TWO

We celebrated our little baby turning two this weekend!!

What, he's not our little baby anymore? Rude.

Caden is in such a fun stage, and then at the same time will totally rock the two year old attitude like none-other. Sometimes we wonder if he knows how to walk (kidding.), but really, he seems to have so much energy and runs everywhere. And it's the cutest little run too. He loves 'helping'-he'll sit up on the counter and loves to help hold the measuring cups or put the chopped fruit/veggies from the chopping board into the bowl. (don't worry-we're all safety first here people, no one's loosing any digits.) He eats great--and in the same breath sometimes has no interest at all--but overall, he is down for just about anything, especially some chips and fries. He loves chips and recently has been requesting fries a lot. He doesn't have them a lot either, but the kids a fan, and I don't blame him.

 

We made Caden a lego table this year for our birthday gift to him. Saw it on Pinterest a long, long time ago and loved the idea-already have a simple end table like the above so just had to get another one and the duplo lego pad and then he could play with the duplo blocks he had plus a fun new train set he got for his birthday. Love seeing his imagination go with it--even if at this stage it's a lot of tower building, it's still fun! 

He's loving Mickey Mouse and Thomas. He's totally into dinosaurs and tigers, he has the best 'rawwwr' ever. He loves to be chased. He does great with his book time before bed-the downside to that is it's usually about six to seven books...but they're all short and he truly enjoys them, is learning from them, and it's just so hard to say no when they simple just want to read a book with you.

Got Caden from daycare after I picked up the balloons. He is obsessed with balloons and loved holding them on the car ride.

The above obviously does not accurately depict the helpful attitude I recently described....As we got things together he zoned out on his favorite little Mickey couch (thank you, Craigslist) and then moments later I asked Gary where Caden was. He wasn't watching his movie, I didn't hear him playing...where is he....ah crap. Sneaky dude got out the nice, but strong, carpet powder we have and helped himself to pouring a majority of it out. I quickly scooped him up and washed his hands...no one wants to have carpet cleaner poisoning on their birthday...and we laughed it off, vacuumed up the mess and aired out our now super-fresh smelling house. Oh, buddy....hello two years old!

He's a smart cookie. He's singing the alphabet with us pretty well, he's noticing letters when he see's them, he's quick to memorize and repeat things from books or movies. My mom starting singing 'happy birthday' with him this past Thursday while we were at small group, and by the birthday party Saturday he was smiling ear to ear singing it along with everyone else during cake time. He was loving that everyone was singing it with him but I don't think he caught on to the fact that they were singing it to him.

This cake is a big deal people. I made it myself and I am the last person you will find baking (brownies exempt.). I took my time, got nervous a lot and overall was really happy with how it turned out--whew!! Thomas galore up in our house, red and blue everywhere, Thomas plates, napkins, tablecloths, balloons, decor...Thomas, Thomas, Thomas!

 

 Caden was fun during the presents. The first present we opened was a huge Thomas train and track, which he loves and hasn't had a cool set like that before so it took a few minutes to get his attention back to the other presents and continue opening them. He was very excited, lots of 'wow!!!', 'THOMAS!!', 'oh my!!!' and gasps-It was really cute to see his excitement over everything. And who doesn't want to spend the afternoon in a childs tent at 5 1/2 months pregnant....

There are many moments right now during this pregnancy that I find myself counting down the days, but this weekend made me stop and realize that I don't want to wish away these days. As excited as we are to have this baby and have our family grow, I realized how precious these last few months are going to be of just us and Caden--especially with him at this age. He soaks up the one on one time with us and I don't want to give that up too fast. It's hard enough sometimes feeling like we even get enough of that with both of us working full time, so it's definitely on our schedule to be more selfish these next few months. There's a lot coming up, it's going to be busy and go by fast, but our goal will be to take it day by day and enjoy this little two year old, because before we know it we'll be planning his next party and I'll, yet again, wonder how the year went by so fast.

On his actual birthday we went to the zoo and got in lots of time with the new toys. Caden loves the gorillas, but also loves for us all to sit at this little area in the gorilla exhibit and watch the tv that shows wildlife bits--he especially loves the elephants! 

Caden, we love you so much. You are so fun and such a joy to be around. It may be hard some days to navigate your stubbornness at this age, but I truly hope as you get older you are able to stay stubborn in a positive way. Stick to what you know, but be flexible and willing to adapt. We say our prayers every night thanking God for the time we get, the blessing we have, praying for protection and safety...but I also want to pray that your father and I are able to grow in our relationship with God to be able to show you how powerful his love is. Life isn't always easy, but in those difficult moments are where you find your strength in God and it's through Him that you will be able to do so much more in life than you could ever imagine or do on your own. Easier said then done sometimes, yes, but well worth it. Thanks for being you, buddy....we love you! Happy 2nd Birthday!

See...already driving-ahh!