Almost two! It's hard to remember that he hasn't already hit his second year. Ken and I have been telling people that he is "almost two" for months, so it feels like it has already come and gone.
Luke has been picking up on numbers pretty quickly this month, and can now count all the way to ten! He still starts counting at three for some reason (still can't figure out where he picked that up) but knows that one and two exist. He has also almost completely mastered the ABC song, including the words at the end, and knows a shocking number of lyrics to popular songs on the radio. His favorite song at the moment is "Shut up and Dance" by Walk the Moon, and he will insist on listening to it over and over and over again until his mother is ready to scream.
In fact, Luke has an opinion about pretty much everything: he now picks what he wants for breakfast every morning, what shoes he will wear, his pajamas at night, and the occasional tv show (is it normal for a two year old to demand "cooking shows?") He hates it when mama plays the piano without him and when mom and dad try to dance together without him, and when he doesn't have a chair next to the counter to see what's cooking. We're almost ready for potty training, since he now insists on sitting on his own potty whenever mom or dad go, and loves to pretend to blow his nose on an endless stream of toilet paper that he then flushes down the toilet all by himself.
The good part to all of this independence is that he loves being babysat or watched by anybody and everybody else. He will happily wave goodbye to Ken and I as we leave him in nursery or head out on a Friday night and will run the babysitters ragged with all of that little boy energy. Luckily his adorable little self means we always have a steady supply of willing helpers!
