Two

 I can't believe that this little guy is two years old!  

He is full of life, laughter, and joy, and a little bit of attitude and "two-ness."  

He is so expressive and becomes a wild man if he has an audience, especially a new audience.  He starts talking, walking, running around and doing silly things when he has an audience.  I love my little man!  We started his birthday off with pancakes, and H helped me celebrate.  All day long he kept bringing C "presents" of books and toys that he thought he would like (even if they are already his!).

 C has so many expressions, this is one of my favorites.  

It's his wild man/couldn't be happier with himself face.

I have a hard time capturing them because he is always moving and once I get the camera ready the expression is gone.

 C also has a serious side.  

And a whiny side.  I don't remember H being whiny.  I tried to teach C to say "Help please" instead of just whining when he needs something.  But now he just whines when he says "How peez." (Help please).  When the whining is balanced with such cuteness, it is easy to overlook!

 "Nose."

 At two, C likes:

Hats, balls, cars, french fries, "boo che" (blue chair), Goodnight Gorilla ("Reeda"), his blankie ("baytee"), Watch Doggy (doddy), milk ("mow"), playing with his "butter" (brother) and "Daduh" (Tatum), and sitting on or petting "were" (Leonard).  

He doesn't like: 

bugs (or anything that looks like a bug: fuzz, little leaves, etc), anything that might potentially hurt (splinters, mosquito bites, or fuzz), and doctors (or anyone who in any way resembles a doctor or is wearing something that looks anything like scrubs)

He also likes to do anything that big brother does.  He won't wear a bib anymore because H doesn't, we also just started wearing undies (fingers crossed) because big brother does.  He wants to wear "fee fah" (flip flops) because H does, and won't sit in a high chair anymore because brother doesn't.  If big brother is playing on his nabi, C has to play on his "haddy" (nabi).  This week when we've been dropping H off at VBS, C starts tugging at his buckle, saying "too."  He wants to go too!

 

Did I mention him liking Goodnight Gorilla and balls?

  He sleeps with his book and a ball (and blankie and Watch Doggy).

Memorial Day Weekend

 We started it off with some music

 And then did a little art under the protection of life vests.

A little cruising at the grocery store

 A little picnic-ing at the park

 A little more art (Titled "A caterpillar playing the xylophone")

 A little flower picking 

(H is still bringing me flowers, books, puzzles, art, etc "For your Mother's Day."  Too sweet!)

 A little Oreo smashing

(For dirt pudding)

 A little splashing

 I'm so glad they have each other to play with!

And a little movie night, complete with popcorn!

Secret of the Wings, C saw them at the sad part of the movie and said "sorry"  they must have looked sorry/sad.

Sardis Lake

 We kicked off summer by taking a little trip over to Sardis Lake.  We met up with H's buddy, Payton and his Mama, Charity.  We had a blast!

 I wasn't quite sure how C would handle it, he is the little guy who is afraid of bugs, and wary of all things different or weird (sand?), but he loved it!  After the initial testing out of the sand, he was ready to go!  He loved digging in the sand, but really loved playing in the water.  

I had no doubt that H would love it, and he just jumped right in, finding shells, rocks, leaves, and feathers and swimming like a fish in the water.

 It was a wonderful start to the summer!  The boys had a great time, and the mama's did too!  Aside from the sunburn... (submarinerned as H calls it, the boys made it without a sunburn but the mamas didn't)

Sunshine Sunday

Pic a Day

 Leonard has started to sleep on H's bed, I've found H several times reading him books.

 Muggy, rainy days are perfect for a picnic in a tent in the living room.

 It's amazing how much fun sock hands can be!

 I guess big brother decided the C needed to play with all of the Potato Heads in his crib.

 Baking soda, food coloring, and vinegar make a great nap time activity!

 C loved riding in the neighbor's cool car!

 The whale spout was well worth the $2.50!  The boys love it!  We've had some good lessons in water pressure and how to efficiently clean up water spills.

The boys love to play on the playground at the church. 

(Didn't realize H's head was cut off here, oops!)

Big brother, little brother

Big man in a cat costume:

 Big brother: not phased

 Little brother:  whimpering

(he does this at doctors appointments (for he and H), Tatum's vet appointments, or meetings with anyone in an office)

 Art project:

Little brother: Painting fingers

 Big brother:  A treasure map, look for the big caterpillar and X marks the spot

Big brother:  Loves creepy crawlers and critters

Little brothers:  "No!  Hurt you!"

Pic a Day

 Our naptime activity one day this week was Monster Smiles!

Apple slices, peanut butter, marshmallows - H had a great time time making them and eating them!

 A trip to Avent Park. 
C loves the slider (I'm sure there is a better name for it).  Double chins are only cute when you are young.

 Frog train!

H found a bag of frogs and discovered that they fit perfectly on the train track.  Then C had to do it too...

 Picnic at Lamar Park with H's buddy Sawyer and her little brother Noah (and their Mama too).

We had a great time "fishing" for tadpoles with sticks and feeding crackers to the huge catfish.

 Sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses, it's finally that time after such a mild/wacky spring.

 Making "bayda wur" (play-do worms). 

Pretty tough.

"A big J for Mama."

H is getting pretty good at his letters.  The bigger, the better!

C heard me tell H to stand still for the picture and came running. He didn't want to be left out!

School's out for summer!

 Wednesday was the last day of school for H!  

He said "It's time for summer bucation!" (vacation), and that he now wants to go swimming at the beach

 

 This was his first day of school.  

My how we've all grown up since then!

 H and his buddies before the musical.  None of them would sit still long enough for a picture.

 Banks, Parker, and H are three of the boys in the class.

 C and his sweet buddy Payton, waiting for the performance. 

 Cheese!

Sweet boy, we survived the year with only one trip to the principals office and just a couple less than perfect reports... but also with lots of great memories, art projects and new friends!

They sang a few cute songs with lots of words and motions, I was impressed, but I know they've been working on it since January!  I know I was not the only mother there who teared up a time or two, right?

 H and Miss Stephanie

Afterward we went to Holli's Sweet Tooth for some ice cream to celebrate.  

H chose the green ice cream.  (C has the bigger one because he and I were sharing).  We saw several other kids from H's school there getting ice cream too!  What a great way to end the school year!

Bath time fun

 These two boys love bath time, especially if it involves bubbles and/or glow sticks.  After baths, C loves to "du" (jump) in my lap, and watch himself go up and down in the mirror.  They like the dog ears and bumble bee antenna, and how they bounce when the boys do.  H's favorite after bath thing is When he gets lotion on (they still have mild eczema).  Instead of putting the lotion on your hands and then his body, he likes for you to squirt it directly on his body,  he thinks it is hilarious!

Mother's Day

What a great day!   I didn't spend the day sleeping in, with breakfast in bed, or long breaks, but I spent the day doing all of the mama things I like best!

Started out with snuggles in bed with H, he wanted to stay with me all during church instead of going to the nursery and was such a sweet boy to snuggle with in church.  

Some sweet friends of the boys (and me too!) took us to lunch.  We had a great time! and enjoyed the good food.  H even ordered for me! 

The boys played with cars in the window while we waited.

 We had lunch on the deck.  The boys had chips for a special treat!

 C even surprised me by going "teetee ah baddy." (Teetee on the potty!) 

 

 After supper, a little walk/ride/cloud gazing/dog training in the circle.

We finished the day with glow stick stories, snuggles, and prayers in the tent we made in the boys room.  

H brought this home from school on Friday with a cute (gaudy) flower pot that I will certainly treasure forever!  Looks just like me!  It's the little things...