Emilio - 2.5 years

Emi, Emi, Emi...! You are a handful!!! You have always been very intense, but the last little while has been full on toddler energy!  and it hasn't always been easy, but the hardships definitely don't even begin to define your sweet, happy, smart and vivacious self.

No doubt you are the life of the party when you are happy. You are affectionate, full of joy, a chatterbox and super sociable. You give, hands down, the BEST hugs in the universe. You are so affectionate and such a sweet heart, you just can't hide it. You are also so enthusiastic about everything, you always want to be in the middle of the action, and the words "exhausted", "rest" and "quiet" mean nothing to you. You are just not interested in being calm or taking a break. Instead, you want to be part of all the action at all times, and that 90% of the time means being near your brother and sticking your nose in his business at all cost.

You are also a super strong, athletic little guy. You are like a tiny body builder. Your physical ability is impressive, people always comment on how fast, strong, and coordinated you look for your age. Your fine motor skills are also amazing, and the things you are able to do with your little fingers blow my mind.

All this energy and personality, however, sometimes seem to come at a high cost, ha! don't get me wrong, you are so cute and sweet it hurts just to look at you. But I think toddlerhood sometimes is just such a miserable time for little guys, with all its frustrations and inability to communicate them verbally, it just makes ground for perfect storms in a lively guy like you. 

One of the challenges we deal with on a daily basis is that, added to your strength, you have developed the most annoying and loud screams on earth. Meaning every time you don't get what you want, how you want it, you just go ballistic, and I have a hard time coping with that, sometimes for an entire hour, on and off throughout the day. If you wake up in a bad mood, you can be a pain all morning and not compose yourself really until after nap time. 

Some nights you don't sleep so well and you wake up crying as if in terrible pain, or have night terrors that make you act like crazy screaming and rolling around all over the floor, and nothing will make you stop.  We haven't quite figured out what is going on there. And sometimes it happens night after night, to the point we are starting to think there might be a food allergy involved. Those days you are no fun to be around during the day.

Too many bubbles...

This brings me to breastfeeding and why we, or I, haven't built up the courage to wean you completely. You still nurse to have a nap and to go to sleep at night, and when you wake up through the night (which is still often). I am so ready to stop nursing, since you are now pretty demanding and you just like to treat my body as if  I am made of Playdo, which is not very enjoyable. But I am just scared of your reaction if I just refused to nurse you :S. I am also so afraid you are going to be heart broken, but I guess everyone feels like that...

Other little quirks you have developed are having a banana every morning, but it has to be an unopened one (even if you have already had part of one minutes before), and you have to say when, where and how we opened it, or else we will have to pick out a new banana and start over. You are following Paulo's steps in the quirks department, as you start to demand milk a certain way, in a specific bottle. You also hate wearing shoes and sweaters (which makes for INTERESTING morning routines), and you are OBSESSED with the word "dangerous/peligroso)" as well as actual dangerous objects which you want to always have, such as blades, knifes, screwdrivers, etc. 

Last, some of your favourite things are eating, running wild, watering plants... and your brother. You guys are on each other all the time, but you are just crazy in love with your brother. You have to say all the same things, imitate everything he does, wear the same clothes, to the point you want to wear his clothes even if they don't fit. You always want to sleep in his bedroom at bed time, right until the last minute when you bail and just come to your own bed to nurse. And when you two do get along and play, you play SO WELL. You giggle and run and jump around so much, my heart could explode.

I could go on and on for pages so I will just stop here. I love you more than I will ever be able to say. You are my little bichito :).