The Prince is 2 1/2!

To our Little Lovey:

The world became a better place the day you entered it. :) You are our little Prince Leyton, and we could not have asked for a sweeter little guy than you. You have brought so much joy to our lives, and I could never grow tired of seeing your beautiful little face or your big blue eyes! We love you so much!

leyton eating "princess cake" on his half birthday

You are quite the charmer, and you woo people wherever you go. I think it has something to do with your high-pitched little voice and the way your eyes get so big and round whenever you get excited. It is so darn cute! I love that little voice of yours, but you definitely have a squeal that could break glass. We have to be careful to keep you content--otherwise, we must face our punishment, usually in the form of you screeching at the top of your lungs in restaurants and other public places. You are stringing together more and more complex sentences these days, so it is easier to get you to use your words when you want something. Your new favorite thing to say is, "Mama, I want to tell you sumping," and when I say, "Ok, what?" you utter something completely random like, "Cows moo" or "Callan jumps in his bouncy." It cracks me up!

You are Mr. Independent and have been for a few months now. You want to do everything all by yourself, from putting on your own clothes and pj's, to climbing in your carseat by yourself, to walking instead of being carried. All winter, you wanted to wear your dino rain boots instead of your snow boots, so we let you. :) You are also very particular about your cup, plate, and bowl (you like them to match or at least be the same color) and you want your food a certain way. If we give you a banana, we'd better not dream of peeling it for you because you'll toss it across the room so fast we won't know what just happened. When giving you an apple, we have to make sure that we know if you want it whole or cut, peeled or not. Sometimes it is very frustrating for us to see you get so frustrated, but we just try to take things slow, ask you lots of questions first, and make sure that we are all on the same page. We know that you are just trying to assert yourself and be a big boy!

Speaking of fruit, can I just tell you how much you love the stuff? One morning, you ate a banana, two clementines, a plum, and an apple all before lunch. Some of the other things you like right now are princesses and dressing up, doing puzzles and play-doh, the pancake book by Tomi de Paola that has no words, the cat in the hat, and cooking in your kitchen. Did I mention that you love princesses? Yeah, you love them a lot! Ever since you watched Beauty and the Beast, you have been so in awe of all things princess. We don't have princess dresses at home, obviously, so you improvise by wearing first the apron that came with your kitchen and now a miniature Home Depot apron. You wear them all the time---24 hours a day except when you're in the bathtub. Everywhere we go, people compliment you on your "skirt" as you like to call it, and we just smile. You like to tell people that you are "Gaston," and although I've tried to convince you that he's the villain, I think you have him confused with Belle.

typical leyton--apple in hand and apron on

Your favorite part of the week is probably your gymnastics class. You are getting so good at it! I can't believe how far you've come since we started in September. It is fun for me to share that experience with you every week, and I am happy that we have something to do together that is "just us." You also eagerly look forward to your ECFE class each Monday and playing with Teacher Lisa. At night, you like to sing and dance and have "family dances" with Daddy and Brody. It gets you all revved up before bed, but what can I say? I love watching all my boys, big and small, have a good time together.

in mama's cowgirl boots

You are full of love, life, and you bring us so much joy! Happy half birthday, Gaston!

Love, Mommy and Daddy