An Average 2 Year Old

Today was Scott's 2 year check-up.  I'm happy to report that he is very healthy, thriving, and energetic.  Not mention, average in size all the way around.  He's 28 lbs. (50th percentile), 34 3/4 inches tall (just above 50th percentile), and his head is 19 1/2 inches around (75th percentile).

He's putting together up to 5 words in sentences, can recognize green consistently and other colors sometimes.  He also counts up to 3 always, and has gotten up to 10 before.  He can recognize the letters S and O, and loves "dessert time!"  This kid will definitely keep me on my toes, but he's also pretty well-behaved compared to a lot of other kids his age (judging from the story time we go to anyway!).  His favorite song to "sing" is "Wheels on the Bus" and he's always the first to hear an airplane, train, or firetruck (and can usually tell you exactly what it is he hears before you even realize you've heard it!).

Even though he's "ordinary" in a lot of ways, ordinary kids are pretty "extraordinary" to us :)

Party Day!

Yesterday was Scott's birthday, but today was just as important as we had close family and friends over for a party!  We did a train theme for Scott this year since that's one of his main interests nowadays.  Yesterday during Scott's marathon nap, Conner and I made a train cake (by the way, thank goodness for the marathon nap because I needed that time to get this cake done!)  I baked cake mix in mini loaf pans, then cut up two of them to make the different cars.  We then assembled and decorated the train with candy and icing.  I got the idea here: http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/choo-choo-train-cake-685795/

Aaaaannnnndd....that will have to do for now.  We've just realized that ALL of the pictures we took today are not on the memory card. Ahh, technology.  Hopefully we can find a way to locate some pictures or the ones we took will magically reappear.  Until that happens, however, just picture a cute little blond newly-two year old in an engineer outfit, complete with overalls, a red bandanna, hat, and whistle.  Imagine him opening lots of really exciting presents, and saying, "Here, Mommy" every time he rips off a little piece of paper.  Then picture lots of crazy kids running around having a fabulous time, playing on the playground, exploring the pond, and eating cake.  Adults were enjoying each others company and good food.  There, it's almost like I just showed you fabulous pictures, right?  Well, maybe not quite.......oh well.

Happy Birthday Scott!

My baby is 2!?! Time flies, and I love watching this kid grow every day. I think Conner was just as excited as Scott (actually probably more excited) that today was his birthday. We started the day with Scott's birthday breakfast request: peabutter honey sandwich. Conner wanted a bagel, but Scott was quite specific that he wanted his peabutter honey (which is really just peanut butter) on a sandwich.
Next, the boys played a little Memory.  Scott wanted to play, and Conner was so patient in teaching him how to play.  Will he follow in his mother's footsteps and be a teacher one day?  I think he'd be a good one!

Then we did some shopping for the birthday party tomorrow (sorry about the picture quality, it was taken by my phone):

Luckily I only had a few things to get, because otherwise this never would have worked. 
The boys enjoyed it, though, and it's the first time the training carts were available when we were there so I went with it.

Next, we went to the library for a circus story time, and had lunch at Nana and Pop's house with Aunt Jenn and Liam.

For dinner we had pizza with Nana and Pop (Conner requested that Scott have pizza for his birthday dinner).  I don't think Scott minded :)

Then came the presents.  Conner found it extremely hard to keep his hands off the presents.  Again, Scott didn't mind the help.

The two biggest hits:

The Weebles treehouse from Mommy and Daddy

And the big firetruck from Nana and Pop

I think Scott had a very good birthday (and he made it a good day for me by sleeping till 6:40 and taking a 2.5 hour nap!!).  Stay tuned tomorrow for the birthday party!

The Zoo

After going back and forth few times, and changing our minds literally on the way there, we decided today would be a zoo day.  Despite the rain, we had a great day with our friends Leyna, Cora, Reagan, and Reed.  There were a lot of puddles, a few animals, and a lot of running around corralling six crazy kids :)  But everyone had fun, and we're looking forward to going again!

This was a BIG iguana.  Conner was intrigued.

Conner said this was his favorite - the giant turtle.
We didn't get any pictures, but I'm pretty sure Scott's favorite was the zebra.  When we got home and the boys were asked what they saw a couple times, Conner remained quiet and Scott shouted, "Zebras!"

It's hard to see in the picture, but Scott was pretty much soaking wet up to his knees.  He loves puddles!

Scott: Wook!  Elfant!

Scott just posed like this.  No prompting.  What a ham :)

Storytime & Silly Boys

For the first time this morning I took just Scott to a storytime.  It was for 2 year olds, and he fit in just perfectly (shhh don't tell I snuck him in a week and a half early!).  He had a lot of fun, and I did too.  It was nice to be able to just focus on him and watch him interact with other kids his age.

Here he is making music - serious stuff.
 (sorry about the quality...it was the best I could get with my phone at that angle!)

This morning after breakfast I went to change Scott's diaper, and came back to find this:

He just pulled a chair up and washed the dishes.  What a helper :)

Some other funny things Conner has been doing lately:

• EVERYTHING has a rhyme.  For example one of his favorites: "Yeah, man, dib a dan." 
• For some reason, he incorporates peanut butter into a lot of things.  For example:  "Yummy yummy in my peanut butter tummy."
• He also has quite the imagination lately.  Today I checked on them downstairs at Nana and Pop's house.  Conner informed me they were watching "Fireman Sam" (there is no tv in the basement, therefore making this impossible).  I asked him where and he told me the tv was on the shelf.  They each sat in a chair and talked and "watched tv" for at least 10 minutes.  When I told them it was time to go, Conner told Scott they had to turn off the tv (I was informed I was not allowed to turn off the tv...my remote doesn't work).  They both proceeded to walk over to the shelf, pick up picture frames, and "click" them at another picture frame which was their "tv".   They are playing so well like this together lately and I just love it.  Thank goodness for brothers and good imaginations.  I love these guys!

Swim Lessons!

Today Conner had his first swim lesson.  He has always been a little wary of the water, which is why we wanted to do the lessons in the first place.  Today was exactly as I expected.  He sat wonderfully with the group, then got a little nervous and there were some tears, but then pulled it together and ended the lesson perfectly.  Seeing him in that class made me so grateful for what a good student he is :)  He did exactly what the teacher asked, right down to putting his hand in the exact place she asked him to. I'll take that and being a little apprehensive of some things any day over being fearless!  It makes for a much less nervous mommy :)

Enjoy the few pictures I could get before I had to sit by the pool within arms reach for the rest of the lesson!

Bouncy Bouncy

Today we went to a play date at a local bounce place.  Last time we went to a place like this, Conner was less than thrilled.  BUT - that was probably about 2 years ago, and today was a completely different story.  Both boys had A BLAST.  Everyone burned off tons of energy (me included!) and enjoyed everything this place had to offer.  There was a giant slide, basketball "courts," and baseball "fields."  When asked at dinner, Conner said his favorite part was the popsicle course - took me a few minutes to figure out he meant obstacle course :)

I didn't get many good pictures because we were too busy have fun (aka chasing children!), but here are a few...