Hooray For Small Miracles

When I got Luke up this morning his overnight diaper was completely dry! This is making me pumped for potty training!

Luke Turns 2!

Luke's birthday isn't for another 2 days, but we had his party yesterday. It was so much fun! I'll let the pictures tell the story...

 For the entertainment we put out our bouncy castle and hooked up the water hose to make it a water slide. The kids had a blast! We couldn't have asked for a better party!

some were better at it than others

Instead of regular party favors we gave each of the kids some pirate gear to wear at the party and then take home. I didn't know if the kids would keep the bandanas on, but several of the boys wore them the whole afternoon - and Luke requested to wear his again today so I suppose they were a big hit! Even better, all the pirate gear (and his invitations) came from the Dollar Spot at Target so they didn't break the bank either.

bandanas, swords, hook hands

the pirate captain modeling all the gear

We served barbecue and hush puppies from a local restaurant and I make pirate ship cupcakes for dessert. I opted for cupcakes over a more traditional birthday cake because last year it felt like it took me ages to cut and hand out cake slices, so I chose to keep it simple. Plus I fell in love with the idea of a little fleet of pirate ship cupcakes.

the most menacing cupcakes ever to sail the seven seas

frosting mustache

At the 11th hour we changed the venue from our house to Luke's great-grandmother's house because her yard was better suited for the party set-up. I made a sign for our front door just in case our guests forgot where to go. Normally I avoid the Blackadder font like the plague but I made an exception for the party. It is very pirate-y.

I love pirate speak

Luke still doesn't grasp the idea of birthdays or parties yet, but he knows darn well what presents are. Here he is having the best time with a new polo shirt from his Granddad.

His gift from us was a LeapPad. I wasn't sure he would have any idea what it was - he's never played with one before - but the look on his face tells me he knew exactly what it was. Now he can stop stealing Daddy's iPad!

I can't believe he's 2 already! For comparison, here he is on his last 2 birthdays.

Luke, age 0

Luke, age 1

Where did my baby go? He's certainly no baby now, but a full grown little boy! *sniffle*

Luke Lately

 Luke is at such a fun age right now. Here's some highlights:
- His vocabulary and sentence-making abilities never fail to impress me. He picks up new words left and right and is getting really good at forming full sentences. Some of my favorites include "Gotta get the kitties" and "Daddy stop the lawn mower."
- He's very active - he loves to dance, jump, run, climb, and swim. We take him to our neighborhood pool at least once a week to practice swimming and jumping in from the edge.

swimming solo (Daddy in the background) with a float, swimmies, sun hat and swim shirt

 - safety first

 - He's still sleeping like a champ. He rarely wakes up in the middle of the night; bedtime is between 7:30 and 8:30 and he typically sleeps for 12 hours, plus a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon. He's still sleeping in his crib. One of our goals for this summer is to get the play room (which already has a twin bed in it) cleaned up and move him to that room so the nursery can remain a nursery in preparation for Baby #2. And no, I'm not knocked up, just planning ahead.
- Potty training is OK. I still haven't made the leap of taking away diapers and putting him in training pants, but he's pretty good about holding his poo until we sit him on the toilet after every meal. He's also improving on holding his pee for the toilet as well.
- He is incredibly sweet. He loves giving hugs and kisses to people, the cats, stuffed animals, etc. Sometimes he won't get out of bed until I have given several stuffed animals a hug as well.

Luke and Papa Bruce with a very large balloon

  - He is a big fan of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He also tolerates my almost constant photo-documentation. I don't envy the children of the Instagram generation.

Jelly Joker - Why so serious?