V at Almost 2.5 Years Old

I realized recently that I haven't really updated you all on V's latest antics/accomplishments. He'll be 2 1/2 years old next month on the 4th, and he's really blossomed and come into his own recently. Here are a few of my favorite new words/sayings/things he does:
--He's started putting words together to make simple sentences, usually beginning with a person's name followed by another noun with MAYBE a verb thrown in for good measure. For example, if my husband decides it's time to play a game on the Wii, V will say something like, "Daddy Wii game?" or even, "Daddy pay (play) Wii." Usually, he'll follow it up with, "Mommy! Mommy! Daddy Wii game!", like I don't already know that B has decided to work some more on his adventures in "Lego Star Wars" Land. Along with this new found communication skill, V has discovered he can tattle on either one of his parents to the other. If I won't let him have a piece of chocolate, he'll go crying to B and say something like, "Daddy, Mommy no chocolate!", which is essentially, "Daddy, Mommy won't let me have any chocolate!" He'll tattle on B to me as well, but so far, it hasn't worked to his advantage.
--Though most of V's verbal communication is still gibberish, he's starting to do an excellent job of telling us what he wants. I love it when he'll ask for something and say "Okay!" after we repeat it back, as if it was our idea in the first place. "Mommy something something bunny yogurt." "You want some bunny (Yoplait Trix) yogurt?" "Okay!" He does it all the time, and it still makes us smile.
--V's suddenly discovered he has a name besides "Baby", which is what I've called him since day one along with his actual name. The first time he said his name (still in gibberish, mind you) and applied it to something he owns ("V's plate" or "V's car"), I was blown away. Of course, that also means we're now in the "mine" stage, which can be pretty irritating and funny at the same time.
--V asks questions now, too. My two favorites: "'Ere are oo? (Where are you?)" and "Oo okay? (Are you okay)". I must ask that last one a lot because he seemed to pick it up fairly quickly. I love how he asks the first one in a singsongy voice, like he's playing Hide-and-Seek with someone. It's almost as if he's itching to add "Come out, come out, wherever you are!".
--V loves to count, and though he can't quite connect the symbol for the number with the word, he can still count up to twelve verbally with pretty good accuracy.
--He still loves to sing, and sometimes, we'll catch him rhyming or even rapping. On one of his favorite television shows, they do a rendition of "The Three Little Pigs". The Big Bad Wolf kind of raps, "I'm big, I'm bad. I'm bad, I'm big. And, I want....a pig!" We've caught V chanting this at random times, and it makes me smile to hear it.
--We may be close to potty training. V's started telling me just in the past couple of weeks when he needs a "dipul change". Though he usually uses the word "poopy" when he's actually just urinated, it's still something that he's recognizing his bodily functions now. If only we could actually get him onto the toilet without freaking out, we would probably have this potty training thing down in no time.
--V's started learning colors, though he has difficulty matching the color name with the actual color. He knows what they are, at least, and his favorite color words to say are "yeyyo" (yellow) and "geen" (green). He does know a few shapes, specifically "car" (star), "kirkle" (circle), "moo" (moon), and sometimes, "skare" (square).
--He's starting to show a few little quirky habits, like needing a "han nakin" (a napkin to wipe his hands) at meals and a dislike for water in his face. That really made it difficult for him to enjoy an indoor water park we went to recently. The kiddie pool was great if chilly, and he enjoyed standing on the little fountains at the edge of it, but once he got squirted in the face with water, he didn't want anything to do with that entire area. Luckily, we discovered he enjoyed the lazy river and the "warm as bathwater" hot tub.
--Finally, V has really started to show an interest in playing with other kids, most notably his cousins and the sons of our college friends who live near us. Although all of them are older than him (by one to eight or nine years), he seems to really have fun being around them and trying to play with the "big kids". He can even call them by their names, and he gets so sad when we have to say goodbye to them.
Well, that's all I have for now, though I'm sure there are a lot more things I could list here. I need to go make dinner for my boys, so I'll leave it at that.
Best,
Amanda