Joel Andrew is 2

Joel Andrew, tomorrow you turn 2 years old. You are a crazy nut but I love you to death. You have the power to make me smile when I am sad, and make me sad when I am happy. I am in love with you for sure, as is everyone who meets you. You are incredibly charismatic, able to charm anyone near you, and with one blink of your beautiful eyes can turn even the most skeptical person into mush. I am pretty sure that one day you can be President. But no pressure, though Mommy would love to stay in the White House and travel the world as the "First Mommy."
Your personality has always been there, but now it is in full force. You hardly sit still, at all. Maybe to watch a movie, but even then you are bouncing around the couch. You are picking up words left and right, and can already count to 20, say your abcs, and have most recently learned the days of the week. Mommy and Daddy need to be extra careful around you as you have been repeating anything we say. Our favorite sayings from you recently include: "I'll be right back." "Mommy, sit down right there, please." And "Thank you very much." We only have to prompt you for please and thank you like 1/2 the time now!

Your favorite things include hanging out with Pa at the lake, your orange and yellow car, choo-choos, and going in the hot tub. You love to call out "I see a boat." - We are trying to expand this to other things, but if there is a boat around, on the TV, parked in someone's yard, we will all know about it for sure.
You can be really stubborn. But with a little love and patience from us, you can pull through it. This is what makes it hard, when there is no time to be patient, or when Mommy is on a short string, we all tumble into a mess with tantrums. But I know you mean well, and it has been tough for you having a new little brother - even though you love him so much - so I promise in the next year I will try my hardest to relax and work extra-hard to make sure every day is a fun one, not a challenge.
I love that you are a great sleeper. Though your entourage in your crib continues to grow. First Turtle-Friend, Pluto, then Mickey, Puppy, now Big Monkey and Little Monkey. Pretty soon we will have to move you to a big boy bed. I am really hoping this does not mess up my great sleeper. I need at least one!

You are doing well on the eating, but I would love you to be a bit more adventurous there. Can't complain though, you ate 9 nuggets the other night, and about 3 cups of blueberries. Ama thought you might explode. Your favorites though include avocado, watermelon, applesauce, and cucumber. You will eat meatloaf, but like your Dad it needs to be covered in Ketchup, or "dip, dip" as we call it. If anyone you love is eating something new, you will try it for sure. Except for baked beans. Didn't want anything to do with that...
You are very loving, very fun, always entertaining, sometimes challenging, a live wire, a great boy who cannot be tamed, except with the promise of watching a Mickey. We love that your love of Disney, animals, exploring has grown, and we cannot wait to show you more and more fun things. Happy Birthday to my big boy!