Birthday Boy's Happy Day

Well, his birthday is over, but I thought I'd post the memories of the day for my family. Looking back now I think I made a bigger deal out of 2 than I should have and I learned a few things. He didn't always give me the reaction that I was looking for, so I learned that less is more... especially for a 2 year old.  

A few things didn't turn out the way I thought they would but he still had a great birthday. Here are the pictures from the day.

Balloons on his door. This was a hit!
At first he would crawl under them,
but after a while he would walk through them.

Message on the mirror... He didn't really care about this.

Opened some presents.

Loved the puzzle...

...and the harmonica.

He knew exactly what these were, and
went to play with them right away.

The different track possibilities just got a little bigger
with these pieces.

He also got some books, animal magnets, and a new bike.

He's not quite smitten with it yet.

It's going to take some practice.

Next we hit the pool and played with the hoop he got from Grandma and Grandpa.

After lunch, he took his nap.  This is the cooky part, he didn't fall asleep right away like he always does.  It took him 1-1/2 hours to actually fall a sleep so we had to wake him up to eat his dinner (which he was not happy about).  But we had to get him some good food before people started showing up for cake and ice cream.

GG and Pop Pop came over for the festivities and gave him a...

...Digger Dumper!  He was a little scared of it at first.
It didn't have batteries in it when he played with it at the store.

But after a few minutes he was loving it.

Cake time!  I kinda spaced getting pictures of him with his candles... oops!  Oh well he didn't really blow them out anyway.

But he dug right it to his cupcake.

He didn't get that dirty... he's actually a
pretty clean eater.

He really only eats the frosting... which he
calls ice cream.

We went outside to play with his friends.  These two
are turning into good buddies!  Andrew loves the match box cars
he gave him too!

Hugs!

GG and Pop pop also gave him a little tent.
It has Thomas on it.

It was a fun day!  So excited to have a two year old! What adventures will we have next?

He's 2!

Took this with my phone and absolutely loved it!

2 Years Ago at this moment, I held this little boy in my arms for the first time. 

 He changed my life then and continues to change my life for the good everyday.  He is so incredibly sweet and I love being his Mommy.  He teaches me so much, and brings smiles to my face everyday!



Of course we took Birthday pictures!

This is the one I'm putting on our wall!

He loves pulling his wagon around right now!

His daddy is my best side kick when I take pictures... he gets the best smiles!  We got plenty didn't we!?!

Andrew is hitting toddler-dom with full steam.  He has been practicing a lot and I've caught him saying 5&6 word sentences.  He parrots just about everything we say.  The other day we were walking on the sidewalk and as we passed two young ladies I said, "Hello ladies."  And promptly Andrew said, "Hello ladies."  It sure gave me a giggle and the two ladies one too."
I also love it when he says, "Cummon Mommy, Et's go"and "Daddio".   He says so much these days I can't even remember them all.  Ha ha!  But our days are filled with cute things he says all day!

He still sleeps well, and quite often he'll remind me when it's time for him to take a nap.  He sleeps about 11 hours every night and 2 - 2 1/2 during his afternoon nap.

He eats more some days and less others... I think half of it is training Mom & Dad to not give him something too close to dinner (can be hard when you are a one car family and need to go pick up Daddy from work right around dinner time), and he is so distracted by what he would rather be doing if he isn't famished.  But he still eats plenty everyday, he's still growing.

We haven't been in for his 2 year check up, but from my own measurements, he is 3 feet tall, and weighs about 25-26 LBS.  Not sure how accurate my scale is.

He is starting to love the pool, he loves playing outside, and he loves reading books.  We went to story time at the library the other day and that was right up his alley!  He runs, he jumps, he kicks, he throws, he sings (with help), he helps, he is a little social butterfly, & he is a joy.

I love that little boy of mine.  He is a ray of sunshine to all he touches.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Andrew!  We love you!

Thanks Daddio!

Andrew has a message for his dad.

                                   I love you, Daddio!  You are my best friend.

I want to be just like you!

Thomas Train & A Buggy Ride

Briant is usually very busy during the week with his internship.  It can be a little stressful and overwhelming for him at times. We aren't in Hershey too much longer this summer before we visit Idaho and Utah, so we are making it a point to do something every weekend.  There is so much to do here!  Today we decided to drive to Lancaster, PA.

We wanted to see the Amish farms and ride in a horse and buggy.  It just so happened to be right next to where the Thomas train was chugging past.  The Strasburg train is in Lancaster and the 15-23 of this month they were having Thomas pull the train. We have been debating on whether or not to go ride the Thomas train since Andrew does like Thomas.  We thought about going for his birthday.  But we decided he was a little too young still and he would enjoy it better just watching (plus that was free).

We pulled up just as Thomas was passing by.

Andrew watched intently... it scared him a little.

After that train passed and I saw another coming I hurried and
did something I've always wanted to do.  I put some coins on
the track to flatten them.

That train was the Strasburg train.

Check it out!  I've always wanted to test that out! It worked!

Andrew loved playing on the tracks.

The Thomas train comes every 30 minutes.
So we ended up seeing it again before we left on our buggy ride.

I could almost hear the song.... Their 2 their 4 their 6 their 8...

We saw lots of other horse and buggies going by as we waited.

For all the pictures I've taken at horse shows,
I was a little unhappy with pictures I took.
My timing was a little late.
I'm getting rusty.

Here are the horses pulling the Amish buggy.
The horses names were Mary (the white one on the left),
and Candy on the right.

We got some Amish homemade Root Beer.
I didn't really like it, it tasted too fermented.

Andrew liked it though.

This is Jacob, our tour guide.  He was very nice, and was
very open at explaining Amish ways.

One of the farms we saw.

This is Becky Ann his granddaughter.
She was so cute!

After we got back, we saw Thomas again!

shunting trucks and hauling freight......
red and green and brown and blue.........

And the miniature ponies.

And some farm animals.
Andrew loved the sheep.

There was a cool caboose hotel there too.

We followed the buggy for a few seconds on the way out.

It was a fun morning. Hurrah for Saturdays!