"I'm twoooo!"

October 16, 2003. The Red Sox got knocked out of the World Series, and Brett Albert Martindale appeared in our lives. In October 2004 the Red Sox won the World Series, and Baby Brett made our lives just as happy every day.

In two short years, Brett (like most babies), has accomplished a lot:

• he can run, walk on tip-toes, and take giant steps; he can jump and not fall down, but only when holding something like my hand
• he can now walk up and down stairs holding the wall or railing on only one side
  
• he can feed himself pretty well using a dessert fork or teaspoon, even if he often needs help getting the last few noodles and drops of soup
• Brett chooses to sit in a proper chair, often without the booster, rather than his highchair (LeeAnn: you may have a highchair sooner than you think)
• he can throw and kick a ball or other toy with obvious relish (now we just have to teach him that Mommy's flower pots are most definitely not toys)
• he can stack blocks and Duplo with ease; shape sorters and puzzles are almost too easy for him
• Brett can count up to 40; recognizes 100, 200, etc; and has memorized our house number and Jennifer's house number (when he's tired and wants to home he starts asking "two-two-eight?")
• he has a huge vocabulary; the most esoteric words for a child his age have to be "appetizer," (which he shouts gleefully as he leaps -- teeth bared -- into a full-frontal assault) and "vanilla," (which, when paired with "flip," means he wants us to toss him onto his bed upside down)
• he knows the alphabet (can name all the letters and their sounds, and put the letters in the correct order) and can spell over a dozen words (he recognizes words when he sees them, and can put letters in the right order to spell them); fave words at the moment: mom, dad, appetizer (see above), cookie, all the characters on Dora the Explorer, water, soup, noodle
• he loves to sing the alphabet song with Baba or Grandma on the phone