nana and your cousins, and then everyone came back over to our house for pizza, cake, singing, and presents. You were liked us singing to you and seemed to be happy! Christmas was definitely more fun this year as you seemed to have a better grasp of opening presents and playing with new toys.
Some of my favorite things about you right now: you are a copycat of your brother and sister. You especially love doing everything Nolan is doing - making the same noises, playing with the same toys, and running around playing "monster!" with him. You love riding around on your toys with wheels in the house. You aren't pedaling yet, but you are very quick with your feet. You are also pretty good on your scooter in the yard. You laugh a lot and have the cutest little teeth that show when you smile. You say "Paw Patrol" in the cutest little voice and it is definitely your favorite show (if we can get you to sit still for a show). You are a little bit afraid of the fire engines at daddy's work and love to be held while you check them out. You love tractors, balls, legos, cars, and any trinket you can hold on to while we are out and about.
You are wearing size 5 diapers and 2T sized clothes. You are a great eater and love apples, bananas, peaches, blueberries, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pancakes, waffles, yogurt, mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, quesadillas, tri tip, cheeseburgers and almost everything else we put in front of you. You are adamant about feeding yourself and have become very independent in the last few months.
You are at a stage where you are repeating everything and talking a lot! If we tell you we love you, you will blow us a kiss. You don't give out kisses for free, so when we do get them - it makes us melt. You are really tough and have had many bumps on your head and will just pop up and keep going. If I had to guess, you are going to grow up with a fun sense of humor, laid back personality, and really love life. You truly make me proud just by being yourself - you are such a special little boy and words cannot express how much you are LOVED.
What a blessing to be along for the ride of watching you grow. I am thankful every single day for you, Cody. I love being your mommy.
Love you forever and ever,
Mama