Recovering from Birthday Weekend

A had a blast over the past two days as we have celebrated his birthday with his family and friends.  We had friends over on Friday to play.  When P got home from being gone for work, A made sure to tell him everything we did at the party in one big long run-on sentence and motions to reenact it all for him.  It was so cute to see how excited he was.  

Yesterday, we had family over in the morning.  Again, A loved every moment.  He loved being the center of attention, and it was cute to see that he "got" the idea of birthday.  He loved everything from the cupcakes and juice (rare treats in our house!) to having so many loved ones in one room.  Of course, he was also ecstatic about every gift!  He woke up from his nap yesterday yelling "momma!".  I went to get him, and before I even got a "hi", he said, "train, tent, book, car, drum, xylophone (yes... he can say that word!), drum, book, music, white car."  It was hilarious!  He sure doesn't forget anything!  We spent the rest of the day in his new tent, reading books, playing drums, pushing trains and cars and listening to music.  He was exhausted by the time he went to bed, and he's still dragging this morning.  All that fun and excitement has worn him out!  I guess that's the sign of a great birthday.

Happy Birthday, A!

Sweet Boy, today you turn two!  I can't believe how fast the time has gone.  You have brought so much joy into our lives.  I love the compassion you show towards others; you don't like when others are sad, even if it's in a book.  I love the passion you have for learning, how proud you get when you learn something new, and the joy with which you repeat that skill for anyone that will watch.   You make me laugh when you tell stories over and over again with such animation, even if you are the only one who knows what the story means.  I can't imagine my  life without you, little one.  I can't wait to see what your third year brings!  Happy Birthday!!!

Almost two.

A will be two tomorrow!  I can't believe it.  We had four friends over today to play and family coming over tomorrow.  Today's party was way better than I ever could have expected.  5 toddlers for an hour and a half, and not a single "MINE" was uttered!  The kids all shared toys and played so well together.  A was so excited to have his friends over.  He practiced all week saying "Hi... Come in" so he could greet his friends at the door.  I'll post pics of the party soon, after I get pics from tomorrow's family get together.  

Reading Time!

The boys doing puzzles together

A "helping" to make playdough for his birthday party.  Note to self: next time, don't leave an open bag of flour too close to toddler hands.

Sporting a Sycamore HS t-shirt... my alma mater. Go Aves!

A family picture!

some pics from the week

dance party

last night, we had a spontaneous hawley-family dance party.  no pics or video... sorry.  but i've been smiling all day as i think of A and his daddy jamming on the air guitar as the dance in circles.  i had to dance a little more low-key since i was holding C and he still can't control his head.  it was one of those moments i will always cherish...priceless.  

Few more...

valentines

since we basically missed out on Christmas with the arrival of baby C only 4 days before, i decided to make valentines with A.  we had a blast painting them with red paint.  then we baked cookies with red sprinkles (i was going to cut them into hearts, but our heart cookie cutter is HUGE and would have only made 6 cookies out of the entire batch!).  then A and I trekked out after dinner to deliver them to our neighbors.  it was really cute.  A had no idea what we were doing, but by the third house had gotten it down.  he figured it was a cool thing to do based on the reactions from the kids.  he even figured out how to say "valentine" though it sounded more like "wa-ti".  whatever... it was great attempt, even if i'm the only one that knew what he was saying.  and, we only had one melt down when we had to say good bye to our friends Ava and Bella.  not bad!

i've also decided that i feel like forrest gump... i never know what i'm going to get.  our great days are so fun!  baby C is getting better at napping and times his naps perfectly around A's schedule.  but then there are the bad days when i feel proud of myself if we all survive until bedtime.  i would say our weeks have been about 50/50 good to bad days.  that's not too bad... especially after the colicky start baby C had to this world.  

alright... i've got 7  more things on my to-do list and only about 15 more min. of nap time.  gotta go. (here are some fun, random pics from the past couple of weeks).