2 1/2

How time flies! It seems to me that just yesterday, I was in our tiny Rexburg apartment that smelled permanently of our upstairs neighbors' cooking grease, using the elliptical machine at 3 AM, just trying to make it through the contractions.

Now, this little boy is his own person, with a great sense of humor, full of wildly swinging emotions and mischief. He has really come into his own lately and it is so fun to watch him excel is his environment.

At 2 and a half, Jed weighs 31 pounds and is 39 inches tall. His hands and feet are big, his legs are incredibly muscular, and he has the cutest Bushman bum from running from mama when we need to go places.

Jed has an intense love for Pooh Bear, Tigger, "Chris Robin" and all the other citizens of the Hundred Acre Wood. This became somewhat of a problem when he started having bad dreams about a "bee poke." I have had so many discussions with him about how bees are good, they make honey and help pollinate plants. We have sat in the garden, watching the bees at work in our squash blossoms. We have read stories from the library about how bees make honey. We even rescued a bee that was stuck in our swimming pool, and Jed was empathetic ("poor guy bee") and fascinated as we watched it dry out and fly away. And still, every time we go outside, Jed tells me "bee poke." I'm referring to this phase as Pooh Bear's Revenge.

Jed loves race cars of all shapes and sizes, tractors and trucks. He has a problem with the "tr" sound and pronounces it as an "f." Usually when we're with other people, I try to tell him "that's right, it's a (insert adjective here) truck. We love trucks!" Hopefully he gets that pesky "tr" sorted out soon.

Jed loves art projects, like watercolors and finger painting. He had a lot of fun making cards for Fathers' Day with me. I think it's because Jed loves a good mess. He will frequently empty one of his toy bins, or pull all his books out of the bookshelf, or all the movies out of the cupboard, then come find me and say "mess!" When I ask him who made the mess, he looks around for the culprit, saying "hmmmmm," as if the pesky imp just disappeared.

There are a million more fun traits that Jed has...I could go on all day. I am so proud of this boy and I love him so very, very much. Even if occasionally he drives me crazy (selective hearing, anyone?) on the whole I am so grateful and blessed to be his mother. I know the Lord sent this sweet, challenging boy to me for a reason and I love him dearly.