Celebrating Our Two Year Old

Truman's final birthday celebrations took place on Friday, November 11.  Matt always has off on Veteran's Day so we thought it would be a good time to do some fun things with the kids in honor of Truman's birthday.  I felt it was the least we could do since the poor boy wasn't getting a proper party.

That morning we got up and Matt made us pancakes for breakfast.  I think that Matt's pancakes are, hands down, the favorite breakfast item of both Truman and Audrey.  They both love to help make them too.

 On this particular day Audrey talked Matt into making some chocolate chip pancakes.  He gave each kid a small handful of chocolate for their pancake.

 Audrey put most of hers in her Mickey Mouse pancake.  Truman ate all but one which he saved and put into a round one.

The breakfast was delicious, as usual, and after we finished we took the kids to the children's museum.

 At this point it was already pretty much the greatest day for the kids.  They had their dad home, pancakes for breakfast, and were going to get to spend several hours at the children's museum.  What could be better?

 We've been to this museum several times and although it isn't all that big, it's perfect for our preschool crowd.

 The last time we were here, a few months ago, this was Truman's favorite spot.

 But on this trip the grocery store was his favorite.

 He loved shopping, putting his food back where he found it, and then shopping again.

 Audrey joined in but I think she really enjoyed being the checker for all the kids.

 Truman took some of his food to the little table for a picnic.

 His other favorite area was this little car.  Truman loves driving and is quite interested in cars, trucks, and buses so I suppose it's only natural that he would be drawn to this little car.

 Audrey worked on a patient and Truman brushed some big teeth.

 Audrey finished up the trip by completing a pretty watercolor of a fall leaf.

After a couple of hours we were ready to go.  Everyone was getting hungry and Matt and I had big plans for the kids for lunch.

McDonalds!

 The kids got Happy Meals and lots of time to play.  Both of them ate part of their lunch and then ran to play.  When Truman saw that Audrey would occasionally come back to the table to grab a bite or quick drink he started doing the same.  He thinks he's big enough to do everything she does.

 Audrey loved the new fries that are included in the Happy Meals.  We always get the kids apples and then just give them a few of our fries.  I was bugged that since the Happy Meals now come with fries and apples they cut down the amount of apples in the packages.  Each kid only got four or five little slices in their meal.  So annoying.  I much prefer our old system.  But the new tiny fry container is pretty cute.

Audrey was so sweet to her brother while they were playing at McDonald's.  We were at one of the play places that is kind of big and hard for little ones to climb around in.  Audrey went behind Truman and pushed him up each level so he could get to the top and do the slides.  She did this over and over until it was time to leave.  She was so patient with him and such a good big sister.  I love that he has her and that she has him.

After lunch and lots of playing we took Truman home for a nap.  Matt and I had thought about taking the kids out to dinner, but decided it might be nice to spend the night at home.  We settled on ordering pizza and having a picnic in the living room while watching the new Winnie the Pooh movie Truman got for his birthday.

 The kids were so excited to have a picnic and watch TV while they were eating dinner.

 The only problem is that they did a lot more watching than eating, although they both eventually finished their food.

 What a cutie!

 It was a cute movie and mostly held Truman's attention.  It helped that it was only about an hour long and that Truman loves Winnie the Pooh.

I love these guys and this girl!  When the movie ended Matt and the kids had an impromptu dance party during the credits and then it was off to bed.  I think that Truman had a nice birthday even if he didn't get a party.  Next year we'll do something to make it up to him.  I know that I enjoyed his birthday a lot more because I could focus on him.

Truman's Birthday

Truman's birthday was a big deal at our house even though we kept the celebrations a little more low-key than usual.  We decided not to throw a big party this year.  I had endless amounts of guilt about this decision, but in the end I think it was the right one.  Even without a big party though, we were all so excited for our little guy to turn two.

The night before his birthday Matt and I set out all of his presents.

The next morning Matt and I woke up to Truman's little voice on the monitor.  Then we heard Audrey run into his room to wish him a happy birthday and talk to him.  Just as we were motivating ourselves to go get him we heard some rustling, a thump, and the sound of little feet running down the hall.  We were surprised when our door burst open and in ran a very proud Truman with Audrey trailing.

Truman decided that his second birthday was a good day to learn to climb out of his crib.  Oh dear.
This is all very new to us because Audrey never tried to get out of the crib.  We realize we probably need to get him a bed now.

We let the kids watch some "shows" while Matt and I got ready.  Truman now loves to watch shows, much to my chagrin.

They do look so cute all snuggled up in bed.

After we got ready for the day I took the kids out for a special treat.  We went to Safeway and got doughnuts for breakfast!

Before I let them eat the doughnuts though I did give them some scrambled eggs, which both kids ate quickly so they could have their doughnut.

They thoroughly enjoyed the sweet treat.

I love this cute little two year old face.

I love it even when it's dirty.

After breakfast we spent some time outside riding bikes.

Poor Truman is forced to ride Audrey's pink and purple tricycle (which we did not buy her, for the record).  He doesn't care at all but I'm sure someday he'll look at these pictures and ask why we didn't get him a red or blue one.

He does love to ride bikes!

The rest of the day was pretty typical.  That night I made a special dinner and we invited Grammy over to share it with us.

We had things I knew Truman would like.  I made spaghetti and meatballs for the first time ever and they turned out great!  We also had corn, peas, and homemade rolls.

Truman and Audrey loved the spaghetti but neither one would try the meatballs!  The nerve!

After dinner Truman finally got to open his gifts.  Audrey chose this one for him.  It's a remote controlled car and Truman has had a great time with it.

I was impressed by how well Truman did with all the gifts.  He got the hang of opening them pretty quickly and did not want any help.

He got a book about "tucks" from us.

We also got him this Elmo doll.  Truman is obsessed with Elmo despite the fact that he's seen Sesame Street maybe one time.  He loves Elmo and whenever we go to Costco (or anytime he sees an Elmo doll) he immediately starts asking to go see Elmo.  He likes to make him sing and then stick his fingers in the mouth.  He'll say, "Eh-mo, bite me!"  It's really cute and really funny and is his favorite thing.  We didn't spring for the new expensive Elmo, but this smaller version sings and moves his mouth too.

He was happy for his new firetruck and also got the new Winnie the Pooh movie. 

The last gift we gave him was a basketball hoop, which we have since decided to return and have replaced with one that goes over the door.  We don't have a lot of free space in the house and the free standing hoop would take up too much room.  The new one will just stay on the back of his room or closet door.

Finally it was time for birthday cake.  I made homemade vanilla cupcakes, some with fresh blackberries in the batter, with yellow buttercream frosting and sprinkles.  Truman is partial to the color yellow.

I love how he got a little grin and a little shy when we started singing to him.

He may not understand the whole birthday thing yet, but he knew it was a special day for him.

He blew out his candles all by himself but I was too slow to get a picture.

Then he pulled out the candles and went to town on his cupcake.

We planned to do a little more celebrating later in the week and I'll post that later.

Happy Birthday Truman!