Abram turned 2 years old yesterday! I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone. He is a growing boy and Cori and I love every second of the time we get with him. Even when he’s being crabby and rotten, part of me wants to laugh. He’s got a unique personality that never gets old.
We love you, Abe!
Abram, 9/2/11
Next month, Abram turns 2 years old! I cannot believe how quickly the last year has gone. I know, everyone says those words. Truth is, everyone is right.
Abram is a chatterbox. He is trying out new words almost every day. He creates sentences by filling in the space between real words with fake ones. He has known his first name for many months, but he is finally saying his first (Ee-bam) and last name (Yahbohts) verbally. He’s getting better with his letters and numbers. He’s great at identifying things and talking about them. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, tractors, trains, pizza, Coke and more. He saw a giant dragonfly on the porch a few weeks ago and said, “fly.” It was probably the first time he had seen a dragonfly. Many times a day, he asks, “What’s that?” I love explaining what things are and demonstrating whatever I can. He’s interested in my coffee machine, coffee grinder and coffee cup. “Coffee?” he says.
Abe is obsessed with trains, known as “choo-choowains” or “chuhwneens.” A friend of Cori’s donated dozens of Thomas the Train characters and a track for them to move on. This was the perfect gift for him. He has spent countless hours playing with the trains, learning their names, moving them around and lining them up. He’s a master stacker and loves to proudly show us how he has uniquely stacked one car/truck/train on top of another.
He loves being outside and being active. He practically melts down in despair every time he’s forced to come inside. He also loves to go bye-bye - anywhere that isn’t home. He notices when daddy leaves, but has learned that it’s normal now. “Buh bye, Daddy,” he says with a wave.
He likes singing parts to songs we’re teaching him, like “E-I-E-I-O”, “The Wheels on the Bus” and “Jesus Loves Me.” He doesn’t say “love” yet, but he says “Jesus” flawlessly. How great it is to hear him say Jesus’ name before he’s two years old. I pray for him, every day, that Jesus will show him how much he loves him and wants to know him more. There’s no deeper prayer in my heart than that.
It’s not all fun and games with Abe, though. He’s learning (the hard way) how to share toys, even ones that aren’t his. Especially around his friends (sorry, friends!). Randomly, he’ll throw tantrums or fits and doesn’t want to explain what’s wrong. We are constantly doing our best to discipline him when we know his heart is hard. He also says a lot of curse words, which confuses us. Kidding on that last one :)
Cori and I are falling more in love with Abram every day. It’s so rewarding to see him learn and try new things. Our conversations revolve around his cuteness, personality, behavior and antics the majority of the time. We get so much joy from our little man and are incredibly thankful that God gave us such a gift.
If you know me, you know I am… particular about my computers. For some reason, Abram likes to push the bright little orange button on the power strip underneath my workstation. This turns my computer off quite abruptly and ensures that no open documents are saved. This behavior makes Daddy unhappy.
If you know me, you know I am… particular about my books. For some reason, Abram likes to push my books back on the bookshelf whenever he pleases. Sometimes the books he pushes back fall down behind the other un-pushed-back books to create a disorganized mess of covers and pages. This behavior does not compliment Daddy’s mildly obsessive-compulsive desire to have his books perfectly organized.
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Abram, May 30, 2011
I am embarrassed I have let 8 months pass since I last updated this blog. That embarrassment has probably kept me from updating it for 2-3 months and look where we are now! I wanted to do a “recap” of the months I missed, but that would take so much time, so I’ll provide an update here for the sake of history.
Abram has grown leaps and bounds since I posted his walking video in September. Now he is walking, running, sprinting, spinning, semi-jumping, climbing and getting in to everything. He is saying new words every day and learning from everyone around him. It’s incredible to watch him learn and grow. He is very alert and notices things, especially sounds, that we don’t. He’ll ask, “What’s that sound?” which sounds like, “Uhs soun?”
Lately, Abe has been trying to tell us what is happening. Today, he was playing with the magnetic letters on the refrigerator which usually leads to him playing with the water and ice dispensers. Most of the time we lock these features so he can’t activate them, but today they were unlocked. While we were in the other room, he climbed up on a chair and pressed the water dispenser spilling water on the floor. Abe ran into our room and started pointing at his wet clothes, then at the kitchen while he was telling us something about water. He had a concerned expression on his face and it was very important that we listened to what he had to say. I told him to show me what he was talking about and he ran into the kitchen and pointed out the water on the floor.
He likes to say (or try saying) the following words lately: tree, sky, shoes, water, sound, Donald Duck, McQueen, Buzz, Woody, Jessi, Bullseye, out, outside, bye bye, hi, oh, uh-oh, night-night, sapi (paci), doggie, cuppy and lots, lots more I’m certainly forgetting.
I love being a father to Abram and Cori loves being a mother. She’s really terrific at spending time with Abe and taking care of his needs. I feel so blessed to have my little family.
I know it’s mostly family who reads this blog, so you know what’s going on with Abram, But I will make an effort to post once a month with photos, videos and other updates. How cool this blog will be for us in 10-20 years.
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Abram has grown up so much since I last posted an update 46 days ago. He started crawling 8 weeks ago and now he is crawling EVERYWHERE with ease. We just moved into our first home, so he has plenty of new places to explore. He pulls himself up onto couches and tables to a standing position quickly. I’ll notice him standing all by himself for a couple of seconds, but he hasn’t noticed yet. Before too long, he will start standing on his own. It will be an incredible moment when he takes his first steps!
Abram likes to be around people, just like his Mom. He is testing out his vocal chords all the time, trying to get as loud as he can. I feel guilty when I catch myself getting irritated with his noisiness, but he doesn’t know any better. Besides, Daddy has a loud voice, why can’t he?
Last night I was feeding him a bottle before bedtime and he fell asleep in my arms, holding my hand with both of his. I have a faulty memory, but I try so hard to graft those moments onto the permanent parts of my mind. The sentimental side of me gets sad for a moment because I know it’s one I don’t want to end. But God has given me a wonderful opportunity to experience these moments. I’m so thankful to be the father of a boy I love more every day.