Long time, no blog!

It's been a while since I've written. And, it's been a rough few months. Losing Jackson, interviewing, 3 job offers, big decision, new job, adjusting to new job and lots of travel. On top of that I wrecked my car by accidentally hitting a rock and Mac discontinued my favorite lipstick color. I wasn't kidding when I said rough.

Who cares?! Let me get the star of this blog! Sam is absolutely the funniest, cutest, smartest little pork chop I have ever seen! (And - he's even sweet sometimes these days!) Yes, we've gone and will continue to go through some pretty tough phases of temper tantrums. It's truly incredible how furious he gets, and what it stirs in me Terry and me. Dude. (And I thought marriage was hard.) I am certain he is more persistent than me, and more stubborn than Terry. That's quite a combo! 

But what a joy to see this little guy come into himself. He's growing and gaining weight and at his 2-year appointment, the doctor commented that "he seemed to be quite proud of himself" and that "he has a great laugh". We are so incredibly blessed! Here's just a little of what he's up to at 24 months:

• Talk, talk, talk! He probably has 300-350 words in English and about 20-25 in spanish. That is not an exaggeration. He's a parrot - and repeats everything we say. He isn't connecting his words as well as we'd like to see - but his vocabulary is so huge for a 24-month old boy, that we're not too worried. Today he said: "Bye bye orange dada!" when Terry walked out of the house in an orange shirt.
• He's really into cars, trucks, airplanes, tractors - that stuff is hard-wired for little boys! He cannot get enough of anything with wheels or wings. Every. Single. Time. we leave the house or he wakes from a nap, the first thing he says is "airport?". I say "Sorry, Sam, we're not going to the airport today." (But how fun will it be at Thanksgiving when I get to say YES! YES! We're going to the AIRPORT!) He is obsessed.
• The kid is funny, just plain funny. He'll put his spoon on his head, then look at us with a straight face and say "Sam's spoon?" He hides from us all the time and says "Sam?" He loves to laugh. He makes us laugh.
• Tonight, while I was holding him he pointed at my nose and said "big one", then at his and said "little one". He thought that was reeeal funny. At dinner, he ate a piece of chicken and said "bye bye bawk!". Took us a minute - oh - a chicken says bawk. See? Bye bye bawk. Funny. 
• SMART. I know everyone thinks they have the smartest kid in the world, but seriously, we may contact MENSA. He is 24 month and 2 weeks and knows about 8 of his colors, how old he is, where he was born (Opeeah!) and where he lives (Colorado). 
• Busy. Busy. Busy. Busier than most little busy boys - but lately he *is* softening around the edges. Not as frenetic. It's only been about a week, but we've seen a shift in him lately. Is he finally feeling safe? I think we may be experiencing a little miracle of healing?

My caveat, I feel can unabashedly rave about how we have the smartest, cutest, funniest child in the world, because it's not like I'm complimenting our own genes. :) Home 11 months this week. One of the hardest, but best years yet.