Getting ready for play in the snow. Note the spatula in Ezra’s hand. He likes all of the tolls of the kitchen and we recently discovered spatula hockey!
While Asher is typically focused on the particular object of play, Ezra frequently just likes to be involved.
Ezra, Asher’s little shadow.
Ezra likes to be tucked up, in and under anything soft, especially animal friends.
Ezra James Sittler turned two years old yesterday. His birthday was celebrated by family and friends Sunday, and by Asher in particular from sometime shortly after the Christmas presents were opened (Friday) through pretty much the whole of Monday. Little Ezra is loved by a good number of people. I put him in corduroy overalls for his party and he really did take on some of the essence of the well-loved bear of the same name. He is rarely without someone to hold him or follow him around at church, words of adoration are frequently heard from bystanders when we’re out and about, and his big brother can hardly leave him alone, he’s so fun to be with.
Ezra has gone by many nicknames in his two years. One of the first was Mr. Delicious. Puppy and Little Bear came next followed by Widdle (shortened form of Little Bear). Tup-tup is another, somehow expressing the shy little pout he puts on as he shrugs his shoulders on almost any occasion.
Some signs of Ezra’s advancing age include maybe a dozen or more words said with increasing clarity, more big-brother-like-activity, such as throwing and catching balls, and a great sense of humor, though often it seems like he’s laughing at some secret insight he’s got on the life of some mundane object the rest of us take for granted. “Uht,” he exclaims, pointing and giggling in awe at the vacuum cleaner cord disappearing around the corner or at the discovery of a pocket in a new pair of pants.
One of his best words is also one of his favorite foods: oatmeal. It comes out sounding a bit more like Ohp-Mow, but he clearly knows what he’s talking about and he can throw down 2 adult servings in one setting. Consequently, the Betta fish he got for his birthday was named oatmeal, despite the fact that it’s red.
Ezra’s favorite things to do include anything that his big brother does. Besides that, he enjoys watching Papa make tea or coffee, watching the blender or mixer go around when Mama’s baking, and playing with trucks , cars, motorcycles and especially balls. He also enjoys music of all kinds.
Ezra has a natural sweetness that comes out at surprisingly approriate times. He freely gives kisses and hugs and once when cuddled up with Asher and Mama watching the Polar Express, he leaned over to shower Asher with kisses as if to say “It sure is nice to have a brother like you!”
Happy Birthday to our Little Bear and God grant him many more years!
